Friday is scheduled to be a "reduced-service" day in Chicago, where as a money-saving move the city will shut down most city services, leaving only a skeleton crew to handle emergencies and conduct necessary business such as collecting revenue.
About 11,000 workers are expected to stay home the day after Thanksgiving and again on Christmas Eve. The first of the three reduced services days in 2009 was Aug. 17.
City workers also have been taking furlough days throughout the year to help reduce payroll costs.
For some reason, this includes shutting down half the fueling stations in the city so squads and fire equipment have to travel miles out of their areas to refuel, contributing to backlogs, increasing response times and reducing backup. We thought the automation of the fueling stations would have eliminated the need for shutting them down at all (it's automated, see?) but that doesn't seem to be the case.
On a brighter note, about three-quarters of the exempt staff are taking their mandatory furlough days this long holiday weekend and for some reason, the Districts and Units are operating seamlessly. Useless meetings are down, reductions in paperwork are reported and somehow, operations continue without a hitch.
Next year, mandatory furlough days are going from 12 to 24 for exempts. We'd propose expanding that to 48 days at a minimum. It seems to be working wonders.
On a brighter note, about three-quarters of the exempt staff are taking their mandatory furlough days this long holiday weekend and for some reason, the Districts and Units are operating seamlessly. Useless meetings are down, reductions in paperwork are reported and somehow, operations continue without a hitch.
Next year, mandatory furlough days are going from 12 to 24 for exempts. We'd propose expanding that to 48 days at a minimum. It seems to be working wonders.
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