Los Angeles hopes that a recently struck deal with one of the city’s unions will start a domino effect, leading to more cost saving agreements with other unions.

The agreement, which was with a group representing 19,000, was one step taken by the city to curb its deficits in the coming years. And while the city benefits from the savings, the employees of that union will benefit by the immediate cessation of furloughs.

The goal is that the city can get the other unions on board with modest concessions, which could mean as much as $218 million in savings. The budget gap is expected to top $350 million for next year.

From the Los Angeles Times:

A day after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled a “watershed” labor agreement with city workers, he was quick to send a pointed message to other municipal unions.

“We will be asking all employees and departments to consider how they too can offer reasonable, responsible changes at this time of historic deficits,” the mayor said Friday.

Though the pact tentatively struck with a coalition representing about 19,000 workers will help ease the city’s budget crisis, its real import could be elsewhere: pressuring other city unions to follow, providing a multiplier effect – and tens of millions of dollars in additional savings. Almost half the workforce paid via the city’s general revenues remains outside the deal.

Read the full article here.