City workers sporting Service Employees union shirts filled seats on the east side of the Berkeley city council chambers, while sign-bearing supporters of the Ecology Center, Community Conservation Center and Urban Ore sat on the other side at Tuesday evening’s council workshop, where the focus was on how to erase a $3 million deficit in the city’s refuse fund.
What set the two sides against each other was a consultant report that said the city should take over work now carried out by the Ecology Center, and some of the Community Conservation Center and Urban Ore functions. Workers at the Ecology Center and CCC are represented by the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies).
