Posts tagged Illinois Legislative Staff Association
IL House Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’
June 28, 2024 // In a new filing Monday, attorneys for Welch argued the Illinois Legislative Staff Association has no standing to sue over the speaker’s refusal to engage in collective bargaining with the would-be union’s members. Welch’s attorneys reiterated an argument the speaker has been making for nearly a year: Illinois law doesn’t currently allow legislative staffers to unionize. Although Welch last fall introduced and passed legislation through the House that would explicitly allow his employees to unionize, the bill has not advanced in the Senate. The ILSA last month accused Welch of feigning solidarity in public while privately colluding with Democratic Senate President Don Harmon to ensure the bill died in his chamber. And a few days after the General Assembly’s spring session concluded, the staffers sued Welch.
SPEAKER WELCH GOT UNION POWER INTO ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION, NOW HIS WORKERS USE IT AGAINST HIM
June 5, 2024 // Now, members of Welch’s own staff are suing him for refusing to recognize their chosen union. According to the Illinois Legislative Staff Association, Welch has failed to deal with his staff in good faith and is “stonewalling” the process. After 18 months of being “rebuffed” by Welch in their quest for unionization, the association and a member of Welch’s staff filed suit May 31 in Cook County.
Would-be union of Illinois legislative staffers accuse Welch of undermining organizing effort
May 24, 2024 // In a scathing statement, the Illinois Legislative Staff Association accused Welch of passing the bill “to deflect rising criticism” and feigning solidarity in public while privately colluding with Democratic Senate President Don Harmon to ensure the bill “went no further” once it passed the House. “Speaker Welch took advantage of our sincere desire to work with him and used it to score political points while continuing to undermine our efforts to organize,” the lengthy statement said. “This whole exercise was nothing but a hollow ruse, meant to gaslight us while we drafted his bills, staffed his committees, crafted his talking points and analyzed his budget.” ILSA, which is currently made up of staff for the House Democratic caucus, formed in secret in 2022 and went public with its unionization efforts last year. The association then spent the summer accusing Welch of stonewalling its efforts for recognition.
Pritzker weighs in on statehouse staffers attempting to unionize
September 8, 2023 // The staffers have been hoping to meet with Welch, D-Hillside, to discuss terms for unionization but have been unsuccessful up to this point. "For the last 9 months, we have asked in good faith for Speaker Welch to meet with us. Despite his outspoken pro-labor rhetoric and vocal support for the right of all employees in Illinois to unionize, he is apparently intent on denying this right to his own staff," the Illinois Legislative Staff Association said in a statement posted to social media. “It should not be controversial in 2023 for a group of workers in a blue state with a strong union tradition to form a union, especially when the right to organize is enshrined in the state constitution."