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* I’ve been telling my subscribers about massive labor union donations to Gov. Quinn for weeks. The Republicans are a bit late to the game, but better late than never, I suppose…
Two leading state Republicans questioned [yesterday] whether union donations given last month to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn had anything to do with administration pressure on road builders to settle a strike that had brought area highway construction to a halt.
Pat Brady, the state GOP chairman, and unsuccessful Republican governor candidate Kirk Dillard tried to tie the donations to the trial of Quinn’s predecessor, disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, which was being held across the street from the site of their news conference in downtown Chicago.
Quinn blasted the allegations as a political ploy.
Both Republicans wouldn’t say whether they believed the donations led to actions by the Illinois Department of Transportation to threaten road construction firms with a rebidding of contracts and other moves if roadbuilders didn’t settle with union workers. They said they were only “questioning” if pay to play politics had occurred.
More…
Dillard and Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady are linking Governor Pat Quinn’s acceptance in June of a $500,000 campaign contribution from labor unions to the administration’s intervention in July aimed at ending a laborer’s strike that shut down highway and construction projects.
On July 19, Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig sent a letter to inform road builders their state highway contracts might be rebid if the work stoppage continued.
“In fact, the letter sent by Secretary Hannig is very threatening in its tone. It is not impartial,” said Dillard.
“I think it’s sickening that citizens could again be subjected to the same pay-to-play politics that rocked Illinois under Rod Blagojevich,” Pat Brady said
It wasn’t one $500,000 contribution. It was several totaling about that amount, from the Operating Engineers and the Laborers.
* The governor responds…
“When you take a look at that letter from your transportation secretary to the contractors, it seemed to be pressuring the contractors more than unions. How does that not pass the smell test?” Levine asked Quinn.
“That’s a lot of baloney, and you know it and they know it,” Quinn replied. “We told the unions the same thing we told the contractors: get to the bargaining table, be serious, resolve your differences. They came up with a contract.” […]
“That’s a smear,” Quinn shot back, “And those who made it, the Brady Bunch, know it’s a smear. It’s totally untrue, it’s completely untrue, and they know it. It’s all politics.”
Though Quinn made no apologies for his allegiance to labor.
“The unions, they have a right to support their candidate, and I happen to be their candidate,” said Quinn.
Actually, the letter, which can be downloaded by clicking here, was quite one-sided, even though IDOT claimed to remain “impartial” in the matter. The meat of its threats…
Not only could IDOT have cost the contractors a fortune in loss of their incentive bonuses, but they were in danger, via a PLA, of actually being replaced by contractors who would sign a union deal.
The contractors caved almost immediately.
Quinn is definitely a pro-union guy. Those big contributions certainly raise questions that he has to answer. The question is whether he knew about the strike when he got that money. I’m told he didn’t. But it’s a fair hit.
* Related…
* Brady bus stops at Almost Home Kids
* GOP Accuses Gov. Quinn Of ‘Pay To Play’
* Quinn opponents accuse gov of pay-to-play
* GOP questions Quinn’s motives in construction workers’ strike
* Quinn: Bill-signing no ploy for votes
* Changing The Rules In Springfield
* Pantagraph: New law more logical way to address ’sexting’
* News-Democrat: Keep records open to public
* SJ-R: FOIA should apply to police
* Public worker info veto draws praise, ire
* Southern Illinoisan: Lawmakers’ pay no laughing matter
* Herald & Review: Smoking isn’t budget payday it used to be
* Prank-calling 911 now felony in Illinois
* Commission to begin study of how to pay for higher education in Illinois
* After school programs will be under state watch
* Illinois racing board lets fairgoers bet on ponies
* Quinn signs sprinkler bill at ISU
* Ill. Gov. Quinn moves to give citizens new power. Sort of.
* Quinn: Give Illinois citizens say on ethics bills
* Senator Heather Steans wins approval of new law to reduce mercury contamination risk in Chicago
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:08 pm
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The state, acting on behalf of its citizens, had an interest in getting the work completed. If the contractors who originally had the job couldn’t do it, the state was right to let them know that they would get someone who could.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:27 pm
Seriously Kirk Dillard? Is this what you do? At the same time Bill Brady’s getting some heat for taking the same kind of questionable big donation from Wal-Mart?
