Chicago News
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AUG 30, 2017
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AUG 30, 2017
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Juan M. Calderon, the Chief Operating Officer of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and Director of the Center’s HIV prevention program [LinkedIn], is Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pick [A2017-74] for the city’s Board of Health. His nomination will be considered in Wednesday morning’s meeting of Council’s Health and Environmental Protection Committee. The advisory board made up of health and insurance professionals meets once a month to advise Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita and mayor on health policy and priorities for the city.
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AUG 30, 2017
An ordinance that would overhaul and align Chicago’s electrical code with national fire safety standards is on tap for Thursday's Zoning Committee hearing. Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced the ordinance in July with the intention of making Chicago “one of the first major cities to align with the 2017 National Electric Code.”
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Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Tuesday that she would be negotiating a federal consent decree for police reform with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. To her right, Chicago Corporate Counsel Ed Siskel, to her left, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Credit: Mike Fourcher
Tuesday morning Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel standing beside her, that the State of Illinois has filed a federal suit against the City of Chicago, seeking a consent decree, “to ensure the City enacts comprehensive, lasting reform of the Chicago Police Department,” according to the complaint. The suit seeks creation of an independent monitor answerable to the court, regular status hearings, timeline and financial commitments from the city, and court jurisdiction to enforce reforms if the independent monitor does not find the city’s action appropriate. -
AUG 29, 2017
Ald. Ed Burke questioned Pharma representative Kip Snyder closely in Tuesday's Finance Committee hearing. Credit: Mike Fourcher
Updated 12:12 p.m., Aug. 30, 2017
For over two hours, representatives of drug companies and their trade associations were treated to a slow, torturous witness examination by Finance Committee Chair Ed Burke (14) and his fellow committee members, as they demanded to know why pharmaceutical executives make so much money while drug prices remain so high. The subject matter hearing brought out as many top flight lobbyists as aldermen, for half a dozen industry representatives to testify against Burke and Ald. Sophia King’s (4) Chicago Drug Pricing Transparency Ordinance. -
AUG 29, 2017
Updated 9:43 a.m., Aug. 29, 2017
Over 8,000 workers for airline support services companies at O’Hare and Midway Airports would receive a wage hike and new training as part of a new, proposed license agreement with the City of Chicago. The 30-page license agreement would force companies that provide food, cleaning, security, baggage handling and myriad of other services for the airlines to accept a labor peace agreement, as well as wage hikes. -
Prescription drug price gouging is again on the Finance Committee’s agenda Tuesday. Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Sophia King’s (4) ordinance to require regular financial disclosures of drug prices to reveal dramatic spikes already had a subject matter hearing earlier this month, featuring supporters and representatives from the city’s Department of Public Health. Opponents are expected to speak at this meeting.
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AUG 29, 2017
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AUG 27, 2017
UNLOCKEDAfter months of negotiation, political threats and demonstrations, airport service workers and the contractors that employ them at O’Hare and Midway Airports are hailing a labor peace agreement [O2017-5553] that will be considered in a joint committee hearing Monday at 10:00 a.m. in Council chambers. The meeting of Aviation and Workforce Development Committees will take up an ordinance binding passenger service contractors to wage increases for nearly 8,000 airport employees, starting July 2018, and in perpetuity for any contractors doing business in Chicago airports.
SEIU Local 1, which negotiated the agreement on behalf of the workers, has been working to organize airline contractors that clean cabins, handle baggage, de-ice planes and push wheelchairs at the city’s airports for over two years. Those workers, they say, are often victims of wage theft and poor working conditions, leading to massive turnover.
The union’s organizing efforts were kicked up a notch this spring, when the union mailed flyers attacking Finance Chair Ed Burke (14), Aviation Chair Mike Zalewski (23) and Workforce Chair Pat O’Connor (40) as well as Ald. Tom Tunney (44), Ald. Marty Quinn (13) and Ald. Marge Laurino (40) for not supporting their organizing efforts. Then, in June, SEIU targeted O’Connor with six mail pieces in his city worker-heavy ward, denouncing him for his opposition to union organizing.
