Fran Spielman

Three political strategists with ties to neither candidate agreed that, barring an ‘earth-shattering development,’ the runoff is likely to be a Lightfoot laugher, the seeds of which were planted weeks before the first round of balloting on Feb. 26.

The Chicago Federation of Labor said today it would ask its City Council allies to reject Chicago’s second Wal-Mart after an unprecedented meeting between five Wal-Mart executives and five union leaders failed to produce follow-up talks.

Jorge Ramirez, the CFL’s secretary-treasurer, accused Wal-Mart of “going through the motions” when it sat down with organized labor on May 3 to hammer out an agreement that would avoid putting aldermen on the hot-seat.