“It's about bringing balance,” he said. “The 2008 contracts were clearly not in balance with the economic situation of our city and what this does is make sure this doesn't happen again.”

Asselin said he understands the city is doing well financially.

“We've seen a continuing thing through the years where the mayor says, ‘budget shortfall, budget shortfall,’ and in the end, there's a budget excess,” Asselin said. “It's our understanding that there is again going to be a budget excess for 2012. It brings you back, begs the question, whether there really is a monetary necessity for what's occurring now.”

Sullivan said he’s doing what’s right for the city, and dismissed as “rhetoric” the notion that dozens of union members would leave Anchorage if AO-37 passed.

“What's going to happen in the end is probably going to be a lot like what happened with sequestration,” Sullivan said. “The next day, the world didn't come to an end, because quite frankly, this ordinance is just an awful lot of common sense. Three-year contracts instead of the longer ones, so you're nimble enough and can adjust at the end of three years if the economics of the city change.”