One of the city's top business groups today launched a direct attack on a pair of aldermen who, the group says, continue to back tax hikes that hurt business and the city's job climate.

In an action unlike any I've seen in decades, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to nearly 2,000 businesses in the Northwest Side's 1st and 35th wards asking them to contact their aldermen and "unite against these harmful policies."

Singled out were Aldermen Proco Joe Moreno, 1st, and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, but they're "just the first" to be hit, with other letters to businesses in some other wards expected, said chamber Vice President for Government Relations Michael Reever.

"This is another tool to communicate more directly with neighborhood businesses about the bad policies coming from the City Council and to begin to have local businesses and constituents hold their aldermen more accountable," he added.

Ordinarily, business groups like the chamber rely on the mayor for political protection and talk to aldermanic constituents only at election time.

But with Mayor Rahm Emanuel politically weakened by the controversy over the Laquan McDonald shooting and other matters, the chamber recently signaled that it will be stepping up its grassroots activity.

Today's letters certainly fit that category.

The notes begin by reminding owners that, in the past two years "your business" has faced a hike in the minimum wage from $8.25 in 2015 to $13 an hour by 2019, a new law that requires paid sick leave, $1 billion in higher city property taxes and water/sewer fees, and a ban on most uses of plastic bags by retailers.

"This is not a way to grow your business and hire more people," Reever wrote.

Now, the letter adds, "your alderman" is pushing a proposed $16-a-month tax on every employee in the city. The money would be used to avert cuts at Chicago Public Schools—including a demand by CPS that teachers begin paying the 7 percent of salary for pensions that CPS now picks up in their stead under an old contact deal.

Even if this doesn't directly impact your business, it is indicative of the problems your business and others continue to face," the letter concludes. "If your alderman doesn't hear from you, he will presume that you are 'OK' with this tax and the other regressive policies that harm your business' ability to grow."

Neither Moreno nor Ramirez-Rosa responded to requests for comment.

Reever said they were selected for the first batch of letters because "those aldermen have been most egregious in their anti-business policies."

The chamber is headed by Theresa Mintle, who served as Emanuel's first chief of staff.