Mayor Emanuel announced plans today to re-open the branch libraries on Monday afternoons. more ›

Seeing that Rahm Emanuel is promising that private donations will cover the security costs for the May NATO and G8 summits, AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer said yesterday a similar proposal could be used to restore library services on Mondays. more ›

We conclude our recaps of the top stories of the year by looking back at the heightened tensions between government and labor in Wisconsin, Illinois and Chicago. more ›

Quinn defended his decision Tuesday to go back on a deal struck with union representatives last year that would have protected state workers from layoffs during the current budget crisis. more ›

A Bruce Springsteen-quoting arbitrator ruled in favor of labor unions in their fight to preserve pay raises that Gov. Quinn is trying to rescind. more ›

AFSCME workers picketed protested Gov. Quinn's rescinding their pay raises yesterday. more ›

Generally it's the ultra-right wing Tea Party movement that rails against public employees growing rich off the tax payer dime, but Chicago Democrats apparently have their own tea bagger in their midst in the form of Rahm Emanuel. more ›

Governor Quinn reached an agreement with AFSCME, the union which represents thousands of state workers this week that could save the state nearly $200 million. The deal brokered by Quinn’s office states that the administration won’t layoff any state workers or close offices until June 30, 2012. The union will make changes to its health insurance plan to save $70 million and slash $50 million in expenses by reducing overtime, furlough days and deferring pay raises. more ›

Since the words "holds his ground" aren't generally used when describing Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, it's not much of a surprise that Quinn has done an about face after receiving criticism on salary raises given to some of his staff over the past year and a half. According to the Tribune, Quinn is rolling back the salaries of his top staffers via furlough days -- the amount of unpaid days off will be doubled to 24 from 12, which will save the state around $18 million in fiscal year 2011. Only $12,982,000,000 to go! more ›

AFSCME workers in Illinois scored a victory yesterday when Judge Todd Lambert issued an injunction to put the proposed layoffs of nearly 2600 workers on hold. The layoffs were scheduled to begin Wednesday, with almost 500 state workers getting the ax. Judge Lambert ruled that the State of Illinois and AFSCME must enter negotiations or arbitration before layoffs can proceed. AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer said, “This is a real victory for our members - those impacted by the layoffs, their families and the well-being of their communities.” more ›

As the deadline passed for two holdout unions to agree to concessions with the City of Chicago, the Mayor announced over 400 layoffs of city workers Wednesday. "I don't want to lay anyone off. It could have been avoided," Daley said Wednesday. "I feel for the members and of course their families." Referring to the truck drivers, library and public health and safety employees that were laid off, he said that Teamsters Local 726 and AFSCME Council 31 "have failed to reach an agreement with the city to take unpaid furlough days for the rest of the year to help us address our budget deficit and of course save our taxpayers money." more ›

Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has issued a statement in regards to the impending city job cuts coming from the Daley administration as a result of that union's refusal to make concessions with City Hall. more ›

Midnight has struck for a pair of unions that have been holding out on making a deal with the City on concessions to save job cuts. Now what? Well, we're not really sure. Mayor Daley will hold a press conference this morning at 10:30 a.m. to discuss what's next, though yesterday he did threaten that 431 jobs from the two unions - 141 from Local 726 of the Teamsters union and 290 from Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - would be cut if the concessions weren't made. But the unions are prepared for the cuts, as Tom Clair, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 726, told the Trib, "I know it's going to happen. I was told by a city official last night that layoff notices would be handed out this morning when workers show up to their shifts. I don't know who, and haven't been notified yet, but I expect the layoffs to be this morning." more ›

While one of three unions that have been holding out on a labor deal with Mayor Daley has agreed to terms with the Mayor, two others are still not budging as Daley's self-imposed midnight deadline approaches tonight. Laborers Local 1001 recently reached an agreement with the Mayor, leaving just the Teamsters and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) as the lone hold-outs, according to the Tribune's Clout Street. Daley has been threatening to lay off as many as 1,500 workers if the city's unions didn't reach a deal with him that included concessions and unpaid holidays. The city claims deals reached with other unions have saved 800 jobs and that if the two hold-out unions don't come to an agreement, around 700 jobs from those two groups will be cut. more ›