Labor battles are most often measured in months. Some, like the Congress Hotel strike in Chicago or the recently successful effort to win union recognition at Smithfield Foods in North Carolina, have stretched on for years. Both have been extraordinary models of corporate campaigns and have successfully mobilized community allies, but this alone was not enough to bring a quick victory. When the struggle is over severance pay because of a factory closure, the matter often ends up resulting in a long drawn out legal battle. But it took the workers at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago a mere six days to defeat a recalcitrant employer, one of the nation’s biggest banking corporations, and to win all of their demands. The success of the workers at Republic, members of United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 1110, has raised the stakes for corporate America and raised the bar for labor unions across the country.
Developer Krzysztof Karbowski co-produces an award-winning television show, but his plans to redevelop a prominent Bucktown intersection hasn’t won any accolades with the locals.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) asked a Chicago City Council committee last week to stop parking companies from booting cars on private property in his West Side ward.
Download the 32nd Ward Parking Meter Privatization Assessment prepared by my office on December 3, 2008 in response to the Mayor’s privatization proposal. We prepared this report after my request to see the city valuation was rebuffed in the finance committee. We only had two days to prepare a response but there was something wrong with the deal from day one.