WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

The Chicago Auto Show opens this week and among the vehicles to debut are new police cars made locally. Ford is showing off two models of police "Interceptors" manufactured at Chicago's Southeast Side plant. One model is a sedan, the other a SUV.Mike Moran is a communications manager at Ford."

Ford union autoworkers have approved a new four-year contract that's expected to bring 2,000 jobs to the Chicago region.At first, it didn't seem like a slam dunk deal.

Tuesday is a big day for union members at Ford auto plants across the Midwest. Voting is scheduled to close on a new a new four-year contract that could mean more than 1,000 jobs for Chicago and the region.Earlier this month, Ford and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement.

Workers at a Chicago Ford plant rejected the company's tentative four-year contract and are being told to prepare for a possible strike.

The mayor introduced a measure to the city council this week that will cut the head tax in half next year and do away with it by 2014.If a company in Chicago employs more than 50 people, it has to pay four dollars a month for every employee. Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls this head tax a "job killer."