Daley: City layoff notices to be sent Friday

One day after organized labor refused to hear his last-minute appeal for furlough days over job cuts, Mayor Daley said today that layoff notices would be going out Friday to "over 1,000 city workers across every department."

Daley characterized the City Hall meeting boycotted by union leaders as the "last opportunity" to stave off layoff notices and avoid the "fear and anxiety" they cost families about "who's gonna be on those lists."

Union leaders stayed away, having already rejected the mayor's demand that their members take 16 days off without pay by Dec. 31 and comp time instead of cash for overtime. They're still holding out for a two-year, no-layoff guarantee that Daley has insisted he cannot give because of steadily declining city revenues.

Barring an 11th-hour agreement, Daley said the city would pull the trigger on layoff notices "to over 1,000 city workers across every department," effective July 1. His staff is still fine-tuning the numbers to minimize the impact on city services.

But, that doesn't mean he's throwing in the towel. He's still holding out hope that the harsh reality of pink slips — along with a letter from the mayor — will convince union leaders to change their minds and swallow the concept of shared sacrifice.

"I understand that, in these very difficult economic times, people do not want to take days off without pay or make any other concessions. But, unless everyone pitches in by giving something, some of our colleagues are going to lose their jobs, and I don't want that to happen," the mayor told reporters.

"I don't want to lay anyone off. I understand people have mortgages and tuition payments. … But, without help from the unions, I cannot do this alone. I don't have all the power that people think I have. I can't just wave a magic wand and produce a balanced budget."

Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon refused to comment on the mayor's appeal.

Labor's decision to boycott this week's City Hall meeting was a blow to Daley's political prestige that would have been unheard of during the 21-year reign of his father, former Mayor Richard J. Daley.

The elder Daley personally brokered many costly labor agreements in his City Hall office, some of which settled crippling strikes.

But, the younger Daley insisted today that he's not taking it personally.

"They didn't show up. I'm not mad at them. What can I say? … They decided to do that. So, fine," he said.

"You get in a war of words on this thing, and no one benefits. Nothing [gets] accomplished. We're talking about peoples' lives. ... This problem is not gonna go away this year or next year. This is much more serious than people think."

Last fall, Daley threatened to lay off nearly 1,000 employees and ended up cutting deals with union leaders that reduced the final number to 420.