Rough Negotiations Ahead For CTA, Unions
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Members of the incoming Emanuel administration are hinting at tough contract negotiations ahead at the Chicago Transit Authority.
As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, Chicago Transit Authority Board Chairman Terry Peterson acknowledges the transit agency is facing some tough fiscal times.
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Peterson and newly-named CTA President Forrest Claypool will see state funding from a two-year agreement run out, while the need for improvements continues.
The contract with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 will also be up for renegotiation, but Peterson will not say what sacrifices he might be asking the employees to make.
"I don't want to stand here today and start negotiating back and forth, in terms of things that we would ask for or things that they would ask for," Peterson said. "As you know, negotiations are a give-and-take process. I look forward to working with Forrest, with labor, as we get to that point to negotiate those contracts."
Peterson spoke after Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel named his transportation team, which includes Claypool, and Washington, D.C., transportation director and former Zipcars executive Gabe Klein as his head of the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Following the announcements, union officials said Claypool is taking over a transit system where morale is at an all-time low thanks to service cuts and layoffs in recent years, even though those workers have come through when it counted.
