Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation snow fighting truck (Credit: CBS)
CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago could save $18 million a year by eliminating city workers who drive other workers around–and then just wait for the work to be done, a new report shows.
In his latest audit showing ways the city can save money, Inspector General Joe Ferguson says about 200 city drivers unnecessarily drive other workers to small jobs–like a paint crew–and then drive them back.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore Reports
Ferguson says the work crews could drive themselves. He says eliminating those $33.85 an hour jobs would save $18 million a year.
Ferguson also says most of the city’s 1,800 truck drivers are used efficiently for such jobs as plowing snow and disposing of garbage.
However, the 200 truck driving jobs are guaranteed under a union contract negotiated by Mayor Daley. It expires in 2017, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Daley signed the 10-year agreement with the Teamsters and other unions to guarantee labor peace through 2016, when he hoped Chicago would host a Summer Olympic Games ultimately awarded to Rio de Janeiro.
Ferguson argues that the long-term contracts have “hamstrung” the city, raising “many of the same concerns” posed by the 75-year, $1.15 billion parking meter lease.
