Dire economic times have prompted private businesses to cancel raises, reduce benefits or order unpaid days off. Now, cities and towns are trying to do the same — asking union workers to give up some of the benefits they bargained for in order to prevent layoffs.

The results have been mixed — and to outsiders, at least, sometimes puzzling.

In Danvers, for example, eight of the town's 12 unions agreed to give up raises to avoid layoffs. But in Salem, all eight unions voted down a change in health plans, opting instead to see some of their members lose their jobs.

One union in Peabody — representing school janitors, clerks and bus drivers — has voted down an offer to keep two workers in exchange for deferring a raise or taking an unpaid day.

And one unit in Salem reversed itself. Special education bus drivers and bus monitors initially rejected the city's request for health care concessions, but later agreed to changes after the School Department solicited bids to privatize their work.

Asking for concessions is a process that few on the outside can understand, both sides say.

When it comes to negotiating concessions, union leaders say their members consider factors like history, retirement, the credibility of the negotiators and the budget numbers.

Money is the big item at the table, Peabody Assistant Solicitor Daniel Cocuzzo said.

Five of Peabody's city unions have begun talks on concessions. The dispatchers union has not. The Peabody School Committee hopes to meet with its six unions to seek concessions.

At the table

The people representing cities and towns say they have to consider their present financial circumstances and their futures.

Cocuzzo, Peabody's main union negotiator, said no employer wants to lay people off. Typically, when asking for concessions, employers look at furloughs or deferred raises, he said.

If the economic circumstances change after wages have been settled but before the entire contract is voted upon, it's not as easy as rejecting raises. Cocuzzo said it's illegal to bargain "regressively" or ask to modify portions that have already been settled.

"Think of it as a stack of cards," he said "Take out one card and the stack will fall."

Concession discussions are different from contract negotiations, he said. When asking unions for concessions, he took a simple approach and always went in with a plan. He avoided language changes in general because they're permanent.

He said he must ensure decisions made at the concession table don't hurt the city a year from now, "that you're not setting yourself up for worse conditions."

Both sides need to enter the talks with an open mind.

"What may be acceptable to us may not be acceptable to the unions," Cocuzzo said.

In Salem, history was a big factor in the teachers' union stand.

Joyce Harrington, president of the Salem Teachers Union, said city leaders have come to the unions a number of times before, and they've agreed to changes in health care and pay.

The 480 teachers and 160 paraprofessionals feel they have tried to the do best they could under the circumstances, she said. "You don't want to give away the store."

While giving up raises or benefits looks easy on the surface, Harrington said, those concessions have long-term effects on retirement, and are felt most keenly by employees near the end of their careers.

Years ago, public-sector jobs were heavy on benefits and pensions but light on pay, she said. Now that's changing. Her members have already agreed to less lavish health care benefits to help cut costs, she said, and are hesitant to give up anything more.

Give and take

Danvers, on the other hand, hasn't had to seek concessions from its unions since 1991, according to Assistant Town Manager Diane Norris. But the unprecedented economic downturn is affecting nearly everyone, she said.

The town's non-union workers agreed to give up their raises this year, as did most of the smaller unions. The bigger unions — firefighters, nurses, police officers and teachers — refused.

When asking for concessions, furloughs don't make sense in Danvers, Norris said: "It's not like we're manufacturing widgets and we can close the plant for a month."

Unlike other employers, cities and towns are finding they have more work than before. "We're having an increase in business," Norris said.

Dana Michael Hagan, president of the Danvers Police Benevolent Association, took a harsher view of the concession process.

"When they negotiate a pay raise and then they want to freeze it, that's not a negotiation," he said.

Hagan said Town Manager Wayne Marquis should honor the contract as signed. Negotiating a contract, he added, can be a serious expense for unions because of attorney's fees.

The Danvers police union has workers nearing retirement who have more at stake if raises are cut.

"How do you equate that to a guy who's done 30-plus years and the last year he gets a zero?" Hagan said. "He'll never make that up."

He contends that Danvers has other ways to cover its salaries, such as holding additional town meetings to pass the new meals tax.

"There's no need for layoffs at this point," Hagan said. "They have a brand-new budget."

The police union president said Danvers town officials asked for concessions but couldn't be firm about what might happen in 2011 and beyond.

"People call it selfish; it seems to me we're far from selfish," he said.

Now is not the time to lay off police officers, he said.

"It's time to hire them."