We assume most Chicagoans seldom set foot in the McCormick Place after the Auto Show. The nation’s largest convention center is also a microcosm of how the city and state does business. It’s a political playpen where politicians and unions exert their influence on the ingenuous outside businesses. more ›

Last week, an agreement between BNSF railroad and a subcontractor used to hire Teamsters union members as hostlers to load the double-stacked shipping containers between trains and trucks expired. in the weeks leading up to the expiration, BNSF had been laying off those employees hired by the subcontractor. Now that there's no agreement in place, BNSF is able to fill these positions directly. Teamsters workers have been invited to reapply for their jobs but are facing a litany of excuses for not being hired, including being overweight. more ›

The owner of a Toronto film studio has purchased 48 acres on the West Side with plans to develop a film and tv production complex reports WBBM. Nick Mirkopoulos chairman of Cinespace Studios said he paid about $20 million for the property at 2558 W. 16th St., a complex of nine buildings which was the Ryerson Inc. headquarters and old metals plant. more ›

The Service Employees International Union is expected to announce today it will endorse Gov. Pat Quinn in next year's gubernatorial election. The 180,000 member organization plans to join forces with the 110,000 member Teamsters to support Quinn. Both organizations are largely concentrated in Cook County. Meanwhile, both the carpenters and laborers unions have endorsed Quinn's primary opponent, state comptroller Dan Hynes. [Sun-Times] more ›

Workers at SK Hand Tools, which has a plant on Chicago's West side and another in suburban McCook, walked out Tuesday morning on a one day unfair labor practices strike. SK Tools withdrew coverage last May without notice, leaving employees there, who are members of Teamsters Local 743 to pay for health care out of pocket. "This has been devastating," Local President Richard Berg said. "It's like anybody else in society. If you don't need health insurance, you're fine, but when you need it, you really need it." Noting that one worker has been hit with $20,000 in medical expenses, he added, "People are threatened with losing their homes, with financial ruin." Like many U.S. manufacturers, SK Tools has been hit in the economic crisis and union officials acknowledge that the company has has been having some financial difficulties. They say that a concession proposal was put forth that would have cut wages by 20 percent, and reduced pay by $4 an hour for the first six months of the new contract. more ›

In a swift and startling move, Teamsters Local 726, which represented truck drivers in the city's Departments of Streets and Sanitation, Transportation, Water Management and Aviation, was taken over by the international union yesterday. Local 726 was one of two unions that held out against the mayor's cost-cutting efforts in this year's budget battle, resulting in nearly 150 city truck drivers being laid off. At the time, the local refused to give up overtime and take furlough days. Tom Clair, then secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 726, had said that "during the winter program, our people work snow. They also work out on the runways at O'Hare. They felt it was too big a hit on the comp time. That accounts for $15,000-to-$30,000 more a year. They weren't willing to give that up." 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 ›

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 ›

• The Sears Tower is opening four glass-bottomed skydecks in June. We are both terrified and intrigued by this.
• The Chi-Town Daily News has a report on the shenanigans going on over at the CHA.
• Three teamsters from Teamsters Local 743 were convicted today on charges of rigging two 2004 elections.

Three Teamsters Local 743 members are currently on trial for rigging a union election in 2004 that they lost anyway. Federal prosecutors say that they changed members' addresses in a union database, mailing the ballots instead to family and friends. The ballots were then marked with votes for the Unity Slate led by Robert Walston. more ›

In a new federal indictment returned on January 22, former president of Teamsters Local 743 Robert Walston is alleged to have "conspire[d] . . . to knowingly and intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, namely, 5 kilograms or more of mixtures and substances containing cocaine." more ›

Robert Hogan, former President of Teamsters Local 714, agreed to leave the union earlier this week amid allegations of misconduct. Hogan, whose family has run the union since the Depression, signed an agreement with the Teamsters' Independent Review Board that he would voluntarily leave the union, agreeing never to serve as an officer or member there, or work as an employee again. Hogan's departure is the result of a recommendation made to international union president James Hoffa, Jr last August by the IRB. The IRB alleged that Hogan had acted against the best interests of union members by hiring Robert Riley as a business agent and organizing director, even though Riley had been barred from the union. The IRB also charged that the local union was failing to represent its membership, had corrupt relationships with companies where members worked, and was using favoritism and nepotism to secure jobs for associates of the Hogan family. more ›

The Teamsters Union, which represents mechanics at Chicago-based United Airlines, is taking its grievances over executive pay and worker compensation directly to the board. In a letter to shareholders, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer C. Thomas Keegel is asking that they withhold votes at the airline's upcoming shareholder meeting in June for six members of the board that set executive pay, including CEO Glenn Tilton. more ›