* Crain’s…

The UAW is threatening to call a national strike against Stellantis, accusing the automaker of failing to uphold its end of the labor agreement it signed with the union last year.

At least seven local chapters were prepared to file grievances against Stellantis for backtracking on a promised timeline to reopen the idled assembly plant in Belvidere just east of Rockford, the UAW said. The union said it was prepared to use its right to strike over product commitments and investments — gained in the 2023 contract — if necessary. The alleged contract violation “imperils all of the other investment commitments the company has made,” it said.

“This company made a commitment to autoworkers at Stellantis in our union contract, and we intend to enforce that contract to the full extent,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in an Aug. 19 statement. “On behalf of autoworkers everywhere, we’re standing up against a company that wants to go back on its commitments and drive a race to the bottom at the expense of the American worker.” […]

The UAW said Stellantis “has been unreceptive in talks with the union” about the Belvidere plans. The automaker idled the Belvidere Assembly Plant in February 2023 before agreeing to reopen it in 2027 to build a new midsize pickup. The contract also calls for opening a Mopar parts distribution hub in Belvidere in 2024 as well as the start of a stamping operation there in 2025 for replacement parts to supply the new hub.

* Tribune…

On the first day of the Democratic National Convention, Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday skirted a question about recent remarks in which he described the war in Gaza as “genocidal,” while reiterating his call for an end to the conflict.

Speaking at a news conference on the city’s safety preparations, Johnson did not directly address an article published Saturday in the progressive magazine Mother Jones, where he was quoted saying: “What’s happening right now is not only egregious, it is genocidal,” in reference to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Nor did he respond to a suggestion that such a stance could be at odds with his role as host mayor of the blockbuster event, where Chicago will celebrate Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president. Instead, the mayor stressed that he had also condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

“You can condemn terrorism and call for peace. It’s actually very customary within our tradition here in Chicago. Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) called for that,” Johnson said. “People across America are calling for that, for the immediate releasing of hostages, the end of these acts of terror and the end to this war. And I will continue to stand by that position because it is the moral position.”

*** DNC ***

* Tribune | Largest planned protest of DNC week begins in Union Park as Chicago officials promise readiness: Demonstrators bearing Palestinian flags and signs had gathered by noon for what is expected to be the largest planned protest of the convention week, ending with a march early this afternoon. Organizers said more than 250 separate groups were part of the demonstration. Rally programming in Union Park kicked off around 12:30 p.m. before a crowd of about 2,000 people, including scores of credentialed journalists.

* Sun-Times | Black-Palestinian solidarity has a long history: ‘We’re both extremely dispossessed people’: Chicago community organizer Nino Brown, who is Black, said his turning point to understanding the shared struggle was when Palestinians joined the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after the police killing of Michael Brown Jr. in 2014. “We had tear gas canisters being repelled back by Black people in Ferguson, and they were the same manufacturers, the same tear gas being used to attack Palestinians,” the 33-year-old said. “For me that cemented the idea that we have common oppressors.

* Daily Herald | ‘Positive energy’: Democratic stars mingle with Illinois delegates: DuPage County Chair and delegate Deb Conroy said the enthusiasm about the ticket of Harris and vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is “contagious.” And with several Midwestern states up for grabs, “a lot of people in Illinois are so excited they’re willing to go to Wisconsin and knock on doors.”

* Politico | ‘Uncommitted’ delegates want to keep the pressure up on Harris: Leaders of the pro-Palestinian “uncommitted” movement are warning that Vice President Kamala Harris could lose votes — and, potentially, key swing states — if there is not an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and an arms embargo against Israel, something they acknowledge she does not support. “She is at risk of losing key swing states, especially in states like Michigan, where we have the largest concentration of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans — people who know firsthand the effects and the impact of American-funded bombing,” Layla Elabed, a leader of the “uncommitted” movement from Michigan, said in response to a POLITICO reporter’s question at a press conference this morning.

Capitol News Illinois, the Sun-Times and Block Club have live updates all day.

* Axios | Alexi Giannoulias hobbles into the DNC: Giannoulias showed up to the Illinois delegation’s breakfast meeting on Monday sporting a bulky leg cast and walking with crutches due to an injury from three weeks ago. What they’re saying: “I shattered my knee thinking that I’m younger than I am,” Giannoulias told Axios. “I tried to jump onto a fast moving treadmill and I got tossed like a rag doll. My kneecap ended up in my quad.”

*** Statewide ***

* SJ-R | Abortion could become legal in Missouri in November. What does it mean for Illinois?: “I’ve been working all over the country to make sure we have referenda on the ballot, even in Florida,” [Governor JB Pritzker] told a State Journal-Register reporter during an impromptu press conference following Governor’s Day. “That’s not only going to help women in those states, protect their rights, but also bring people out to vote who are going to vote Democratic.”

