Posted by John Byrne at 4:25 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley gave no indication today that an end to CTA service cuts is imminent, pointing out that negotiations between CTA officials and labor leaders representing bus and rail drivers were going on for months before more than 1,000 employees were laid off Sunday.
"They’ve renegotiated everything," Daley said. "This went on for months. This is nothing new."
"(Labor leaders) just openly said their members said ‘No,’ " the mayor said, referring to a meeting last Friday in his office when he urged the union heads to convince their membership to make concessions rather than accept the layoffs.
Some involved in the negotiations had expressed hope that the service cuts could be restored within two weeks if the unions and CTA management could agree on cost-cutting moves.
The presidents of the unions representing CTA bus drivers and train conductors insist the CTA is unfairly trying to foist concessions such as pay freezes and unpaid furlough days on the employees without cutting costs in less painful ways. CTA officials went ahead with the layoffs after the unions refused to agree to the concession proposals.
"It’s still an ongoing negotiation to really educate (CTA employees)," the mayor said at an event to announce a campaign to combat the culture of silence that often hampers police efforts to arrest perpetrators of violent crime.
Daley reiterated that riders are more willing to put up with longer waits for buses and trains than higher fares. "It’s a hundred million (dollar CTA deficit). If you raise fares, people don’t like it. They’ve been working hard, CTA, doing everything possible."
"Again, you can’t increase fares. It’s impossible to increase fares," Daley said when asked if the city can make do for an extended time with fewer buses and trains on the streets. "And there’s no money — a hundred million dollars — around. And this has been talked about for four months, and they’ve been working on it, looking at it, what service they cut, what they can do, and they’re always adjusting."