Gerald Skoning Published in Crain's Chicago Business "Successful games require cooperation of guv and unions"
05/10/2007
Gerald's opinion piece ("Successful games require cooperation of guv and unions") in the April 30, 2007 issue of Crain's Chicago business states : "Chicago's Olympic committee can be justifiably proud of beating Los Angeles for the chance to represent the United States in the bidding to host the 2016 Olympics. But the international phase of the competition will be considerably more daunting. As we square off against Madrid, Rome, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and others, we will need every possible advantage we can muster. The key to success is teamwork: Organizers must work with city government, architects, contributors, advertisers, the media and others. To get this far, the city had to respond to Olympic officials' demand that it ``put some skin in the game.'' Two other indispensable players need ``some skin in the game'' as we enter the international competition: labor unions, particularly the construction trades, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Without the cooperation of organized labor, ambitious plans to build the temporary stadium in Washington Park and the Olympic Village in the shadow of McCormick Place could be in serious jeopardy. Unfortunately, the relationship between Mayor Richard M. Daley and unions is chilly, to say the least, after the mayor vetoed the big-box wage ordinance. As a result, organized labor poured $2.6 million into aldermanic races to defeat Daley-supported candidates. It remains to be seen what impact, if any, this ongoing fight between unions and the mayor will have on issues coming before the City Council, including issues related to planning for the 2016 Olympics. It would be tragic if the current squabble were to derail efforts to land the games. These projects present a huge economic development opportunity for the entire region and will bring billions of dollars in business opportunities and job growth. But executing a successful 2016 Olympics will require unions to be partners in the timely completion of infrastructure improvements and during the games themselves. The other critical partner is Gov. Blagojevich. The positive effect of his recent pledge to ``use all his efforts to pass state legislation'' to donate $150 million if the games lose money is outweighed by the negative impact of his senseless gross-receipts tax. His proposal will unnecessarily drive up the cost of producing the games, as contractors and suppliers will pass the new 1.8% tax to their customers-in this case, the Olympic committee. No doubt, our international competitors will use this ill-conceived new tax to their advantage in their presentation to the International Olympic Committee. Our bid for the 2016 Olympics is just one example of future economic development opportunities jeopardized, or destroyed, by the governor's tax plan. He and his budget advisers could give an enormous boost to Chicago's prospects for holding the games by reconsidering and, hopefully, withdrawing their reckless anti-business, anti-economic development and anti-Olympics tax plan."