Earlier this year an ordinance with broad Council support was introduced, but it was referred to Rules Committee, where many ordinances go to die.
In addition to the labor peace component, the ordinance requires any subcontractors or sublicensees to pay their employees no less than $13.45 per hour for work under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law. Increases are tied to the consumer price index. Tipped employees, like wheelchair attendants and skycaps, would be paid “no less than the minimum hourly wage set by the Minimum Wage Law for workers who receive Gratuities, plus an additional $1.00 per hour.” Tipped employees must be paid minimum wage, which is $8.25 per hour, but an employer may take credit for the employee's tips in an amount not to exceed 40% of the wages under Illinois law.
It also requires that licensees “establish a written training program to ensure that all employees are thoroughly trained and qualified to perform their job duties, including all applicable airport emergency preparedness, evacuation, and first aid procedures.”
Labor peace agreements are typically used to cover hotels, restaurants, casinos, and airports that either receive public funding or do business with a local municipality, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Under the written arrangement between a union and an employer, both sides agree to waive certain labor rights granted under federal law, such as the right to organize or go on strike, as long as the employer treats the workers as a collective bargaining unit, essentially giving them the ability to negotiate wages and benefits. -
It was a strong week for Comm. Luis Arroyo Jr. (D-8), who got a $35,000 transfer in from Arroyo Open PAC, and an even stronger one for the Cook County Democratic Party, which accepted large transfers in from a number of committees for candidates who were slated earlier this month (including Sheriff Tom Dart, Assessor Joe Berrios, and MWRD Comm. Kari Steele, and several judicial candidates).
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AUG 24, 2017
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday that the new deal among Illinois legislative leaders would bring everything previously discussed for Chicago "that, and more."
While Illinois legislative leaders were keeping mum on the deal they forged on school funding, Mayor Rahm Emanuel took to the podium Thursday evening to trumpet Chicago’s gains in the deal, as well as a few details. Emanuel said legislative leaders plan to introduce a package similar to SB1, including a Chicago pension pick up and the same funding for the city as promised in SB1.
“That, and more,” crowed Emanuel.
Creating confusion near the end of the presser’s question and answer period, Emanuel was asked if Chicagoans should expect a property tax increase.
“I think the answer is, I think that actually, we look at this a little...Yes,” Emanuel said, before briefly pausing, “but I also look at this slightly different, if I can add a perspective. I think they were hit hard a long time ago. When you’re paying for everyone else’s teachers’ pension and you don’t get anything back, and for the first time your money’s coming back to a 606 ZIP code, I think that’s a big step forward.”
After this outlet and others Tweeted last night that the statement was a “yes” to property taxes, Mayoral spokesperson Matt McGrath shot back, “Easy there. He was agreeing with the assessment that Chicagoans have stepped up to pay more in taxes. Listen to entire answer.”
Asked if he would deny there will be a property tax increase, McGrath responded, “I'd refer you to the first Q&A of the presser on that one. But if you'd rather parse words and tweets on a lovely night I can't stop you.”
The first question was “Does this include a property tax increase?” To which Emanuel provided neither a yes nor no. -
AUG 22, 2017
Autonomous car technology is decades away from being the industry standard, but Chicago aldermen fear waiting to regulate the industry would lead the city vulnerable.
For more than two hours Monday, members of a the City Council’s Finance and Transportation Committees discussed whether the city should proactively regulate autonomous vehicles, even as industry experts predict driverless cars won’t reach ubiquity until 2050 at the earliest. Finance Chair Ald. Ed Burke (14) called the meeting because he was concerned a state bill awaiting the governor’s signature would thwart the city’s efforts to locally regulate–or ban entirely–driverless vehicles on Chicago streets.