Plus, both Dillard and state gop chair Pat Brady are lawyers, officers of the court. P. Brady was himself once a federal prosecutor. But yet they themselves admit their material is only fit for a political press conference, but it’s not worth walking it over to the U.S. Attorney’s office (from the ABC-7 story). “That’s for others to determine, criminality or wrongdoing,” they said. Huh??? Who asked them to be judge and jury? Thought they had all this serious evidence. But they won’t even hand it over to those “others” they mentioned? Guess it’s not so serious afterall.
Hate to say it, but starting to understand why the yokel won the primary.
Just sayin’.
Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:29 pm
*At the same time Bill Brady’s getting some heat for taking the same kind of questionable big donation from Wal-Mart?*
While I think this Quinn contribution think is not a big deal, you can’t really compare it to Brady & Wal-Mart. Brady has no power. There is no way it could be seen as a quid pro quo.
Comment by Montrose Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:32 pm
It’s a totally fair hit. I would like to know - and this is a serious question, so please don’t think I’m only being political - why or whether the campaign finance reform bill does or does not apply to unions. Unions are venders as well; they provide necessary services to the state and often team up with businesses or non-profits to provide said services. As such, if unions don’t fall under the same restrictions which prohibit donations from vendors/contractors, shouldn’t unions face the same restrictions? If the unions shouldn’t be given the same restrictions, should Quinn and Mr. Hannig have looked to non-contributing unions to do the work in Chicago?
Comment by Team Sleep Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:38 pm
By their standard, Quinn would have had to either not take a contribution or not step in to push the sides back to the bargaining table. Any contributions from labor this campaign season could be framed as related to his action re the strike.
From media reports, it appeared that the contractors were dragging their feet by walking out and then not wanting to meet for several days. They were acting as if they had nothing to lose, Hannig pointed out that they did, indeed, have something at stake.
As to whether the threat of losing the contracts would only impact the contractors, had IDOT pulled the plug the workers would have lost their gig as well. They would have had to decide whether to stick with the contractor in hope they would get another job or go back to hall and put their name at the bottom of the book, which could have been a long wait.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:41 pm
===Unions are venders as well===
No, they aren’t.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:44 pm
The Tribune buried the GOP hit on page 11, lower-left hand corner of the home subscriber edition. Not sure of placement in the itsy-bitsy newsstand version.
Comment by David Ormsby Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 12:52 pm
Everdy day I read this blog, I become more affraid of November and the choices we have. Brady and Quinn are the only two people who can make Cohen seem almost possibly appealing.
Comment by Ahoy Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 1:28 pm
They said they were only “questioning” if pay to play politics had occurred.
I know an awful lot of folks have grown comfortably with single-party power in Illinois and have forgotten that this is a tactic that most governments with bipartisan representation see regularly.
This is what is called political opposition that keeps those in power driving carefully between the lines. We haven’t seen this kind of stuff in a few years, have we?
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 1:30 pm
Rich, I know unions aren’t classified as vendors, but don’t they still provide similar services as contractors and vendors? Are unions required to bid on the contracts they receive to complete work for the state? If not, they should be. And if so, they should have to adhere to the same restrictions. Sorry, but fair is fair.
Comment by Team Sleep Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 2:02 pm
The operators held a fundraiser for Quinn in the middle of June. Long before the strike. And 150 was one of the few unions that stuck with Quinn in the primary. Nothing had changed. He got a mini-capital bill, the big capital bill which would put our members to work. After Blago refusing to pass one, unless he thought he could use it against Madigan.
Then, Quinn is able to muster support for the Illiana Tollway/expressway. 52 miles of new interstate that been talked about for 20 years. Why wouldn’t we support a guy like that?
Second, Most people here should know that 150 did NOT support Blago. As a matter of fact we supported Jim Ryan and Juddy Baar cause we knew blago to be an idiot and can now say we told you so. We were never part of his games. Never contributed or supported him. And worked against him. So trying to smear us withe his name and reputation is down right dishonest.
They can try to claim what ever, it’s a poltical fight. But to do it across from the Balgo trial and infer we were like that or a part of that is down right dishonest, considering our history with Blago. I’m only amazed that Blago wasn’t swearing about 150 or my old boss on those tapes for what we did to him and that we never supported him.
Lastly, is this the same Kirk Dillard who asked for our help in the Primary? The Same Kirk dillard who used our training site for a press conferance? The same Kirk Dillard who wanted and got 150’s endorsement in the Primary?
