Orlando Mercado, President AFSCME Local 1716 & Council 4 Executive Board Member, spoke at a may 13th city council meeting to urge Council members to protect budgeted overtime that will retain city employees that keep Hartford running.
click here to watch the video. 
or read his entire testimony below:
Good evening Council President Surgeon, Majority Leader Rosetti, and members of the Hartford City Council.
I’m Orlando Mercado, President of AFSCME Local 1716, representing 300 dedicated public service workers in the City of Hartford.
Our members do the essential work that enables our city to properly function.
We help take care of your kids, clean your roads and remove your trash.
We inspect houses for safety issues and connect clients at our local libraries with critical resources.
When you call 911 for an emergency, we are that guiding light on the line carefully walking you through each step.
We are on the front lines every day ensuring Hartford is a place families can live and thrive.
Years ago as the city was on the verge of bankruptcy, the budget was balanced on the backs of our members who sacrificed with pay cuts/taking zeros.
More recently, rising inflation has made it harder for our families to get by.
And surrounding towns are competing for our labor by offering higher salaries.
All of these factors restrain our ability to continue serving Hartford residents with the utmost professionalism and excellence they deserve.
As you review the budget, I ask you to not reduce our budgeted overtime.
An average Local 1716 member makes roughly $2,400 a month without overtime.
After mortgage, utility, phone, wifi, health and car insurance expenses we are left with $58.
$58 is not nearly enough to cover food, hygiene products, and clothing for our kids who grow by the week.
I haven’t even included the extremely high cost of childcare into this equation.
If there is one thing I want you to take away from tonight it is this:
One overtime shift makes a huge difference in our ability to support our families.
It helps us stretch our paychecks a little further to cover the basic living necessities we rely on.
Cutting the overtime budget would mean a reduction in the services we perform and a reduction in our overall earnings.
Saving money this way means cutting corners for everyone, Hartford residents and their committed workforce who have stuck by them.
Local 1716 members serve the entire city; from the south west corner, to Prospect Ave, to Keney Park and all the way to the CT river.
We work for our city to give back to our community.
And to provide a stable life for our family.
Please allow us to be able to continue providing for our City and our families.
Keep the overtime budget intact.
Thank you.
