Economist.com Cities Guide: Chicago Briefing - August 2005

News this month

Breaking ranks

Chicago has always been deeply tied to big labour; a century ago Carl Sandburg, a renowned poet and newspaper columnist, called it the “hog butcher to the world”. But the city played host to perhaps the biggest-ever schism among American labour unions on July 25th, the start of the annual conference of the AFL-CIO (at 13m members, the country's largest labour organisation). Just before the conference, which included events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AFL-CIO, four of the federation's largest unions said they would boycott it, and three voiced plans to leave the AFL-CIO entirely. The defectors include the Service Employees International Union, whose 1.8m members make up the AFL-CIO's largest segment, the 1.3m-member Teamsters, and the equally large United Food and Commercial Workers. These unions supply a large share of the federation’s total budget of $125m, and they say that more money should be spent on boosting membership rather than on political lobbying.

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO since 1995, called the boycotters' action “an insult to their union brothers and sisters and to all working people.” Still, he crafted a resolution to meet some of their demands, but the unions say it was too little, too late. Only 8% of the workforce in the United States is unionised, the lowest number since the movement began in the late 19th century. When Mr Sweeney took the helm a decade ago, he promised to reform the AFL-CIO and increase spending on political projects. His supporters say the defectors' withdrawal will bankrupt the federation.

Their Daley bread

A federal investigation into corruption in City Hall continues to plague the administration of Richard M Daley, the city's mayor. Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor heading the investigation, handed down indictments of two top city officials, charging them with fraud hiring (delivering jobs based on political affiliation). Such practices are banned under the Shakman Decree, a 1972 edict forbidding the hiring or firing of employees for political reasons. But a report by the Chicago Tribune newspaper counted 1,200 city employees with dubious qualifications, including “goofballs” and “a drunk”, according to Mr Fitzgerald.

Mr Daley has won plaudits at every level for his 16-year tenure, during which Chicago has become one of the best-run American cities. But now the vultures are circling. The largest among them is Congressman Jesse Jackson, who is expected to pose the toughest challenge to Mr Daley in the next mayoral election. The corruption charges recall the “machine politics” mastered by Mr Daley's father, Richard J Daley, a former Chicago mayor. Though the mayor has not been implicated in anything personally, an expanding list of indictments is gradually moving up Chicago's political ladder, at the very least threatening his legacy.

So very hot

In late July, temperatures in Chicago broke the 100ºF mark for the first time in six years, evoking unwelcome echoes of the 1995 heatwave that killed hundreds of Chicagoans. Then, however, the city lacked an emergency-response plan to excessive heat; now, city officials spend hot days checking on single elderly residents (who comprised most of deaths in 1995), and bringing those without air-conditioning into official cooling centres. So far, Chicago's fire department has only confirmed three heat-related deaths. And the high temperatures did not stop music-lovers from attending Lollapalooza, a two-day outdoor music festival, on July 23rd and 24th. No word, however, on how many festival-goers were single and elderly.

Don't mess

Rod Blagojevich, the Democratic governor of Illinois, signed a tough anti-pollution bill on July 24th. The law requires that companies responsible for pollution bear the costs both of notifying residents who live near polluted sites and of cleaning up the sites. It also gives the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to demand these clean-ups; until now, the EPA had to go to the state's attorney's office or federal regulators for muscle. The bill stems from a 2001 case in which 700 homeowners in DuPage County, just west of Chicago, drew water from wells contaminated by Lockformer, a now-bankrupt metal-fabricating company.

Hot dog trials

A poll conducted by the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council named Chicago as the home of the second-best hot dogs in America. The poll sampled 900 people nationally, chosen at random. New York came first, with top marks from 28% of those polled, while 26% chose Chicago. Dallas, Los Angeles and Denver filled the top five spots.

Although non-aficionados might think all hot dogs are the same, they do vary from city to city. New Yorkers go for boiled dogs on plain white rolls straight from a plastic package, usually topped with sauerkraut, sweet onions or ketchup. Chicago dogs, on the other hand, are either grilled or steamed, and served on a poppyseed bun with mustard, neon-green relish, chopped tomatoes, pickle, peppers and an invariable absence of ketchup.

Catch if you can

August 2005

Game On

Through September 5th 2005

This dynamic, hands-on exhibit is a delight for children and adults alike. Tracing the history of computer gaming over the past four decades, it looks at not just the fun, but also at the art, technology, stories and business of video games. The attraction for many will be the chance to play more than 100 games. But there’s some fun trivia to be learned as well: back before Pong appeared in 1972, Nintendo made playing cards and Sony cranked out black-and-white television sets.

Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 South Lake Shore Drive. Tel: +1 (773) 684-1414. Hours: Mon-Sat 9.30am-4pm; Sun 11am-4pm (until 5.30pm after May 27th). Exhibit tickets are $5 ($4 for members) on top of general admission, which ranges from $6.75-$9 for adults. See the museum's website.

More from the Chicago cultural calendar