23 Union Officials Get $56M in Pensions

An obscure change to Illinois state law 20 years ago has given 23 retired Chicago union officials almost $56 million in city pensions. The labor leaders are getting pensions based on their union salaries rather than their significantly lower city salaries, a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV investigation uncovered. "The revelation that there are benefits being paid for work that doesn't directly relate to official city business is outrageous," said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan policy research group.