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Chicago shuts down for a day to save money The city of Chicago has shut down all "non-essential" public services for a day in an attempt to claw back a $300m (£184m) budget deficit. Published: 8:44AM BST 18 Aug 2009 In the first of three Reduced Service days, rubbish collections were suspended and libraries and health centres were closed. Workers have been asked to take an enforced unpaid holiday in a move the authorities hope will save $8.3m. Chicago's Mayor Richard M Daley thanked state employees for their "sacrifice". "Every dollar we save from these measures helps to save jobs,...

August 17, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- On a day that city workers are on forced-furloughs to save money, the Chicago Fire Department confirms that it afforded special treatment this weekend to the wife of Rev. Jesse Jackson by assigning a city ambulance to drive her from O'Hare Airport to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Chicago Fire Department rules and regulations explicitly state that requests for non-emergency transports by city ambulances must be denied without the approval of the fire commissioner or his designee. That is just what happened over the weekend, when special treatment was afforded to Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of...

California's government is in a state of civil war. The battlegrounds: courtrooms from San Francisco to Sacramento. The fight: furloughs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration spent $228,000 on furlough litigation as part of an eight-month contract that ended in June with Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, a Sacramento-based law firm. "These legal costs wouldn't be so high if people weren't fighting the furloughs," said Lynelle Jolley, spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger's Department of Personnel Administration. "That's ludicrous," said Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents about 95,000 state workers. "What audacity, to blame the very people they're hurting...

Not all of the hundreds of cuts Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed last week to close California's yawning budget gap are destined to occur. But it's virtually certain that he'll cut state workers' paychecks again. The only question is how he'll get it done. The Democratic-controlled Legislature could refuse to go along with the governor's announced plan for a 5 percent across-the-board pay cut. The governor can get the same payroll savings, however, by adding another furlough day to the two he's already ordered. That power turns what would normally be a legislative suicide mission – persuading Democrats to whack the...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made grim history twice in the last week. First, he started state worker furloughs on Friday, then four days later warned he might lay off 10,000 of those with the least service time.Both were big news, but the furloughs are a much, much bigger deal with implications beyond the state budget. Here's why: Schwarzenegger found a new way to use executive power over what the state pays its employees. It's a game changer that gives more muscle at the labor bargaining table to this governor and to those who follow.Schwarzenegger accomplished this by deftly defining the state's...

A Sacramento appeals court has denied a state union's request to immediately stop furloughs that started today and are keeping thousands of state workers home. The 3rd District Court of Appeal said the effort by California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment, came too late and was incomplete, making it impossible for judges to determine if an immediate halt to state furloughs was legally justified. CASE attorney Patrick Whalen said he expected to provide additional information today and hoped the court would reconsider the request. The petition had asked the court to delay the unpaid days...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remained at odds today with other elected statewide officials about whether unpaid furloughs apply to their employees after a Sacramento judge said his previous ruling didn't address the issue. Judge Patrick Marlette, responding to a letter from Controller John Chiang, said his decision last Thursday supporting Schwarzenegger's emergency furlough power was silent on whether the governor could furlough some 15.600 employees who work for the Lt. Governor, the Secretary of State, the Treasurer, the Superintendent of Instruction, the Insurance Commissioner and the Attorney General. Schwarzenegger's legal team interpreted language in the original decision as giving Schwarzenegger legal...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Wednesday that if public employee unions don't accept twice-monthly furloughs, he will lay off state workers to reduce salary costs by more than a billion dollars. The Republican governor signed an executive order last month requiring 238,000 state workers to take two unpaid days off each month starting in February. His order also mandated that the state send warning letters to state workers with the least seniority notifying them that their jobs were threatened. Labor unions are fighting the governor's furlough order in Sacramento Superior Court, where a judge is expected to rule this week whether...

Democratic State Controller John Chiang announced Wednesday he will refuse to reduce state worker pay as demanded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, possibly sparing 238,000 public employees from furloughs and pay cuts unless a judge decides otherwise next week. Chiang, who is responsible for issuing state payroll, said the Republican governor would need to obtain a court order to implement the twice monthly furlough plan. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order in December requiring that state workers take two unpaid days off each month through June 2010, equivalent to nearly a 10 percent pay cut. The governor's plan would shut down most...

