Labor Unions Announce City Hall Endorsements, Snub Mayoral Candidates... For Now
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 16, 2010 2:30PM
The Chicago Federation of Labor released its endorsements for the upcoming city elections, and it's more notable as much for who wasn't endorsed as who was.
Let's get to who wasn't. The CFL stopped short of formally announcing a candidate for mayor, but CFL President Jorge Ramirez said that could change as we get closer to the Feb. 22 election. The coalition of over 300 labor unions seemed to favor Gery Chico and Rahm Emanuel over the others, but they did want Emanuel to explain why he once said of the United Autoworkers Union, "Fuck the UAW!", and fears from some in the CFL that Emanuel would favor corporate interests over labor interests, if elected.
Ramirez also said that most of the mayoral candidates interviewed by CFL favored casino expansion in the city and a continuation of the unpaid furlough days CFL agreed upon shortly after city labor unions signed a 10-year agreement with Mayor Daley in 2007 that increased their wages shortly before the economic collapse. “The majority of candidates felt it wasn’t something city workers should have to do again. They said, ‘We understand the city workforce has subjected itself to underemployment,’” Ramirez said. Those furlough concessions expire shortly after the new mayor and City Council takes office.
Here is the CFL's full list of emdorsements.
City Clerk Susana Mendoza
City Treasurer Stephanie Neely
Ward 1 Proco "Joe" Moreno
Ward 2 No Endorsement
Ward 3 Pat Dowell
Ward 4 William "Will" Burns
Ward 5 Leslie Hairston
Ward 6 Freddrenna Lyle
Ward 7 No Endorsement
Ward 8 Michelle A. Harris
Ward 9 Anthony Beale
Ward 10 John Pope
Ward 11 No Endorsement
Ward 12 No Endorsement
Ward 13 Frank Olivo
Ward 14 Ed Burke
Ward 15 Toni Foulkes
Ward 16 JoAnn Thompson
Ward 17 Latasha Thomas
Ward 18 Lona Lane
Ward 19 Matt O'Shea
Ward 20 Willie Cochran
Ward 21 No Endorsement
Ward 22 Ricardo Munoz
Ward 23 Michael Zalewski
Ward 24 No Endorsement
Ward 25 No Endorsement
Ward 26 No Endorsement
Ward 27 Walter Burnett, Jr.
Ward 28 Jason Ervin
Ward 29 Deborah Graham
Ward 30 Ariel Reboyras
Ward 31 Ray Suarez
Ward 32 Scott Waguespack
Ward 33 Richard Mell
Ward 34 Carrie Austin
Ward 35 Rey Colon
Ward 36 John Rice
Ward 37 No Endorsement
Ward 38 Timothy Cullerton
Ward 39 Margaret Laurino
Ward 40 Patrick O'Connor
Ward 41 No Endorsement
Ward 42 Brendan Reilly
Ward 43 Carmen Olmetti
Ward 44 No Endorsement
Ward 45 Marina Faz-Huppert
Ward 46 No Endorsement
Ward 47 Gene Schulter
Ward 48 Harry Osterman
Ward 49 Joe Moore
Ward 50 Debra Silverstein