Reject Congress
06/24/2009 10:00 PM
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The Plan Commission rejected the Congress Hotel’s expansion proposal in January 2008, citing poor conditions at the landmark South Loop property. The real reason the commissioners denied the application was, of course, Unite-Here Local 1’s political — and moral — clout. The union has been on strike at the hotel since 2003.
But plan commissioners approved the hotel’s expansion last Thursday. They shouldn’t have. The commissioners should have stuck to their guns and rejected the hotel’s bid, thus using the weight of the city to prod the intransigent owners of the Congress toward a settlement with Local 1. This strike has gone on long enough.