Emanuel Sending Out Layoff Notices

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 15, 2011 4:10PM

Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist

Showing that he's willing to walk the walk, Mayor Emanuel is sending out layoff notices to 625 city employees after he said labor unions didn't agree to the $20 million in work-rule changes he laid out to help balance the budget.

Emanuel has already announced that he will move to privatize custodial jobs at all city buildings, affecting the Chicago Public library and both airports, benefits management, the water management department’s call center and delay miles of curb and gutter repairs in an effort to save the city money. Cuts have already hampered the ability of Streets and San to remove trees damaged by the recent storms.

AFSCME Council 31 president Henry Bayer said that Emanuel has not negotiated in good faith with labor over any proposed work-rule changes.

“We’ve gotten no letter asking for a meeting. We got one phone call late in the afternoon, wanting to know what we thought of their proposal. We said, ‘What proposal?’”

Emanuel has said he would like labor unions to come up with the additional $10 million in work rule changes necessary to prevent the city budget deficit from exploding even further.