* Tribune | Monarch butterfly numbers have dropped this summer in Illinois, Upper Midwest, experts say: At the national Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, which tracks the number of eggs the butterflies are laying, the counts are down, both in the Prairie State and the larger region, according to the project’s founder and coordinator Karen Oberhauser. […] The U.S. government has determined that the showy orange and black butterflies qualify for threatened or endangered species status, but has effectively waitlisted them.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | As DNC begins, nurses at nearby University of Illinois Hospital go on strike: The nurses, who are represented by the Illinois Nurses Association, say they want pay that’s on-par with other area hospitals, better staffing and more security at the health system, citing examples of nurses who’ve been attacked by patients. The nurses’ four-year contract expired Monday. More than 650 nurses had shown up to picket outside University of Illinois Hospital, as of Monday morning, according to the union.

* Crain’s | Chicago AI-software firm ModelOp gets $10M from Baird: Software maker ModelOp raised $10 million in a deal led by Chicago-based Baird Capital. Its software is used by customers to make sure AI models for data analytics developed by companies comply with internal and external compliance rules. Customers include Fidelity Investments, Bristol Myers Squibb and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which regulates investment broker-dealers. Four of the top 10 financial institutions also are customers, says ModelOp CEO Pete Foley.

* Tribune | Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Foster has ‘new appreciation’ after returning from Tommy John surgery: The recovery and rehab from Tommy John surgery was complete. All that was left was getting back on a big-league mound. “As soon as the (seventh) inning finished, I was like, ‘All right, it’s time to go. Get back on again,’” the right-handed reliever said Saturday in Houston.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville Sun | Naperville police charge man with loaded gun at Topgolf lot — arrest no. 23 since August 2023: A convicted felon allegedly driving with open alcohol, cannabis and a loaded gun Sunday became the 23rd suspect to be arrested on an illegal firearm charge in the Naperville Topgolf parking lot, officials said. Courtney Bennett, 36, of Dolton, was taken into custody about 12:55 a.m. after Naperville police officers observed him and a female passenger drive an Alfa Romeo into the Topgolf lot, 3211 Odyssey Court, with a “gun in plain view in the center console along with two open cans of an alcoholic beverage, Spiked Minute Maid,” a Naperville Police Department/DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release said.

* Lake County News-Sun | Rock the Ride event raises money, awareness about gun violence; ‘We want to bring the community together’: Laurie Levin, the chair of the Highland Park Community Foundation, understands firsthand the continuing necessity to raise money to help those who experienced trauma or worse at the Fourth of July parade shooting more than two years ago. Marching in the parade when a lone gunman fired 83 rounds in 96 seconds, “killing seven, wounding dozens and causing trauma for countless more,” she said she understood the lingering effects while at Ravinia listening to Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” last month.

* Lake County News-Sun | Hawthorn Woods opposes proposed Aqua Illinois rate hike: Hawthorn Woods officials formally approved a resolution and drafted a letter to the Illinois Commerce Commission objecting to a proposed rate hike by its private water utility supplier. Kankakee-based Aqua Illinois wants an increase of approximately $30 per bill to fund infrastructure upgrades and rising operational costs.

* Daily Herald | Proposed beekeeping zoning change creates buzz in DuPage County: Before DuPage County Board members loosen beekeeping restrictions, some groups want them to consider the sting those changes may have on native bees. County board members recently delayed a vote that would have allowed beekeeping on smaller lots. Right now, beekeeping is allowed in unincorporated areas on lots that are an acre or larger.

*** Downstate ***

* Rockford Register Star | 89 faculty, staff lose jobs: What led to Western Illinois University’s most recent cuts: The announcement came just days before the beginning of a new fall semester at the Macomb, Illinois, public university and less than two months after 36 contingent faculty were informed that their contracts would not be renewed. WIU has found itself struggling with a shrinking student body, the fallout of the 2015-17 budget impasse and state appropriations that haven’t kept pace with inflation. Now, the university is trying to shrink its budget deficit and escape a cash crunch — and WIU officials say there aren’t many options left.

* NPR | As Democrats meet in Chicago, Illinois’ role in abortion access is in the spotlight: At Hope Clinic in Granite City, Ill., Dr. Erin King and her staff have rearranged the waiting room for patients who’ve been traveling here from across the country. There are spaces for children to play and for families to relax or watch TV. “Most of our patients have kids, and so if they’re able to come, they can bring their kids with them,” King says. There’s also a supply closet stocked with diapers, snacks and hygiene supplies that patients and their families might need during their trip. King describes it as a “little, mini 7-Eleven — but all free.”

*** National ***

* WIRED | Trump Shares AI-Generated Images Claiming Swifties Are Supporting Him: One of the screenshots Trump shared was from an anonymous pro-Trump account with over 300,000 followers that regularly posts AI-generated images. Following its post about Swifties for Trump, this account shared a follow-up post that said the original Swifties for Trump post was “satire.”