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Employee Misclassification Bill Signing
Governor Blagojevich signed the Employee Misclassification Bill into law this August during the National AFL-CIO meeting in Chicago. State and national Building Trades leaders joined the Governor, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan, Chicago Building Trades Council President Tom Villanova and Illinois Department of Labor Director Catherine Shannon for the event.

New Executive Board Members
Two new board members were sworn in on Dec. 4th, 2007, by State Federation legal council Joel D’Alba.

FutureGen Bill Signing
Legislation (SB 1704) that will help bring the federal FutureGen project to Illinois was signed into law this summer at a coal mine near Farmersville. The cutting-edge, coal-gasification plant would use Illinois coal to provide enough power for 150,000 homes. At the same time it would put Illinois at the forefront of coal-gasification technology and future power innovations, as well as create and sustain thousands of good-paying jobs. The Illinois AFL-CIO was in full support of the bill and the project.

FutureGen Site Announcement
On Dec. 18th, the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and the U.S. Department of Energy announced they will build the first-of-it’s kind, emissions-free power plant in Mattoon.

The $1.4 billion coal-fueled plant will use Illinois coal to provide enough power for 150,000 homes and create over a thousand construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs.

The site selection was the culmination of a vigorous four-year effort by state and local governments, Labor and business to bring the plant to Illinois.

“The decision to build the FutureGen plant in Mattoon is an enormous benefit for our state, our economy and our workers,” said Micahel T. Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. The Illinois AFL-CIO and Labor representatives from around Central Illinois have fully supported this project since inception. It will give our coal industry a huge boost and provide our union members with good-paying jobs for years to come. Many thanks go to Alan Wente, past president, Lincolnland Building Trades; Larry Swope, president, Lincolnland Building Trades; Dan McCall, president, East Central Illinois Building Trades; Jay Dunn, president, Decatur Building Trades; Gary Butler, International representative, United Mine Workers, and many other area Labor representatives. We also want to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of Governor Blagojevich, Senate President Jones, Speaker Madigan and Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and staff for bringing this project to fruition. We look forward to the construction phase of FutureGen in Mattoon.”

FutureGen, a government-private partnership, is designed to be the cleanest fossil fuel-fired power plant in the world. The facility will convert Illinois coal into hydrogen and electricity, while capturing and safely storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide deep underground. It will lay the groundwork for developing similar plants around the country and the world.

After an extensive site selection process, Mattoon was selected over Tuscola, Illinois and Jewett and Odessa, Texas. The facility will be built on 444 acres of land located one mile northwest of the town. Construction will begin in 2010 and the plant should be operational by 2013.

2007 Illinois State Fair
The Labor area at the 2007 Illinois State Fair showcased union-made products and featured "kid-friendly" activities.

For the third straight year, Illinois Labor hosted the huge UAW-GM NASCAR display with its remote-control race track for kids of all ages. In conjunction with the GM auto display, we also displayed UAW-made cars and trucks manufactured in Illinois by Chrysler, Ford and Mitsubishi.

Inside the Labor Pavilion the Bricklayers set up a work station for kids to test their brick laying skills. The Ironworkers displayed the motorcycle designed and built for their international union by Orange County Chopper. We displayed union-made products from all across Illinois and gave out Brach candy made by Bakery Workers in Chicago.

2007 AFL-CIO Presidential Forum
In August, the AFL-CIO hosted the Chicago Presidential Forum at Soldier Field. Seven Democratic candidates participated including, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, former South Carolina Senator John Edwards and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. More than 17,000 union members and their families attended the event that was monitored by Keith Olbermann of MSNBC.

2007 Labor Day
On Labor Day, the Samuel Gompers statue was dedicated in Gomper's Park on Chicago's Northwest side. Gompers was the first president of the American Federation of Labor, serving from 1886 until his death in 1924.

Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor Honors Michael Carrigan
On Sept. 27th, the Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor honored Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan as their Person of the Year. The event was held in Gurnee at the Lake County Teachers Hall. CLC President Patrick Statter presented Mr. Carrigan with his award and area legislators read a state proclamation honoring his achievements. Those legislators included; Rep. Elaine Nekritz, Sen. Michael Bond, Sen. Susan Garrett, and Sen Terry Link.

Labor Targets NLRB; Calls for Board to “Close Down”
On Nov. 15, in Washington D.C., Chicago and other cities all across the country, union members marched on NLRB offices demanding the Board shut its doors until retiring members can be replaced with more worker-friendly members.

The rallies were sparked by 61, recent anti-worker decisions hastily handed down by the Board before its fiscal year ended on Sept. 30.

In Chicago, union members and community partners marched in front of the NLRB offices on South LaSalle Street. James Thindwa, director of Chicago Jobs with Justice and other leaders attempted to deliver a letter outlining workers’ concerns to the NLRB offices, but they were not allowed to go upstairs in the building where the offices are located. A representative from the office did eventually meet with the protesters and accept the letter. She said the letter would be forwarded to the national office.

The Labor Board issued a sweeping set of decisions in September, many of which were anti-worker. Some of the decisions make it harder for workers to form a union through majority sign up. Others make it more difficult for workers who are illegally fired to recover back pay or make it easier for employers to discriminate against union organizers in the workplace.

The five-member Labor Board is made up of three members from the sitting president’s party and two members from the other party.

AFL-CIO Healthcare/Economy Workshop
Nov. 28-29, Westmont

The national AFL-CIO held a two-day workshop at the IFT in Westmont to train Labor activists on two working family programs critical to the upcoming election – healthcare and the economy.  These trainers are now available to make presentations to local unions and CLCs.  If you would like to schedule a presentation call the IL. AFL-CIO at 217.544.4014.  If you would like more information click on the appropriate icons on the IL AFL-CIO web site home page – www.ilafl-cio.org.

COPE Endorsement Session Reception
Dec. 3rd, Rosemont

The evening before our COPE endorsement session – Dec. 4th, the Illinois AFL-CIO hosted a reception for candidates, delegates and their spouses.  (For a complete list of endorsed candidates click here.”)