Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is asking Chicago aldermen to be his partners in fixing state and city finances.
Before Rauner stepped foot into City Hall chambers, aldermen and union members made their feelings about him known. The mayor didn’t stop them.
Floor leader Pat O’Connor lead the charge against Rauner’s plan to make union membership and dues voluntary.
“The right to work zone is not the right to work a good living,” O’Connor said. “It’s the right to have a second-hand job.”
When the governor arrived - he said it felt like he was sitting down to dinner with his family.
“All democrats with opinions,” Rauner said.
The governor spent most of his speech asking aldermen to work with him.
“For Chicago to get what it wants, Illinois must get what it needs,” Rauner said.
But he also served up a reminder that Chicago isn’t Illinois’s only priority, and the state can’t afford to bail Chicago out.