Gov...Schwarzenegger's administration announced Friday that California will be closed for business the first and third Fridays of each month starting Feb. 6 as the state grapples with a $40 billion budget deficit. State officials acknowledged that services to the public will suffer. Drivers, for instance, should start acquainting themselves with the Department of Motor Vehicles' Web site. After eliminating its Saturday service last year, the DMV will be among various state departments to shut its doors two more days each month to help the state save an estimated $1.3 billion through June 2010. Motorists at the crowded DMV outlet at...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is telling labor unions that it will order two-day-a-month unpaid furloughs for state employees beginning in February to help the state save cash amid its budget crisis. . . . The furloughs would apply to all general fund and special fund employees and amount to about a 10 percent pay cut, Blanning said. The unpaid furloughs would begin in February and continue through June 2010, he said.

Do you support Gov. Martin O'Malley's reported proposal to save $34.4 million by temporarily furloughing state employees and shutting down state government operations for two days?

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2007 – The $70 billion in emergency funds approved this week by Congress has sidestepped the need for the Army to send out furlough notices for now, but that money won’t last long, the Pentagon’s top official said today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listen to a reporter's question during a briefing at the Pentagon, Dec. 21, 2007. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “There will be no furlough notices sent out in the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2007 – It’s too soon to start celebrating the Senate’s action yesterday to add $70 billion for Iraq war funding to the omnibus spending bill, the Pentagon press secretary told reporters today. The action, which needs approval by the House and President Bush, could delay the need for the Defense Department to furlough civilian employees, but still won’t provide full war funding, Geoff Morrell said. “Clearly, we are encouraged by some of the signs we have seeing on the Hill, a recognition that our needs are serious, are great, and our troops need to be funded as...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2007 – Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter and Army Secretary Pete Geren sent letters to installation commanders Dec. 12 telling them to prepare for possible furloughs due to a lack of funding for the global war on terror. The secretaries alerted commanders to prepare to scale down operations if necessary. “Unless Congress provides supplemental funding for war-related operations, it will become necessary for you to furlough civilian employees at your base or installation,” Winter wrote. “You must follow all applicable legal, regulatory, and labor relations contractual requirements pertaining to furloughs, including requirements for advance notification to those...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2007 – A Congressional Research Service report confirms the Defense Department estimate for when the Army and Marine Corps will run out money and be forced to furlough civilians and shutter bases. The report, released Dec. 6, says the Army will run out of operations and maintenance money by mid-February, and the Marine Corps will run out of funds a month later. Amy Belasco, Stephen Daggett and Pat Towell wrote the report, titled “How Long Can the Defense Department Finance FY2008 Operations in Advance of Supplemental Appropriations?” The service, a part of the Library of Congress, affirmed...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2007 – The Defense Department is developing plans to send furlough notices to some civilian workers as early as mid-December if Congress doesn’t pass the $178 billion emergency supplemental funding bill quickly, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress today that the Defense Department will need to borrow – or “reprogram” – funds from the Navy and Air Force and the working capital fund to cover ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Morrell said. “Without dedicated funding for the global war on terror, we have been forced to...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2007 – There is no “wiggle room” in the Defense Department budget, and Congress must pass the emergency supplemental spending bill as soon as possible to avoid halting operations and furloughing civilian employees, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. (Video) During a Pentagon news conference, Gates reinforced the message he delivered to Congress yesterday, when he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Capitol Hill and briefed members of both houses. Gates strongly urged Congress to pass a global war on terror funding bill that the president would sign, he said. The secretary said the...

CEO of the Cockpit #14: The New Year December 20, 2002 By Kevin Garrison It's been a tough year at the airline, and next year is looking even worse. But AVweb's CEO of the Cockpit knows that one way to break the cycle of gloom is to make resolutions about your own life and let the airline take care of itself. A nother layover, another motel restaurant, another inane discussion about whatever with the co-pilot "du jour." With the end of the year looming and tomorrow night's New Years Eve ? a Jackson, Mississippi, layover ? on the horizon, it...