AFL-CIO endorses O'Hare expansion

CHICAGO -- Local labor leaders and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) gathered Sunday in Chicago to announce the AFL-CIO's endorsement of a plan to expand O'Hare International Airport.

In supporting the plan, the AFL-CIO cited a Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce study that projects the creation of 195,000 jobs and almost $20 million in annual economic benefits to the Chicago area.

The union's endorsement is the latest the project has received, said Durbin spokeswoman Stacey Zolt.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the Air Line Pilots Association, the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Commercial Club of Chicago are among the more than 25 organizations to sign off on the proposal, Zolt said.

"It's a rare day when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the national AFL-CIO stand on the same side of an issue," she said. "That speaks to the importance of the economic impact of modernizing O'Hare."

Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune

Publication: Chicago Tribune
Date: March 4, 2002
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