Jul 29, 2008 11:19 pm US/Central
Aldermen Agree To City Manager Furlough Plan
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
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Mayor Richard M. Daley has ordered non-union city managers to take mandatory furloughs to help balance the budget. Chicago aldermen have also agreed to share the pain.
CBS
Chicago aldermen agreed Tuesday to share the pain of Mayor Daley's mandatory furlough plan for city managers amid warnings that layoffs -- and other sacrifices from union employees -- will be next.
Daley refused to talk turkey about layoffs. He first wants to hear what union leaders are willing to do voluntarily to help ease a city budget crisis he called the worst he's ever seen.
"You have to sit down and talk to these people. ... They understand how important these jobs are to them. ... We're gonna work with them. ... If you can work this out and you can keep a number of people working, it helps the economy," Daley said.
In 2002, the mayor asked union leaders to choose between five unpaid furlough days and deferred pay raises to erase a $115 million budget shortfall.
When they refused, 517 of their members were laid off. Ten years earlier, Daley laid off 782 employees.
This time, the shortfall is nearly four times bigger than it was in 2002, and the financial crisis affecting government revenues is sweeping across the country. That's apparently why Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon is keeping the door open.
"I've got to sit down with a full coalition of people who represent employees in the city to come up with a collective statement on what we think we can do to help or not help," Gannon said.
"They're not asking for anything yet, [but] everything is on the table. You can assume that furlough days are part of the mix. Layoffs could be part of the mix. ... We'll be united wherever we make our stand. We're gonna have a coalition meeting next week to discuss what actions the unions will take collectively -- if any."
The $3.6 million furlough plan advanced by the Finance Committee will require aldermen and all other 2,000 non-union employees earning more than $75,000-a-year to take three unpaid days off by Dec. 31. One thousand non-union workers earning more than $55,000-a-year will take two furlough days.
"Why is it that every time you run into a crisis of dollars, the first thing you look at ... is furloughs?" said Ald. Ray Suarez (31st).
Budget Director Bennett Johnson replied, "We believe it's -- I don't want to say a nicer measure, because it's not. But, it is a a better alternative than straight to layoffs. I mean -- I could just go straight to layoffs. But furlough days are a good measure to start with."
Johnson acknowledged that $3.6 million would barely make a splash in the sea of red ink, adding, "I'm actually looking at a whole bunch of things ... This is just one part of the package. ... This is the first step in a very long and arduous process."
Whenever there's a financial crisis, Daley asks union leaders to agree to unpaid furlough days as an alternative to layoffs. Their answer is always the same: No. It would set a dangerous precedent.
The same scenario could play out this time -- especially since union leaders have been told that no amount of furlough days would be a guarantee against layoffs.
"They don't want to set a precedent. But, this is an unprecedented year," Johnson said.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday that Daley's preliminary 2009 budget is expected to include the largest shortfall in recent memory -- more than $400 million according to some sources -- setting the stage for service cuts, employee layoffs, unpaid furlough days or a combination of the three.
The mayor has already tied his own hands by promising to hold the line on property taxes on the heels of last year's record increase.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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