Bus drivers' union puts off plans to challenge CTA

October 30, 2007 (WLS) -- CTA bus drivers are delaying plans to challenge the layoffs and service cuts the transit agency plans to implement on Sunday if it doesn't get the funding it needs from the state. The union was considering a lawsuit or some type of job action in protest of the CTA's doomsday plan.

The transit union that represents 600 bus drivers, facing layoffs on Sunday, was planning a news conference to claim that layoff notices were not sent out in a timely manner and the CTA has enough cash on hand to keep operating at full tilt. Those allegations could have been followed by a lawsuit, a work stoppage or some other type of job action, but all of the threats are now on hold, because Illinois' political leaders are reassuring the president of the transit union that a bailout will be approved in Springfield this week.

"He is very confident that there will be a resolution, a legislative resolution, to the transit funding crisis," said Melvin Caldwell, transit union lobbyist.

The CTA's bus drivers and rapid transit workers are making significant pay and benefit concessions in a comprehensive transit bill that is up for another vote in Springfield this Friday, even though it fell 10 votes short of passage in September. Frustrated transit workers were considering a lawsuit, a work stoppage or some other job action to challenge the layoffs and service cuts planned for Sunday. But the union is holding off on the threats, even though Mayor Daley says they have every right to be mad and do what they have to do.

"They have done everything that is necessary to get transit funding in Illinois," Daley said.

Daley is pleading with state lawmakers to get it right this time by passing a transit bill that would bail out CTA, Metra and Pace for years. But the bailout relies on a slight increase in the sales tax in the Chicago area, which Governor Blagojevich and a lot of lawmakers oppose. In addition, a lot of downstate Republicans are demanding an infrastructure plan to repair roads, bridges and schools in exchange for their support of a transit bill. That infrastructure plan, which would be paid for with a major increase in gambling, still hasn't been finalized yet.

So the transit union was thinking about taking matters into its own hands, but legislative leaders have apparently convinced them to hold off for now, even though a solution in time to avert Sunday's meltdown is shaky at best.

"The political process is what is it is. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way we want it to," said Caldwell.

"This is the week that adults in Springfield have to do their job," said Mayor Daley.

This has been a day of intense maneuvering behind the scenes, as the Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan tries to round up votes to pass a transit bill, House Minority Leader Tom Cross tries to decide how many Republicans should vote for the bill, even without an infrastructure plan in place or a funding source other than a sales tax, and Governor Blagojevich, who came up with a temporary fix in September by advancing the transit agencies their state aid payments for the year, considers another temporary bailout if the long-term plan fails in Springfield.

As for the CTA, President Carole Brown says if the house and the senate pass a transit bill on Friday, the meltdown scheduled for Sunday will be cancelled.

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