When Mike Madigan and Mayor Daley declined Balgojevich's invitation to meet (again) yesterday to try to work out a deal to fund transit, Rick Harris, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308, which represents rail workers on the CTA, told the press that "we are about at wits' end." Harris was reacting to the looming "Doomsday 3", as the RTA's labor unions are concerned that a plan to overhaul pension and health care...
Results tagged “chicagofederation”
Here’s what we missed as we considered an Obama/Keyes rematch: Breathe a sigh of relief. In the eleventh hour, the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Federation of Musicians reached a new multiyear contract. We can’t tell you more than that until the official announcement on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal’s Terry Teachout considers recent controversies involving Chicago theater critics reviewing (or not reviewing) “developmental” productions and wonders whether critics can or should be kept away...
About 17,000 union members, along with their friends and their families, filled the south end of Soldier Field for a debate, hosted by the AFL-CIO, among the Democratic contenders. A sweaty sea of union members in colored T-shirts, representing everyone from the Service Employees International Union to the United Steelworkers, from the AFSCME to the IUPAT, drank cold bottles of water and listened to Democrats talk about how their administration would work for working families,...
With most of Tuesday's election settled around the city, 24 candidates are gearing up for the special election April 17. The big story that is coming out of this vote is the role that unions played in this election. Of the twelve runoffs, five were candidates that were endorsed by the Chicago Federation of Labor. Two are union members; Leroy Jones in the 21st is a member of SEIU Local 73, and Toni Foulkes is...
Although it's pretty much a given that Daley will coast to re-election at the end of next month, by no means does it mean that his time is office has been an unmitigated success. In a report card scheduled to be issued today by a coalition of interest groups and local activists called "Developing Government Accountability to the People," Daley received low grades in many areas, including economic development, transportation, education, criminal justice and ethics....
Here at the Chicagoist offices, we're keeping an eye on some of the bigger ward races in town, as well as a few that we just find interesting. The weirdness and anger in the 46th Ward, for example, occupies a lot of our time, as do the accusations and oddball press releases that come out of 49. The 7th Ward is always a fun distraction, and anytime we see Beavers and Jackson in the news,...
"wrong side of the tracks" by intersubjectiv.
Since the news yesterday was dominated with Obama's big tease, a story that has been brewing for a while might have been missed, even if you follow politics pretty closely. Chicago unions, led by break-away schismatic the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and their supporters, have not only withheld endorsing Daley, but are actively targeting aldermen in a series of wards where they think are ripe for change. Citing a whole list of grievances with...

Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
