Road workers strike spreads

Road construction laborers went on strike Wednesday morning followed at midnight by heavy equipment operators.

Among the reconstruction projects put on hold are the Eisenhower Expressway, Lower Wacker Drive and the Congress bridge.

The strike over wage issues by some members of the Laborers' District Council of Chicago caused relatively minor disruptions to the $95 million Eisenhower resurfacing project, Marisa Kollias, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said Wednesday.

But she said the situation would quickly worsen if other unions joined the strike, which they now have.

Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, whose members operate heavy machinery, went on strike at midnight after an authorization vote earlier in the evening. The walkout involves about 8,500 union members working under several agreements in nine northeastern Illinois counties.

Other unions that could follow include carpenters, cement masons and technical engineers.

"We are in OK shape right now on the Eisenhower and we will be OK if the strike lasts a couple of days,'' Kollias said Wednesday. "But if this goes on for a couple of weeks or a month, the project will be seriously delayed.''

from the Trib

Striking teachers cancel classes

Officials from the Prairie Hills Elementary School District 144 which serves more than 3,000 students in the south suburbs have canceled classes after teachers voted to strike late Wednesday after they could not agree on salary issues, officials said.

In a statement issued on its Web site, officials from the Board of Education said classes and extracurricular activities have been canceled beginning Thursday morning and until further notice. Officials warned parents not to bring their children to school.

from the Trib

UIUC grad students on strike

University of Illinois graduate student instructors plan to continue striking Tuesday after an estimated "several hundred" classes were canceled Monday, organizers said.

Carrying umbrellas and strike signs, instructors picketed outside four major classroom buildings in the Urbana-Champaign campus while undergraduates worried about missing class time, the due dates for assignments and their grades if the strike continues.

from the Trib

Teamsters local 743 on strike

Workers at SK Hand Tools in Chicago (3535 W. 47th St.) and McCook (9500 W. 55th St.) voted unanimously to STRIKE as of Tuesday, August 25, 2009 due to the company’s unilateral
withdrawal of the workers’ health insurance without notice!

Strike support will be needed on a 24/7 basis at both locations – please contact the Teamsters Local 743 union hall at (773) 254-7460 for more information.

more at Teamsters 743

Cabbies vow strike as fares set to drop

Chicago taxicab fares are about to drop for the second time in two weeks. But passengers may soon have a more difficult time finding a cab.

The two-tiered surcharge imposed last spring to provide relief to cabbies squeezed by skyrocketing gasoline prices will be lifted entirely at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

The Seattle-style surcharge requires passengers to pay an extra 50 cents a ride whenever gas prices "equal or exceed" $2.70 a gallon for seven consecutive days and up to $1 whenever the price tops $3.20 a gallon for one week straight.

The $1 surcharge was cut in half Halloween morning. At 12:01 a.m. Friday, the 50- cent surcharge will be lifted.

Last month, the United Taxidrivers Community Council gave Mayor Daley an ultimatum: Support a 16 percent fare increase that takes effect Jan. 1 or risk a strike that could "paralyze" the city.

City Hall responded by saying a permanent fare hike was in the works for next spring, but no sooner.

On Monday, chairman Fayez Khozindar said his group was forging ahead with the strike and would hold a press conference Nov. 25 to announce a specific date.

"It will be painful for the city. . . . It will be 80 percent effective, I hope," Khozindar said.

Consumer Services Commissioner Norma Reyes said the United Taxidrivers Community Council "does not speak for a majority" of cabbies. And she argued that the group was playing with fire by promoting a strike.

from Sun-Times