Yesterday, Chicagoans awoke to the first of three days with reduced city services. Mayor Daley insists that this was a critical cost-cutting measure. Earlier this summer, the Mayor vowed to lay off more than 400 workers whose unions refused to accept a deal that included furlough days. Meanwhile state employees and their unions are striving for a better compromise as Governor Quinn works out his furlough plan. Bob Bruno, who is a Labor Historian at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and Henry Bayer, the Executive Director of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31, discuss the power of labor unions and how they’ve evolved over the years.

Music Button: Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins, “Leon Me”, from the CD Clutch of the Tiger, (Ubiquity records)