At Alt Budget Hearing, Chicagoans Decry Privatization and Job Cuts

[marmar]

from In These Times:



CHICAGO–Labor leaders and workers fear that the proposed 2013 budget, which the City Council will vote on November 15, could mean many job cuts as the city moves to increase efficiency, cut services and possibly introduce more privatization in various departments.

Chicago union leaders say it is unclear exactly what the economic and job impacts of the proposed budget will be for public-sector workers and other residents, and there are not as many obvious job cuts as last year’s budget. In his budget address to the City Council on October 10, Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised no new taxes or fees in spite of the $298 million budget shortfall, and said 500 new police officers would be hired and 275 “unnecessary” administrative positions eliminated. But even union and community leaders who have parsed the recently released voluminous document say it is unclear what exactly it means for the city.

Meanwhile, residents feel they have been denied the chance to get more information and voice their opinions, especially since Mayor Rahm Emanuel has decided not to hold a series of evening neighborhood public meetings as has been the norm since former Mayor Harold Washington started them three decades ago. In response, city councilmembers of the Progressive Caucus are holding three evening community meetings of their own, including one at a high school the evening of Oct. 24

There, numerous residents—many of them public-sector union members—voiced their concerns about privatization, job loss, discrimination and the overall priorities of the city administration. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14097/at_alternative_budget_hearing_chicagoans_decry_privatization_and_job_cuts/