The Teamsters--one Union that gets it

It's worth watching what happens in Chicago as Mayor Rahm Emanuel deals with the Chicago unions and that city's financial issues--

Emanuel gets along with at least one union - chicagotribune.com: "As Emanuel lays the groundwork for coping with an estimated $650 million deficit in next year's budget, he is pressuring unions to accept unpopular changes to overtime pay and work rules — early steps toward whittling both the size of the city's union workforce as well as unions' political influence at City Hall. . . . The city's plans to privatize at least some of its recycling business could ultimately cost hundreds of Laborers Union members their jobs, but Teamsters drive both city and private garbage trucks. Just hours after Emanuel unveiled his plans, Teamsters Joint Council 25 President John Coli stepped forward to praise the plan and promised the union would run any program at the lowest cost. One of Emanuel's earliest cost-savings ideas as a candidate in November was opening the door to privatizing trash hauling. Teamsters, who have more members in the private sector than working for governments, stand to benefit from such a plan. They endorsed him two months later."