Protesters: United Not Doing Enough To Get Benefits From City
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A couple dozen protesters stood outside United Airlines' Chicago offices on Sunday to demand that United do more for the city.
The protesters' message: that United is making too much money to also get benefits from the city through tax increment financing.
"The city of Chicago has given approximately $50 million to United Airlines over the past four years," said Service Employees International Union member Annette Jones, one of the protest organizers.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller reports
Podcast
The protesters brought a bunch of luggage and set it outside United's headquarters on West Wacker Drive - symbolic, they said, of the burden United is placing on the backs of Chicago's working people.
United has also come under criticism lately - along with American Airlines - for funneling their jet fuel purchases through the town of Sycamore, Illinois in order to avoid Chicago city taxes and saving millions.
A spokesman for United Airlines has declined comment.
