No agreement by mayor, 7 employee unions by midnight, start of the fiscal year.

Mayor Richard Berry came out minutes after midnight and said no agreements were reached.

“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.