Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced his plan to balance the City’s 2011 budget, closing a $31 million budget shortfall.
“My duty as mayor is to protect our city’s taxpayers, not the city payroll,” said Emanuel. “I pledged to close this shortfall and offer the city a balanced, realistic budget. Despite ongoing talks between union leaders and members of my administration, they have not embraced any of the needed changes. And no amount of smoke and mirrors can put off the tough decisions any longer.”
On June 30, a previous agreement with the city’s worker unions expired, and furlough days ended for union employees, creating the shortfall. On July 1, Emanuel announced his office had achieved a total savings of $20 million through a hiring freeze for the City’s non-union workforce and a partnership between the Department of Public Health and Federally Qualified Health Centers to provide high-quality health care to taxpayers at a lower cost.
Emanuel asked Chicago’s public employee unions to help him close the remaining shortfall. He offered nine specific work-rule reforms that would total about $18 million in savings and prevent layoffs, and provided a requested two-week extension after the June 30 deadline for union officials to present their ideas.
The nine proposed reforms are as follows:
• Instead of double overtime, the city would pay employees time-and-a-half
• For prep time, city employees would receive regular pay
• Workers would be expected to work a 40-hour week, not a 35-hour week
• Workers doing the same job would receive the same pay, regardless of union
• Salaried employees will receive the same sick days and holidays as hourly employees
• The city would eliminate rate differences for driving different vehicles
• Rate differences for operating different non-vehicle equipment would be eliminated
• A
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