Apparently it's not just the UAW that is not fond of our Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, the animosity goes even farther up. In a video of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka taken last weekend when he showed up in Madison, Wisconsin, in support of the union members protesting there, he seemed to be more than pleased that Emanuel had vacated Washington, D.C., to return to the Windy City. more ›

The Chicago Spire may have new hope of becoming something beyond a really expensive hole in the ground. According to a report by the Tribune, the building's developer, Garrett Kelleher, is slated to meet with today leaders of AFL-CIO pension investment trusts which could get the ball rolling on a new loan. That land loan would total $170 million and, according to the Trib, "would retire Shelbourne Development Group Inc.'s loan from Anglo Irish Bank, pay off liens and restart work on a project dormant for more than a year." If this sounds familiar it's because similar talks happened earlier this year but were shelved when the trusts decided to make a potential deal to help build an Olympic Village the top priority. With the Olympics not coming to Chicago, that's put the Spire back at the top of the list. Per the Trib: more ›

The infamously embattled Chicago Spire may have found new life in its battle to simply get built. While right now it remains Chicago's most famous hole in the ground, developer Shelbourne Development Groupis scheduled to meet today with members of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trusts to discuss using some pension funds to get the building's construction going again. Construction was halted last fall and, earlier this year, the financial woes of the developer deepened thanks to fallout from the economic crisis in Ireland. more ›