Even though the Chicago Transit Authority and the unions representing its workers agreed to an historic 5-year deal, it hasn't received the necessary funding to avoid its so-called "doomsday" scenario. The Chicago Tribune reports that 1,094 employees, mostly front-line workers, received notices Wednesday that they will be laid-off in September unless legislators agree to a funding package that will fill a $100 million budget hole.
According to the Tribune:
The threatened layoffs are part of the CTA's contingency budget, which that includes service cuts and fare increases. The job cuts, fare increases and service reductions would be rescinded if new funding is approved, officials said.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 31 July 2007 )
Wal-Mart eyes 5 S. Side sites for supercenters
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
If aldermen object, retailer will try neighboring wards
BY
City Hall Reporter
Wal-Mart is prepared to move "in six to 12 months, maybe sooner" to build as many as five South Side supercenters, but the world's largest retailer is scouting sites in neighboring wards in case local aldermen resist, a top official said Tuesday.
Faced with their first hard choice in implementing Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's cost-cutting budget, commissioners blinked Tuesday.
Over Stroger's objection, commissioners sidelined a proposal to outsource janitorial services at Oak Forest Hospital and lay off 96 workers. The plan is slated to save $1.5 million annually.
"This has to end. It seems like every other Friday people are getting laid off," said Commissioner Deborah Sims (D-Chicago), who supported Stroger's budget in February but balked Tuesday on the outsourcing plan. "We need to stop laying people off until we get some kind of explanation and show us where it is in the budget."
Contract talks affecting a unit of Comcast workers have boiled over prompting the union to file a complaint with the Chicago Cable Commission, accusing the company of discriminatory pay practices against black workers, and to hold a strike authorization vote Wednesday night.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21, whose contract with Comcast expires today, represents roughly 80 mostly African-American cable installers, service repair and line maintenance workers at the company. The workers provide video, high-speed data and telephony services and are based out of the company's West Cortland Street facility. They make considerably less than their non-union Comcast counterparts who perform the same work, said Jerry Rankins, business representative for the union.
A bill aimed at eliminating the practice of deliberately misclassifying workers as private contractors by construction companies passed the state Senate with a 38-19 vote . It now moves to the Governor where it awaits signature.
HB1795 seeks to stem the tide of an illegal practice used by some in the construction industry that allows them to rob the state of vital revenues and undercut honest contractors.
