* Sun-Times…
After taking heat for saying Gov. Bruce Rauner should be “applauded” for speaking truth to power, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Chris Kennedy on Thursday said the Republican is the worst governor in state history — worse than some who have ended up behind bars.
“Gov. Rauner is the worst governor in the United States,” Kennedy said, as he spoke to a gathering of striking YMCA childcare workers in the West Loop.
“He’s the worst governor in the history of Illinois, including governors that went to jail.”
Kennedy also called Rauner “heartless” for throwing “a million people out of government programs,” words he’s used before. But the jail reference appeared to take criticism of the governor to a new level.
“He believes, like some ugly character in a Disney movie, in the pirate philosophy that when you fall behind, you’re left behind,” Kennedy said of Rauner. “That’s not what we think of as Americans. We believe what President Kennedy said, that a rising tide should lift all boats.”
* Meanwhile, the Pritzker campaign has opened up a new front on Kennedy…
While candidate Chris Kennedy recently said that collective bargaining was “a central tenant of the American Dream,” he has a long history of opposing the labor movement.
In 2013, Chris Kennedy said a tenured faculty union was a “threat to the greatness of the University of Illinois.” While faculty at the UIC and UIUC unionized, Kennedy and his Board of Trustees were part of lawsuits to challenge the bargaining units. And back in 1998, Kennedy praised efforts to cut overtime pay, calling them “hugely significant.”
“Chris Kennedy has disparaged unions and workers seeking collective bargaining, undercutting the ability of working families to come together and fight for a better future,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Suing to challenge bargaining units and calling it a ‘threat to greatness’ shows Kennedy has never truly recognized the value of the labor movement in our workplaces, despite his rhetoric on the campaign trail.”
Audio of the faculty union remark is here.
*** UPDATE *** Kennedy campaign…
JB Pritzker wants to compare labor records. Happy to do so.
Chris ran the Merchandise Mart with a unionized workforce and his Wolf Point development is done in partnership with the AFL-CIO Building and Construction trades. He joined Cesar Chavez on his hunger strike to fight for workers’ rights. His family’s commitment to the rights of workers to organize for a better life goes back for generations. To question it in the final weeks of an election is a sign of a desperate billionaire whose attempt to buy an election is failing.
Let’s look at JB Pritzker’s record:
J.B. Pritzker is one of the biggest shareholders in, and has called himself “a principal owner of,” Hyatt Hotels, a corporation that UNITE HERE has said “singled itself out as the worst employer in the hotel industry” and “taken the most aggressive role [in the industry] in going after their workers including turning on heat lamps on striking workers.”
J.B. Pritzker owns and is the chairman of a pallet distribution company that fought to prevent workers at its Chicago plant from forming a union and hired an infamous union-busting law firm to try to keep out Teamsters Local 743.
J.B. Pritzker has funded an attack on public employees and their hard-earned benefits, giving $10,000 to a Bruce Rauner-led political action committee set up by business interests specifically to “bankroll candidates who are willing to cross labor unions and vote to reduce pension benefits.”
So anytime JB Pritzker wants to compare his labor record with Chris Kennedy’s, we are game — especially on a day like today, when Chris is joined by Dolores Huerta, one of the most respected leaders in the labor movement.
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:08 pm:
–While candidate Chris Kennedy recently said that collective bargaining was “a central tenant of the American Dream,” –
Who’s responsible for “tenant,” Kennedy or the Pritzker crew?
- Retired Educator - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:21 pm:
It is good to know that Kennedy finally gets what we have all known for over three years. The Pritzker attack is good if he has a history of total union support. I don’t think that has been the case. He does have almost universal backing from organized labor, so I will go with the attitude that they have vetted the candidates, and find Prizger to be acceptable.
- PJ - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:28 pm:
== they have vetted the candidates, and find Prizger to be acceptable.==
No, they vetted the candidates’ bank accounts and found that JB could self-fund and let them spend their money on other races. That’s not a secret.
- walker - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:31 pm:
“”It is good to know that Kennedy finally gets …”"
It’s like Kennedy just woke up this week and realized he’s in a serious campaign. That’s cutting it petty close. Early voting starts Monday in Cook.
