Windy City shuts down non-essential services.

[Christine Murray]

Three reduced service days are scheduled in Chicago for 2009. The aim is to address a $30 million budget shortfall. Each reduced service day will save authorities $8.3 million. The reduced service days involve non-essential services : rubbish collection, library services and health centres. The pay cuts are not voluntary. Beeb : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8206433.stm

<Mod> This thread has been merged with "Chicago Public Services Shut Down". </Mod>

[Sierra]

Public services in Chicago such as health care centers, libraries and refuge collection have been shutdown for the day in an attempt to face off a budget shortfall of $300m.

Could the same have to occur in Ireland in the future?

BBC NEWS | Americas | Chicago shuts down to save money

[Christine Murray]

http://www.politics.ie/us-politics/9...-services.html

[Libero]

Public services in Chicago such as health care centers, libraries and refuge collection have been shutdown for the day in an attempt to face off a budget shortfall of $300m.

Could the same have to occur in Ireland in the future?

BBC NEWS | Americas | Chicago shuts down to save money

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]Could it occur? It’s the inevitable result of 1) an authority (local or the state) running a budget deficit, and 2) where the responsible authority can’t impose a reduction in pay rates. The only way to close the gap is to cut back services. The impact is especially hard on those services that are labour-intensive but also rely on at least some non-pay spending.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]So unless you think Ireland’s local and national authorities are about to magically make their deficits disappear and, even more magically, negotiate big pay reductions, then its inevitable that services will be reduced. The only question is whether this happens before or after the date when the authority physically can’t obtain anymore credit and runs out of cash.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Verdana]It places trades unions in a difficult position, also. They claim to care deeply about the level and quality of public service provision. But in a cash crunch, and unless authorities’ incomes can somehow be raised, there is a choice to be made between maintaining levels of service and levels of pay.[/FONT] [/FONT]

[cactusflower]

Here, rather than a one day shut down, we are having a quietly irrational erosion of services, with doctors sitting idle on full pay while wards are closed etc.

The first cut was last year - home helps - does anyone remember that one? Home helps keep elderly people living viably in their own homes, rather than in expensive and institutionalised nursing homes. Probably the best value of any public spending, and the first thing cut.

[Libero]

Here, rather than a one day shut down, we are having a quietly irrational erosion of services, with doctors sitting idle on full pay while wards are closed etc.

The first cut was last year - home helps - does anyone remember that one? Home helps keep elderly people living viably in their own homes, rather than in expensive and institutionalised nursing homes. Probably the best value of any public spending, and the first thing cut.

Yup, it's very bad management of a downturn.

Ideally, if spending has to be cut, it would be cut in a way that preserves as much as possible the level of service.

But in practice spending is cut according to how easy it is to do so. As a result, we see permanent staff being kept with no reduction in pay and contract workers being let go completely - all with scant regard to the impact on services.

Then again, if pay was to be cut across the board - on the basis that it keeps contract workers employed and services delivered - public sector unions might well react with a strike that ensures no services at all.