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Illinois General Assembly approves sweeping criminal justice overhaul that would end cash bail, require cops to wear body cameras
CHICAGO — State lawmakers on Wednesday passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system that would end cash bail and eventually require every police officer in the state to be equipped with a body camera. The measures, approved by narrow margins in the final hours of the Illinois General Assembly’s lame-duck session, were spurred on by the public outcry over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans at the hands of police in the last year and represent a signature accomplishment for the Legislative Black Caucus. The Black Caucus succeeded in passin...
Chicago Tribune
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In politically calculated move, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan suspends bid for another term but doesn’t bow out
CHICAGO — Scandal-plagued Speaker Michael Madigan on Monday suspended his bid to keep running the Illinois House, even as he left open the possibility he could reemerge if Democrats can’t agree on a replacement. The move was politically calculated, an aide privately acknowledged, as Madigan plays a waiting game. The state has several important issues to resolve, and the new House that gets sworn in Wednesday can’t tackle any of them until a speaker is elected. The longer that process drags on, the greater the pressure on anti-Madigan lawmakers to compromise — which could allow the speaker, a p...
Chicago Tribune
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Hundreds of temps at GM's Flint Assembly to be converted to full time
Around Dec. 23, General Motors Flint Assembly Shop chairman and the plant manager mailed letters to 300 temporary workers as a holiday surprise. The letters told the workers that they would be converted to full time by the end of January. "A lot of them thought it wouldn't happen until March because of COVID delaying things," said Eric Welter, shop chairman of UAW Local 598. "We wanted them to know about it and celebrate it with their family because it is a life-changing event." In fact, GM said Monday it will convert more than 650 hourly employees from temporary to regular full-time status at...
Detroit Free Press
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News briefs
Chicago teachers rejecting return to classroomsCHICAGO — Chicago Teachers Union members who are refusing to return to the classroom said Monday they’re worried about losing their jobs but they believe that reopening schools is a greater risk. “We’re afraid for our lives. We don’t want to lose our jobs. The fear of losing our jobs is real. Many of us are the sole income earners in our homes,” Chicago Public Schools teacher Lori Torres said. “But the fear of this virus is greater than that fear.” Torres and other union members spoke at a news conference early Monday, a day after the union announ...
Tribune News Service
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Amazon surpasses Boeing as Washington state's biggest employer
Move over, Boeing. Washington state is now Amazonia. Last year, Amazon — which in the 26 years since its founding in CEO Jeff Bezos' Clyde Hill garage has emerged as a major player in retail, logistics and cloud computing — surpassed Boeing as the state's largest private employer, usurping a title the airplane manufacturer had likely held since the post-World War II era, said aerospace historian Cory Graff. The milestone speaks to the new economic realities wrought by the pandemic, experts say, but also to the increasingly tenuous nature of much blue-collar work, employers' changing relationsh...
The Seattle Times
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Jed Hoyer puts his stamp on his Chicago Cubs front office with 15 promotions, led by new assistant GMs Jeff Greenberg and Craig Breslow
Jed Hoyer, in one of his first duties as Chicago Cubs president, promoted 15 members of his baseball operations department — but he still is looking for a general manager.Jeff Greenberg and Craig Breslow were named assistant GMs, joining Randy Bush.Greenberg, who joined the organization in 2012, recently served as director of pro scouting and baseball operations. The graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Law School interned in Major League Baseball’s labor relations department and with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks.Breslow, who pitched in the majors for 12 s...
Chicago Tribune
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Canadian autoworkers ratify contract with General Motors; Oshawa Assembly to reopen
Canadian autoworkers have approved a new three-year contract with General Motors that will reopen a key plant to produce light and heavy duty pickups.Unifor, the union representing those workers, announced Monday that the contract had been passed on an 85% vote.Jerry Dias, Unifor National president, cheered the results.“This contract solidifies and boldly builds on GM’s Canadian footprint, with a $1.3 billion dollar investment that brings 1,700 jobs to Oshawa plus more than $109 million to in-source new transmission work for the Corvette and support continued V-8 engine production in St. Catha...
Detroit Free Press
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Delta pilots union reaches deal to avoid furloughs
ATLANTA — The pilots union at Delta Air Lines said it has reached an agreement in principle with the company to avoid furloughs for more than a year.The deal would allow Delta to reduce pilots’ guaranteed pay by 5%.In exchange, the company would agree not to furlough pilots until Jan. 1, 2022. However, the 1,941 pilots that would have been furloughed would get roughly 1/3 of regular pay while not working.The two sides had been working to reach a deal before a Nov. 1 deadline, when those pilots would have been furloughed.The Air Line Pilots Association at Delta said it had “diligently sought cr...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution