With less than 48 hours until CTA service cuts are scheduled to take effect, Mayor Daley is stepping in to the contemptuous fray.
Daley will bring the heads of the CTA's two biggest unions, Amalgamated Transit Union locals 241 and 308, as well as officials from the CTA, to a last-minute negotiating session in City Hall at 4 p.m. today.
"I have asked leaders of the unions representing CTA employees and CTA officials to come to my office so that we can -- I hope -- reach an agreement to prevent bus and train service cuts from going into effect this Sunday," Daley said in a statement.
"It's important to remember that at City Hall, our unions have been understanding about the city's budget challenges and were willing to be part of the solution," Daley said in a statement. "We want to avoid job layoffs and service cuts at the CTA as well. To do that, we need the full participation of the unions to arrive at a responsible solution to the CTA's remaining deficit."
What the mayor brings to the table in this hostile atmosphere, though, is unknown. Retiring Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon told the Sun-Times he was unsure what influence Daley could have.
"Any time you meet with the mayor, it’s a hopeful sign," Gannon said. "But there’s got to be some will on both sides to get something done. At the present time, I don’t see the will from either side."
Indeed, the mud-slinging continued this morning, as ATU 308 president Robert Kelly accused the CTA of planning to keep on some managers it had planned to lay off — a claim the CTA swiftly denied.
Kelly said, however, he was happy to sit down with the mayor's office today, but he hoped Daley would bring something to the table other than negotiating prowess.
"If there’s any way we can avoid this, I'm not going to say no. We definitely don't want to see this happen," Kelly said. "But my standpoint is still the same: There’s gonna have to be something done here from the mayor’s office."
Watch the Current this afternoon and evening for more updates.
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