Jul 14, 2009 5:06 pm US/Central
Hundreds Of City Workers Set To Lose Jobs
Teamsters And AFSCME Unions Look Unlikely To Accept Pay Cut Compromise
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Mayor Richard M. Daley
CBS
Mayor Richard M. Daley and union leaders are playing a game of chicken that is likely going to leave more than 400 city workers out of jobs.
And as CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, it might also compromise public safety as the budget squeeze could mean fewer cops on the street.
South Sider Tammy Goodman says her husband, a plumber, has seen his earnings cut nearly in half recently. Now she's been told she will lose her civilian job as a filing clerk at Chicago Police headquarters Wednesday.
Four people on my block out of a job, they haven't been to work in months. I just think it's the wrong time to do it," Goodman said.
Goodman's colleague, who gave her name only as Annette, is also scheduled to be terminated Wednesday.
Their union peers voted 78 percent to 22 percent to reject
City Hall's offer to cancel the layoffs in exchange for a nearly 10 percent pay cut.
"I just need my job," Annette said. "I just wish they'd accept what he's offerin' and leave it at that."
Mayor Daley expressed similar sentiments at a news conference Tuesday.
"It's the Teamsters and AFSCME. It's up to them, the leadership, to really realize what's gonna take place," Daley said.
While 41 of City Hall's 43 unions accepted pay cuts via unpaid furlough days, the plan was rejected by the Teamsters and AFSCME.
AFSCME represents civilians working in the police department. While providing no details, AFSCME leaders claim to have offered other concessions that would have given Mayor Daley the same savings as the layoffs.
"Everybody's right now is, is kind of sad, upset, frustrated," AFSCME local union President Sean Bond said. "We feel that this could've been worked out."
The mayor says the deadline for a deal is midnight. The two hold-out unions, AFSCME and the Teamsters, put the issue to a vote of their members and appear locked in.
So look for 491 layoffs to take effect Wednesday morning, slowing not down just document requests at the police department, but streets and sanitation garbage services. Dental services in city health clinics will be eliminated.
The Teamsters and AFSCME want a guarantee from Daley that there will be no more layoffs or cutbacks; the mayor says he can't promise that.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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