- My thoughts - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:34 pm:
Funny of Pritzker bringing up Kennedy’s past in regards to unions. Pritzker’s past history as the owner of Peco Pallets show his support for unions when the company (according to the teamsters union) had a policy of unfair performance appraisal-based pay increases, exploitative use of temporary workers, a refusal by management to post vacant positions and an overall top-down disregard for workers’ health and safety.
- Juice - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:37 pm:
That “effort” to cut overtime was a deal with the unions who do work at McCormick Place, and reduced rates from double time to time and a half.
I also believe given the need for trade shows for the Regency, Hyatt would have been a pretty big proponent of that effort.
- 37B - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 12:56 pm:
Oh, it’s “lift all boats,” not “lift all yachts.” Got it.
- Anon312 - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 1:47 pm:
I don’t know any labor folks who actually like JB. They just know he’s got money and he’s not Rauner. If they knew HOW he got and kept that money, they might not be so excited about electing him.
- m - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 2:19 pm:
=If they knew HOW he got and kept that money, they might not be so excited about electing him.=
Stepping back a bit, it would not be dishonest to say that relatively speaking, Pritzker is the most anti-union candidate of the three. And yet he is the one with the union endorsements.
I guess the bank account is enough for labor?
- Stand Tall - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 2:31 pm:
Whose hand picked candidate is he(Pritzker)? That explains a lot, all the rest of the candidates are bashing the guy that hand picked him. This guy is about Control not what is best for the citizens of Illinois, lots of reasons why he has a 68% disapproval rating. Don’t elect his candidate for Governor.
- Anon0091 - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 2:41 pm:
The labor orgs know who their friend is and it’s not just because of his checkbook. The overwhelming majority chose JB. A handful chose Biss. They also made a judgment about who would not be good for them and it’s Kennedy.
And as usual Kennedy has his facts twisted, but whatever.
- Concerned Dem - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 2:46 pm:
Anon312, I’d like to introduce myself… I’m a union member that likes / supports JB. Are any of the three candidates pristine on their past involvements with unions, no. But Kennedy & Biss have both demonstrated their potential when in office to bus toss unions whenever they see fit, so I’d rather cast my lot with a guy that doesn’t have that record and has gone out of his way to talk up unions to this point in the election.
- Downeast mayor - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 3:53 pm:
There is an old pol in my town and you can tell one thing from the people he supports. You can get personal gain from them. They supported Blagojevich, Hull and now Pritzker. Tells me all I need to know. Pritzker is a whole lot more of what’s pulled us down. No thank you. I don’t want a candidate who is shoved down my throat by people who know best. I want someone who can change the game.
Besides it should be clear Pritzker is the only one that could lose to Rauner, let that sink in.
- Concerned Dem - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 4:29 pm:
“the only one that could lose to Rauner”
Please… If Kennedy is the nominee he’ll tie himself into so many rhetorical knots that he’ll probably be accidentally urging people to vote for Rauner by November and despite all his dank memes by the time Rauner is done with Biss everyone in Illinois will assume that he is really Mike Madigan’s hypocritical best friend. So, no… Pritzker isn’t the only one that can lose to Rauner. They all could, if they make the mistake of assuming that everyone in Illinois already knows why Bruce Rauner is a nightmare as Gov… whoever the nominee is has to make that case. At this point Pritzker is the only one that has the resources and taken the time to develop the infrastructure to be able to do it.
- DuPage - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 4:29 pm:
@- Downeast mayor - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 3:53 pm:
===it should be clear Pritzker is the only one that could lose to Rauner, let that sink in.===
Pritzker is the only one who can buy enough ads to counter-attack Rauner. Kennedy and Biss would have a snowball’s chance against continuous Rauner’s napalm-airstrike attack ads.
- Red fish blue fish - Friday, Mar 2, 18 @ 4:43 pm:
2/5 labor households voted for Rauner in 2014. Pritzker’s union endorsements are a product of simple math. Leadership will support JB but the rank and file react to authenticity. They’ll go Biss or Kennedy.