Update | 4:18 p.m. Quinn's campaign has released a statement on today's AFL-CIO vote:
As a former member of the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Governor Quinn is honored by the support he has received from organized labor. To date, Governor Quinn’s campaign has received endorsements the Service Employees International Union, the United Auto Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 25 and several other major unions. Together, the labor groups that have endorsed Governor Quinn represent more than 450,000 hard-working men and women.
Union leaders have praised Governor Pat Quinn’s vision of economic development and his effective leadership in passing Jobs and Growth for Illinois, the state’s first comprehensive public works program in more than a decade. Over the next six years, Illinois Jobs Now! will create and retain more than 439,000 jobs, helping to revive Illinois’ economy. Read more...
The Illinois region of the United Auto Workers endorsed Gov. Pat Quinn for reelection this afternoon, praising his work on economic development and passage of the state's capital program.
"Gov. Quinn has stayed focused on keeping and adding to manufacturing jobs in Illinois," said Dennis Williams, the UAW's regional director. "Manufacturing is the basis of the middle class, and we in the UAW appreciate his efforts.
Support from the union, which represents 55,000 active and 78,000 retired members in nine states, could boost Quinn's standing among workers who have suffered financially as jobs in the auto industry and other manufacturing sectors have vanished under economic pressure.
Read more...
Local labor unions said Cook County commissioners’ vote to repeal part of the county’s sales tax will “decimate jobs and services to residents.”
Representatives from 10 unions attended yesterday's meeting, during which commissioners voted to cut the tax.
The unions expressed fears about massive layoffs due to the $32 million budget gap the rollback would cause in 2010. It is projected to rip a $188 million hole in the 2011 budget. Read more...
