Aldermen Burke, Reilly Call On Library Employees To Forgo Raises To Reopen Libraries On Mondays

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 11, 2012 3:10PM

The standoff between Mayor Emanuel and unionized Chicago Public Library employees took another twist yesterday as two prominent aldermen suggested library employees give up planned pay raises in order to restore library service on Mondays.

14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke, the longtime chairman of the City Council Finance Committee, and 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly, Vice Chairman of the Budget Committee, sent a letter to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer suggesting forgoing a proposed 3.5 percent pay raise in 2012 could restore 120 of the 176 jobs that were cut when the CPL made the decision last week to shut down on Mondays while the city and AFSCME continue negotiations.

“We think the public would be surprised to know — as we were — that all city AFSCME employees are receiving a 3.5 percent pay increase in 2012,” Burke and Reilly wrote in their letter to Bayer, calculating the cost of the raises would total $1.6 million. We feel that's a bit disingenuous, considering how ensconced Burke is in City Hall dealings, that he and Reilly only recently discovered AFSCME was due a pay raise in their contract.

“We strongly urge you and your members to put on hold the pay raise for AFSCME library employees which, it should be noted, is one of the largest of any public employee pay raises. It would allow the city to keep libraries open six days a week in our communities, ensuring critical community anchors serve our residents and provide children a place to study and learn after the school day has ended,” the letter states.

“We believe this must be part of the solution ... as opposed to rolling back the employee head tax reduction, as your union leadership has recently suggested. A reduction in this tax is essential to economic growth and job creation throughout Chicago and is not an option when our goal is to strengthen the city’s economic future.”

AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said he welcomed the "exchange of ideas." However, “We don’t think the values reflected in this particular proposal — values that prioritize corporate tax cuts over fair pay for working people — are in step with most peoples’ values.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday that AFSCME was using the Monday libary closings as a "bargaining chip" intended to "achieve something else." It's the latest salvo fired by Emanuel in his battles with labor. The mayor has long said that furlough days under former Mayor Richard M. Daley were no longer acceptable to balancing the city budget and that he would be forced to make tough decisions "on behalf of the Chicago taxpayers" if AFSCME and other labor unions refuse to negotiate on budget cuts.