The refrain is the same in Chicago as in Philadelphia. City officials want to trim health-care costs, change work rules and contract some jobs to private firms.
As in Philadelphia, the major issue is health care. Chicago`s nearly 40,000 employees pay nothing for health care, and $36 or $48 a year for their families` coverage, depending on the plan.
But there are differences. Chicago has 42 unions for its workers;
Philadelphia has two American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees councils and one union each for police and firefighters.
The Chicago unions` contracts expired Jan. 1, and members have agreed to continue working as the talks go on. This is a mark, said Bob Healey, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, of an ”amicable relationship.” ”The approach is still cooperative,” said Susan Sher, first assistant corporation counsel for the city. But Chicago is eager, she said, to reach an agreement so it can plan its budget.
The unions are equally eager for a solution.
Roberta Lynch, director of public policy for the government workers`
union`s District Council 31, which represents about 20 percent of the city`s workers, said the union is concerned about the slow-moving talks.
”There has been an unnecessary delay in the negotiations, and it is indicative of the fact that the city hasn`t taken its labor relations seriously,” she said.
To which Sher replied, ”At best, AFSCME has listened but hasn`t agreed.”