Emanuel: "Furlough Days Have Not Worked"

misterbuckwheattree

Mayor Emanuel is meeting with Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez today, two days before an agreement between the City and labor unions requiring employees to take 24 unpaid furlough days and swap out comp time for cash overtime expires.

It's a major crossroads for Emanuel in the early stages of his mayoralty. If the city and labor can't reach some form of agreement, unionized employees get an automatic pay raise, adding to a budget deficit of over $700 million. $16 million in labor concessions were built into Richard Daley's final budget but have not been negotiated.

Emanuel stated during the mayoral campaign and after his election that he doesn't believe furloughs are an adequate solution to the budget crisis, nor is he in favor of extending them. “I did not create this inherent contradiction,” Emanuel said. “But I will solve it.”

Ramirez will also meet with 40th Ward Ald. John O'Connor, Emanuel's City Council floor leader and the chair of the new Workforce Development and Audit Committee formed to handle labor issues. If Ramirez, O'Connor and Emanuel can't reach an agreement, one option on the table is for the mayor to start sending out layoff notices. O'Connor downplayed that option as Emanuel taking a hard line against organized labor, but instead a harsh economic reality.

"In terms of the traditional, ‘We put you in office,’ that doesn’t exist. But, nobody is approaching this from a standpoint of, ‘You didn’t support me, so I can run roughshod over you,’ ” the alderman said.

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By Chuck Sudo in News on June 28, 2011 1:30 PM

Comments [rss]

Navin_Johnson

The war on private unions has pretty much already been won, now the objective is to destroy public unions, teachers, city workers etc.

For average American workers hours increase, productivity increases, profits increase: wages stagnate/decrease, already marginal benefits decrease and so on. A class war by the wealthy business class on a majority of the citizens.

Austerity for the middle and lower classes, raises for the wealthy people like Rahm and Penny who helped destroy the economy. The fiscal crisis is more about Goldman Sachs, Democrats/Republicans, and people like Rahm than the men and women working on the sewers. Criminalize the average worker instead of the real criminals who are responsible for financial crisis. Demonize city workers, cops, firemen and teachers instead of frauds like Rahm and his banker buddies.

Tax cuts and raises for the wealthy.
Austerity for everyone else.

Petruce_Carrier

If Rahm is out to get the middle/lower classes and unions... who voted him into office? The employees of Goldman Sachs? I know their largesse is mainly directed at high profile Democrats, but I highly doubt there are enough investment bankers in this city to put him into office.

sinkone

Here come the layoffs, blame unions and the middle class once again...Unions made this city great and we will not go down without a fight!!!

ChicagoD

Unions made the city great, but they were mostly manufacturing unions. They were not public employee unions. By all means, don't go down without a fight, but also don't pretend you have anything to do with the Pullman workers et al.