Talking Too Tough at the Top

Chicago's mayor derails the "city that works "

This wouldn't have happened if Mayor Daley were still alive." So Chicagoans console themselves when things go wrong, and last week, it is true, the late Richard J. Daley would scarcely have recognized his beloved city. A transit workers' strike stranded a million commuters and temporarily disrupted the city's economy. A walkout by oil delivery truck drivers caused a gasoline shortage. For the first time, the city's firemen voted to authorize a strike. And the school system, the nation's third largest, was on the verge of bankruptcy and in danger of closing. The "city that works" had never been so close to a breakdown.

In his 22 years as mayor, Daley faced strikes aplenty; yet he had a knack of finessing and postponing problems until, sooner or later, they went away. Combative Jane Byrne, however, makes the mistake of attacking labor unions and other groups rather than hunkering down with them in search of a compromise.

Byrne's biggest problem has been the transit strike. By taking a tough stand, she initially had public opinion on her side. The 11,000 transit workers are among the highest paid in the nation; experienced bus drivers make $10.58 an hour. Only a week before the walkout, a settlement seemed in sight. The two Amalgamated Transit Union locals agreed to two cost of living increases a year with a 14% annual ceiling. But then talks abruptly broke off.

Part of the reason was that Mayor Byrne talked too much. She had threatened to bring in strikebreakers if the drivers walked out. She called in the parties to the dispute and announced a settlement before it was actually made. Says a former aide to Daley: "He never called people in. He waited until both sides asked him to act. Then he got to work." Daley also had clout and trust. A handshake was sufficient to seal an agreement. Because she is new to the scene, Byrne's handshake is not yet enough. With the help of management personnel, she got some trains rolling, and rode on one herself. A Chicago judge then came to her rescue by issuing a permanent injunction against the strike and ordering binding arbitration of the dispute. After four days in the yards, the buses and trains were in service, but the walkout left scars on both the city and the mayor.

Meanwhile, Byrne, the Chicago school board and state officials were scrambling to put together an emergency loan package to keep the schools from collapsing. Shut out of the bond market in November because of a poor rating, the educational system faces a shortfall of $459 million by the end of the fiscal year on Aug. 31, 1980. It needs $190 million just to keep going through January.

Again, Byrne's pugnacious style seemed to make the problem worse. She got into a public fight with Illinois Governor James Thompson over whether the state or the city had the ultimate responsibility of financing the schools. Says Jerome Van Gorkom, who was appointed by Byrne to head an oversight committee for the schools: "The situation is not serious; it is desperate."

Daley is at least partly to blame for the crisis. He had a habit of agreeing to generous labor settlements for teachers without knowing how he was going to pay for them. To some extent, he mortgaged the future of the schools to buy short-term labor peace. But he also had the muscle to keep the city going by prying additional aid out of the state legislature. Byrne will have to relearn some of Daley's lessons if the city that works is going to start working again. qed

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