If were so bad, he can return the money. And Pat Brady can send us a check for the $300,000 we spent on the Judy Baar race. I think we can find good use for the money.
Comment by Todd Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 2:18 pm
There is simply no question that Governor Quinn is pro union at least on a general level. There is simply no question that Sen Brady being a Republican is pro business. This is a very common ideological divide isn’t? What the Republicans have done is to claim that the Governor effectively accepted a bribe in the form of contributions from construction workers unions in order to pressure road builders to settle with their unionized workforce. Then as Rich notes the Republicans said they were only “questioning” if pay to play politics had occurred.
I think it is fair for Illinois Republicans to inform the public that the Governor is pro union and also inform the public that apparently the Republicans ideologically supported the construction firms in relation to the unions during this strike. I question if the majority of Illinoisans would take the side of the contractors’ association, the Mid-American Regional Building Association (MARBA). The union, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), ultimately agreed to a 9.75 percent increase in wages, spaced out over the next three years. This will likely be well below cost of living increases, largely due to rising health care costs. Current estimates project health care costs to increase by at least 10 percent for union members over the next three years.
Apparently Sen Brady, who is a contractor (Brady Homes), would reduce our state’s minimum wage to $7.25. Brady Homes is not a member of the nonunion contractor group the Associated Builders and Contractors of Illinois, but Senator Brady supports their political agenda. In general he is opposed to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act requires contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers, workers and mechanics employed on public works construction projects no less than the general prevailing rate of wages (consisting of hourly cash wages plus fringe benefits) for work of a similar character in the county where the work is performed.
Brady voted against extending prevailing wage requirements. Brady voted against a bill that extended the scope of the Prevailing Wage Act to encompass public works projects financed in whole or in part by bonds issued by TIF districts. [HB 2255, Concurrence, 81-34, 5/19/99]. Senator Brady has said the minimum wage should be controlled by “market-forces” and opposed increases in the minimum wage. “I think supply and demand in the marketplace determines the rate of minimum wage. I don’t think governmental intrusion is as effective,” said Brady. [Pantagraph, 1/23/03].
So it is fair for the Republicans to inform the public that the Governor is pro organized labor and it is fair for the Democrats to inform the public that Sen Brady is hostile to organized labor.
Comment by Rod Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 2:26 pm
I would be interested to know how IDOT has handled union strikes in the past. I may be wrong, but I don’t think they kept the clock running against a contractor whose work force went on strike after the project started. I would think they’re asking for lawsuits if they try to replace a successful low bidder on a project due to a union strike. I’m doing some checking…
Comment by Stooges Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 2:47 pm
I bet Gov. Quinn has used some Blago type language about Rich over this dust up. For a week Rich baited Quinn to get involved, he did it, the results - Less Than Stellar. This is the last time he’ll take your advice Rich..
Comment by Slave to the traffic light Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 3:58 pm
LOL. Good point, but I didn’t know he’d go that far.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 4:16 pm
Lame effort by Brady and co. to link this donation to the strike. Timing is wrong, for one thing. For another, what do you expect a Dem governor to do? Authorize scabs? Ha.
The better attack, one I’m surprised has no traction, is how Quinn basically caved to AFSCME even as he’s screwing every merit comp employee in the state because of the bonuses to a handful of people. I know it was last year, but no layoffs for union workers in return for not giving them bigger raises was a crappy deal. For example, the state has to keep 500 extra people despite closing Howe Developmental Center (finally). It would be 700+ but fortunately about a third hated the idea of actually doing a 2 week training and a probationary period at a new facility so distasteful that they walked away.
And lo and behold, AFSCME will back Quinn and lead turnout efforts in November. Quinn as pet works better for me than Quinn as corrupt, for whatever reason.
Comment by Berkeley Bear Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 4:45 pm
The National Labor Relations Acr clearly PROHIBITS units of local goverments from unduly influencing collective bargaining negotiations because they are supposed to be a neutral party. IDOT very clearly stepped over that line.
Brady has no control over Walmart zoning in Chicago.
The elections website shows that $200,000 was donated the day after one union authorized the strike.
I am willing to call Pat Quinn a liar if he claims nit to know about two $100,000 contributions made in the last days of filing. Any candidate receiving a check of that size is fully aware.
Comment by 4 percent Wednesday, Jul 28, 10 @ 10:26 pm