Gov. Rauner Booed for His Take on Unions in South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade

Caption: The Irish-American Labor Council’s float in Sunday’s South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade near 115th Street and Western Avenue. | Credit: Mary Compton

Gov. Bruce Rauner drew boos and jeers as he walked in Sunday’s South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Western Avenue. And that should come as no surprise, given the strong union leanings in the neighborhood and the grand marshal of the parade being the Irish-American Labor Council, a committee of the AFL-CIO.

Rauner has taken aim at unions in his effort to stage a financial turnaround for the state of Illinois. As part of that, he’s backing creation of “right-to-work” zones that weaken unions.

RELATED: Patch’s South Side Irish Parade Photo Gallery

Parade watchers shouted pro-union sentiments, among other choice phrases, at the governor as as he walked. At one point, Rauner started to jog and someone yelled “keep running!”

Among the other politicians in the parade were Mayor Rahm Emanuel and mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

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