March 15, 2010 at 3:24 p.m.
Filed under:
Politics,
Unions
By Kathy Bergen | While Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn continue to weigh who they will appoint to an interim panel that will study how to make Chicago a more competitive trade show destination, a separate task force initiated by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has been assembled to wrestle with the same issues.
The 16-member legislative panel, appointed within the past week and dominated by Democrats and Chicagoans, will hold its first hearing April 1 at the Thompson Center in Chicago, with a second hearing planned for April 7. It must present its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than April 30.
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March 9, 2010 at 8:15 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Politics,
Unions
Northrop Grumman’s proposal for a tanker aircraft KC-30 during the refuelling of a US B2 bomber in the air. (Handout/EPA)
By Julie Johnsson | Northrop Grumman Corp. is withdrawing from a contest to provide the U.S. Air Force with a new fleet of tankers, leaving Boeing Co. primed to land the initial 35-billion contract that military officials hope to award by this fall.
With Monday’s announcement, Northrop made good on previous threats that it would drop out unless the Pentagon revised elaborate rules that appeared to favor the smaller Boeing 67-based tanker over the larger Airbus A330 that Northrop planned to bid with the corporate parent of Airbus SAS.
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March 8, 2010 at 3:13 p.m.
Filed under:
Labor,
Unions
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | A former president and business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 was charged Monday with violating federal labor law for actions involving his buffalo farm in Maryland.
William E. Dugan, 76, formerly of Mount Prospect and now of Hancock, Md., was charged with a misdemeanor in U.S. District Court in Chicago for allegedly demanding and accepting in April 2005 livestock feeders valued at more than $900 for his farm from a company that employed Local 150’s members. The company is not identified in court documents.
Dugan is scheduled to appear for arraignment at a later date.
Feb. 24, 2010 at 4:11 p.m.
Filed under:
Politics,
Unions
By Kathy Bergen
and Ray Long
| SPRINGFIELD—Speaker Michael Madigan today easily pushed through the House a measure to study how to improve the financial position and efficiency of the agency overseeing McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
The measure, which sets up a legislative panel to come up with recommendations by April 30 on how to make McPier profitable, went to the Senate on a 113-0 vote.
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Feb. 18, 2010 at 5:24 p.m.
Filed under:
Conventions,
Labor,
Unions
By Kathy Bergen
| Some of Chicago’s most valuable trade show customers voiced strong opposition this week to key aspects of legislation aimed at making McCormick Place more competitive with lower-cost rival cities.
While those customers supported elements of the bill that would give financial relief to the beleaguered Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the state-city agency that owns and operates the convention hall, some balked at the bill’s proposals to grant the authority exclusive control over the labor unions, which they fear could hike costs to exhibitors.
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