The City of Windsor is looking at what to do with its employees over the long-term during the COVID-19 pandemic.
City hall and other city facilities have been closed since March 19, with some employees still on the job, working from home, or off work at home with full pay during the shutdown period.
Mayor Drew Dilkens told AM800's The Morning Drive that they have to start acknowledging that this shutdown will last longer than April 6.
Meetings are planned for later today with CUPE Local 543 and Local 82, the unions representing city employees, to develop a plan moving forward.
Dilkens says that many other workplaces have sent their employees home, with many taking pay cuts or even laid-off.
"City council really has to wrestle with the fact that those same people who have been laid-off or sitting at home without pay, as they try and navigate all through this, are the same ones paying the salary of city staff sitting at home," he says.
Dilkens says that a special meeting of city council will be held Wednesday to formalize a plan for the future.
"We have sort of a plan in mind but we're still fleshing it out," he says. "But we want to have a conversation with the union leadership today to see if that makes sense to them, and whether we can really agree to something without a lot of friction. Once we have that agreement we'll put that report in front of city council for their consideration."
Dilkens says this really from our perspective has nothing to do with saving money, it's just about dealing with our business in the right way.
"When you look at the expenses, we have huge expenses that we're incurring as a city and our revenue streams, like every business, are going to be significantly impacted," her says.
Dilkens adds the city will also be looking at programs from the upper levels of government to see what they can do to provide financial support for city staff.