About 160 Cleveland city employees have been laid off this week, as the city looks to close a $23 million dollar budget gap. Public Safety Director Martin Flask says 66 police officers, 37 firefighters and six emergency medical technicians were let go on Monday, and 46 police and fire supervisors were demoted. Mayor Frank Jackson gave the unions a choice -- accept cuts in pay and benefits or face layoffs. The police patrolmen's Association rejected concessions, as did the paramedics union and others. ideastream®'s Eric Wellman reached Paul Gerhart -- the head of the division of labor and human resources policy at Case Western Reserve University. He says what's happening in Cleveland is playing out in city's across the country.
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