Daley Lays Off Hundreds of Workers Today
This will be the scene for hundreds of city workers today -- a handshake and your stuff in a box.
Mayor Daley announced he's laying off more than 400 city workers by the end of the day, and he's blaming unions for the job losses.
The mayor said two unions just wouldn't agree to concessions that included unpaid time off, and so cutting jobs is the only way the city can come close to balancing its books.
The concessions aren't just little hits -- they include 24 unpaid days off for every worker over the next two years, and taking comp time instead of cash for overtime. All told, that's almost a 10 percent pay cut, CBS2 reported.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Teamsters 726 are the unions that wouldn't agree to the mayor's concessions plan. The way the AFSCME sees it, it's Daley who's to blame for not accepting their concessions plan and laying off workers.
"After weeks of refusing to consider any alternative approach, city officials finally did talk with AFSCME leaders at City Hall last night and by phone this morning," the union said in a release.
"AFSCME does not believe that a single one of our members should be laid off. We have offered a solution that provides the city with the same dollar savings that the layoffs will bring."
The union said it already agreed to concessions last fall, which meant unpaid time off and the resulting lost in pay. And at that time, the city laid off 100 of its members anyway.
The union said it put the mayor's plan to a vote, and by a 4-to-1 margin, its members rejected it.
"This vote said very clearly that our members -- some of the lowest-paid city employees -- could not afford a pay cut of that magnitude," the union said.
The union said its alternate plan would save the city the same amount as the layoffs.
Posted Wednesday, Jul 15, 2009 - 11:39 AM CST
