FORD TOUGH
Stop the presses!
Four powerful Chicago aldermen are putting their political muscle together to create a platform for women who have felt the brunt of sexual harassment and bullying.
† Translation: The group, composed of City Council heavyweights Ald. Carrie Austin ( 34th), chairman of the powerful Budget Committee; Ald. Margaret Laurino ( 39th), president pro- tem of the City Council; Ald. Michelle Harris ( 8th), chairman of the Rules Committee, and Ald. Edward Burke ( 14th), chairman of the Finance Committee, have sponsored a resolution calling for the City Council Finance Committee to hold hearings giving victims a forum to tell their stories.
The resolution will also call for executives from Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers to appear before the Finance Committee to testify under oath what safeguards are being implemented to protect female workers, he said.
“Some of the victims cited will be culled from the Ford Motor Company’s Chicago assembly plant due to decades of sexual harassment allegations,” said Burke.
“The victims will also come from local hotel workers who are members of the UNITE HERE Hospitality Union, which conducted a survey that showed 58 percent of hotel workers claimed to have been sexually harassed by a guest,” said Austin.
“I’m told it’s the first time a municipal legislative body in the nation has taken such an unprecedented step to give these victims a chance to tell their stories,” said Laurino.
† Backstory: “Chicago became the first major city to adopt an ordinance making sexual harassment and bullying a municipal offense punishable by fines and license revocations,” added Burke. Hmmm. Are corporate VIPs trembling about testifying under oath on these shocking allegations?
The Quinn bin . . .
Former Gov. Pat Quinn, who is back on the campaign trail running for Illinois attorney general, had necks craning at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s annual breakfast honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
“All the other candidates for the job were there [ State Sen. Kwame Raoul, former head of the State Board of Education Jesse Ruiz, former federal prosecutor Sharon Fairley], but it was Quinn who was working the room and shaking everybody’s hand table- to- table the old way.
Pretty amazing to watch,” said a top Dem source.
Bash rehash . . .
It was former first lady Michelle Obama’s 54th birthday Wednesday night in Washington, D. C., which she celebrated with her husband, Barack.
However, the birthday bash described in Sneed’s column by Washington chef Spike Mendelsohn, who claimed to be participating in a low- key birthday party for Mrs. Obama — is actually set for a later date and venue.
† Second Spike: Mrs. Obama celebrated her birthday privately with her husband in a Washington, D. C., eatery run by chef Spike Gjerde on Wednesday night in his yet- to- be- opened restaurant. Then they went to a play at the Kennedy Center that evening.
Sneedlings . . .
I spy: Media star Star Jones, who now resides in Chicago, recently spotted at Gibsons on Rush. . . . Ditto for “Empire” actor Xzibit. . . . Former Chicago Bear Julius Peppers dining at Luxbar last week. . . . Today’s birthdays: Dolly Parton, 72; Shawn Johnson, 26; Mac Miller, 26, and a belated birthday to James Smith, ageless and priceless.