Oct 19, 2009 11:58 am US/Central
Daley: City Managers To Take Nearly Five Weeks Off
Thousands Of City Workers To Take 24 Unpaid Days In 2010
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Faced with a $550 million budget deficit, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley on Monday said that all non-union city workers would take nearly five working weeks of unpaid leave next year to save the city money.
Daley announced plans Monday to save $114 million by requiring 3,600 non-union city workers to take 24 unpaid days off, eliminating 220 vacant jobs and cutting expenses like travel and supplies by $20 million.
It's about a nine percent pay cut next year for top city officials, administrators and middle managers at City Hall -- including the mayor himself. That will cost about $8,100 for a boss who usually makes $90,000.
Tough times, call for tough decisions and Daley and the City are dealing with them as they see fit - no problem there. It is the concept of taking a pay cut that I believe is misleading. When you reduce someone's pay and still require them to work the same amount of time, then you have a pay cut. When you reduce someone's pay AND reduce an equivalent amount of time, the worker has been put on a reduced work schedule but still gets paid the same rate. There are many for profit companies that implemented true pay cuts as opposed to work schedule reductions.
By the way, I keep looking for a corresponding cut in Federal workers compensation (Congress). Did I miss that?
Copyright 2009 Jim Lindell