UPDATED: No Agreements at City Hall

The mayoral administration and its seven employee unions didn’t reach agreement by midnight, the start of the fiscal year.

Mayor Richard Berry just came out and said no agreements were reached as of midnight.

“Obviously,
this isn’t the end of the process,” the mayor said. “It just takes us
into a
different phase.”

He said he will announce this afternoon some
savings plans that can be put into place during the first pay period of
the new fiscal year. The administration will be entering into federal mediation with some
of the union groups.

Old post:

It’s kind of like pulling an all-nighter in college, except without the fun.

The mayor’s top team is here on the 11th floor of City Hall in hopes of reaching agreement with union leaders on how to reduce employee pay. The budget year starts at midnight, and every day that passes without cuts will cost the city about $30,000 more than is budgeted.

There’s not much optimism at this point (about 10:20 p.m.) that a deal will be reached tonight.

AFSCME went to court today to challenge the city’s labor ordinance, and there’s expected to be hearing on the issue Thursday. Regardless, an AFSCME union leader expected talks to continue in the coming days on coming to an agreement.

The police union might end up in court as well. Their president said he offered millions in concessions — more than the city needed — but was rebuffed by the administration.

Firefighters have already gone to court.