Yes, Rahm Has Brought Businesses To Chicago—But Their Labor Records Aren’t Pretty

Tuesday, Apr 7, 2015, 2:15 pm

Yes, Rahm Has Brought Businesses To Chicago—But Their Labor Records Aren’t Pretty

BY Yana Kunichoff

It’s election day in Chicago, and the city’s residents are heading to the polls to weigh the record of Mayor Rahm Emanuel against the promises of the man who pushed him into a runoff: challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

Emanuel’s reelection campaign has hinged on his claims of bringing businesses and jobs to the city. In 2012, during his first year as mayor, Emanuel put forward a Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs. The 61-page document was authored by the pro-business research group World Business Chicago, a public-private partnership created by Emanuel whose board of directors reads like a who’s who of technology, medical and banking executives. It laid out steps to turn the city into a hub of manufacturing and make it a national leader in exports. But what was missing from the plan—and from the press releases that would greet each new business setting up headquarters in Chicago—was any mention of conditions for workers at the companies the mayor says he helped bring to the city.

In fact, some of the companies touted by Emanuel for bringing jobs and economic opportunity to the city have a history of labor complaints—some quite recent.

Take the announcement on March 6, 2015, that Livingston International would be locating its new U.S. headquarters in Chicago. Livingston, a logistics company focused on trade and customs compliance, expected to add 75 employees to a new office at the Chicago Board of Trade. Only months before the company announced it would be moving its U.S. headquarters to Chicago, in October 2014, a triumvirate of high-profile Canadian law firms launched an $85 million class action suit against Livingston on behalf of thousands of non-management employees, contending that the company had failed to pay them overtime.

More:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/17817/some_firms_touted_by_emanuel_have_poor_labor_records