Mayor Daley: Prepare For Mass Layoffs

Mayor Daley: Prepare For Mass Layoffs
CEOs Tell Mayor They Plan Huge Layoffs In November, December

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Mayor Richard M. Daley says the economic woes in Chicago will get much worse, and more local workers could soon be getting pink slips.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, the news is especially alarming because the discussion concerns not just city jobs, but the private sector. Thus, it seems the City That Works is about to become the city that gets laid off.

Mayor Daley says chief executive officers told him huge layoffs will impact the city this month and into the new year. He also says city, county and state governments should be prepared for their revenue to fall dramatically because of the souring economy.

In addition, the federal bailout plan is changing, and the big three automakers are all warning they could go bankrupt, and lawmakers say if the auto industry goes down, the huge number of jobs lost would cause more house foreclosures.

On Wednesday, Mayor Daley joined with local gas company officials to announce new programs to help low-income customers pay their heating bills.

He disclosed that corporate leaders are telling him they are planning huge layoffs in November and December, which will leave many Chicagoans out of work.

"This is going to be all year, so it's going to be a very frightening economy," Mayor Daley said. "Each one tells me what they're laying off, and they're going to double that next year. We're talking huge numbers of permanent layoffs for people in the economy. It's going to have a huge effect on all businesses."

The mayor said the gravity of the situation cannot be underestimated.

"We never experienced anything like this except people who came from the Depression," Mayor Daley said. "When you have that many layoffs early – and they're telling me this is only the beginning of their layoffs – that is very frightening."

Mayor Daley also warned that local governments will be in jeopardy and may not have enough money to meet payroll, although he is not worried about paying City of Chicago employees.

On Thursday morning, commuters said times are tough even with a job.

"I'm budgeting my money. I paid my bills at the beginning of the month, and that's it. I ride the rest of the month on maybe $10 in my pocket a week," said commuter Kurt Korzi. "It's tough. It's really tough."

"People can't afford to do certain things that they're used to doing, so if there's no revenue coming in, how can a business stay alive?" said Sonya Robinson. "They say that they're going to help us and technically, it's not helping us, because we're paying more taxes and working like a slave, and not getting anything out of it in return."

The City Council will take a vote on the 2009 city budget Nov. 19. The budget contains layoffs, a slowdown in police hiring, and new taxes and fines – some bad news for Chicagoans who remain employed.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/daley.c....2.863161.html

[ralok_j]

Another interesting piece about another midwest city:

City Council: Detroit needs $10-billion bailout

http://www.freep.com/article/2008111...065/1199/PRINT