CHICAGO, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The Chicago Transit Authority instituted service reductions and layoffs Sunday as employee negotiations stalled, officials said.
Robert Kelly, head of Amalgamated Transit Union 308, which represents CTA rail workers, said a Saturday decision by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to personally enter negotiations on cutting $95 million from the agency's budget came too late to stop the cuts, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"We were at a stalemate," Kelly told the newspaper. "He did open up the dialogue. That's a start."
Daley told reporters he's "not mad" at the CTA unions, but warned that shared sacrifices would be needed to plug the budget gap.
The Sun-Times said starting Sunday, Chicago's bus service is being cut by 18 percent and service on the city's "L" trains would be slashed by 9 percent, producing longer waits between buses and trains and more crowding.
