Early Warnings in Chicago

Abstract

[Excerpt] Dear Mayor Washington, The Milton Bradley Company, the parent of Playskool, Inc has just announced a $18 million loss for 1983 down from $19 million profit in 1982... these results have increased ongoing speculation here at the factory that this facility will be closed... Can't you help us somehow? I can't sign this cause it would probably cause me trouble if they knew I was writing to you. The arrival of this letter in the Mayor's office in the Winter of 1984 coincided with the city's initiation of a unique attempt to do something about plant closings in Chicago. Some Chicago neighborhoods have almost 40% fewer jobs now than ten years ago, and over the past five years the city has been losing 10,000 jobs a year.