Brady Questions Whether Quinn Handled Road Construction Strike Ethically

Chicago - The chairman of the Illinois Republican Party accused Gov. Quinn of paying back labor unions who gave him big campaign contributions.

Quinn labelled it a "smear" by the "Brady Bunch," his dismissive term for Illinois GOP Chairman Patrick Brady and Bill Brady, the Republican nominee for governor.

At a Loop news conference, former federal prosecutor Patrick Brady showed reporters that two key labor unions gave Quinn's re-election campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars in June. The Operating Engineers Union and the Laborers then called a strike in July that shut down highway and construction projects.

Several weeks into the strike, Quinn's Illinois Department of Transportation sent employers a letter threatening to re-bid public construction projects that had been shut down. Within hours, the work stoppage was over. MARBA, a group of about 300 contractors, signed a new collective bargaining agreement with the unions.

Patrick Brady noted that many observers regarded the letter from Quinn's IDOT Secretary, Gary Hannig, as the decisive factor. Brady suggested the letter was designed to squeeze the contractors...and to reward the unions for their contributions to Quinn.

"Campaign finance disclosure reports now available show us that Pat Quinn received more than $500,000 from two labor unions which benefitted from the unprecedented, heavy-handed intervention of his Illinois Department of Transportation into the labor dispute with private road contractors," Pat Brady said.

Responded Quinn: "That's a smear. And those who made it, the Brady Bunch, know it's a smear. It's totally untrue...We told the unions the same thing we told the contractors: Get to the bargaining table. Be serious. Resolve your differences. They came up with a contract."