The Hardest-Working Paper in America | 
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

A Sun-Times series spotlighting the people and professions that keep Chicago thriving.

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Hardest-Working Voices in Labor
From ‘tunnel rat’ to power engineer, electricians like Steven Moore keep the trains running on time
As power engineer coordinator for the Chicago Transit Authority, Moore is ready to respond quickly to electrical issues impacting the city’s 244 miles of ‘L’ tracks.
By Ryan Smith
 
Mike Badame, assistant chief operating engineer for the Chicago Department of Aviation, at O’Hare International Airport.
Hardest-Working Voices in Labor
Mike Badame hopes you never notice him at O’Hare Airport — it means everything is working
The operating engineer keeps the world’s 6th busiest airport running smoothly through a massive infrastructure of systems that control everything from the lights to the hot water.
By Ryan Smith
 
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Hardest-Working Voices in Labor
Plumbing runs in Cliff Bruckner’s family — for 130 years
The Plumbers Local 130 member is part of the fifth generation to work for Chas F. Bruckner and Son Plumbing.
By Ryan Smith
 
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Hardest-Working Voices in Labor
Nursing assistant helps care for victims of Chicago violence: ‘My patients are definitely the best part of my job’
Clarise Evans sees the impact of Chicago’s gun violence on a daily basis. She’s now pushing for higher wages at her hospital.
By Ryan Smith
 
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Hardest-Working Voices in Labor
She fixes forklifts, smashes glass ceilings in auto mechanics industry
Kittra Headtke tells girls and women: “If it’s something you love, do it no matter who you are.”
By Ryan Smith
 
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Ex-presidential bodyguard now holding line in year-long hotel strike
By Ryan Smith
 
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Hardest-Working Voices in Labor
Power tools are precision instruments for worker in the guts of the Lake Shore Drive bridge
Matt Clement works as a millwright, one of the world’s oldest professions.
By Ryan Smith
 
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Handle with care — and a smile: Ex-wide receiver delivers mail ‘through rain, sleet or snow’
By Ryan Smith
 
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Crystal Gardner: ‘We made major history by organizing’
By Ryan Smith
 
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Why these Chicagoans left other careers to work in ‘boots and jeans and ... with my hands’
By Ryan Smith
 
Patrick Byrne, an operating engineer with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.
Patrick Byrne: He lost a leg — but not his love for working with heavy machinery
By Ryan Smith
 
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