Negotiators for the Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s administration met for several hours Saturday at the downtown offices of a top school district labor attorney after the union had sat down with the bargaining unit that will play a key role in determining if a deal can get done before a threatened strike deadline.

Officials did not comment about the status of talks at the end of the day. The union has said it will strike Tuesday if a tentative settlement can’t be reached. Talks are expected to go through Monday, which is the Columbus Day school holiday.

The CTU met with its 40-member big bargaining unit earlier Saturday at the Lower West Side headquarters of Service Employees International Union Healthcare. CTU officials said the meeting was to review its position on a potential contract.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to slap a 7-cent tax on each paper and plastic bag handed out at stores — both to give consumers an incentive to bring reusable bags, and to stop a ploy by major retailers to get around the city’s partial ban, advocates said Friday.

Tanya Triche, vice president and general counsel of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said the bag tax would raise roughly $10 million a year. A nickel of each 7 cents — about $7.1 million — would go to the city. The other 2 cents would go to local merchants to help defray the cost of paper bags and thicker plastic bags.

Chicago’s recent enactment of a tax to save its biggest pension fund from insolvency won the city a stable outlook for its credit rating from S&P Global Ratings on Friday.

While affirming a BBB-plus rating for Chicago’s general obligation bonds, S&P revised the outlook to stable from negative.

Last month, the Chicago City Council approved a tax on water and sewer usage that is projected to raise about $240 million a year once fully phased in over five years. The revenue will help Chicago gradually increase contributions to its municipal retirement system, which is on track to run out of cash within 10 years.

“We view this as a positive step to address the city’s underfunded pensions,” said S&P analyst Helen Samuelson in a statement.

The era of monthly payroll gains of at least 200,000 appears to be over after the Labor Department reported on Friday that job growth was lackluster again in September, but economists said that’s a good thing.

Although the 156,000 net new jobs added last month  was down from August and a bit below analysts’ expectations, wage growth was solid and the labor force continued to expand.

Last month, Chicago State University trustees agreed to stuff $600,000 in the pockets of President Thomas Calhoun Jr. and told him to find another job. And to clam up about why he was leaving. That stunning move came just nine months after Calhoun was welcomed to CSU and hailed as the powerhouse leader who could fix the school’s wobbly fiscal solvency and wobblier academic credentials.

Why did CSU trustees cashier Calhoun? They wouldn’t say. No, scratch that. More like: THEY WOULDN’T SAY. Writing in capital letters is offensive. How offensive? Read on:

Written into the separation agreement between Calhoun and the school is this passage: “The parties agree that they will not disclose matters relating to the circumstances surrounding Dr. Calhoun’s resignation as President to anyone other than their respective attorneys, accountants, financial advisers or Dr. Calhoun’s spouse unless required to do so by legal process or court order. … BOTH PARTIES AGREE THAT DISCLOSURE AND VIOLATION OF THIS PARAGRAPH IS A MATERIAL BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT.”

Yes, they put that last part in capital letters. Just in case anyone missed the point. In other words: THIS IS HUSH MONEY. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. If you spill the story to the public, if you break the CSU Code of Silence, we can claw back the $600,000.

Police pension costs will rise 22 percent in the upcoming year, and city officials are concerned about financial sustainability.