Posts tagged Workers’ Rights amendment
REPORT: How government unions work against interests of private-sector unions, taxpayers
January 22, 2025 // First, there is no archetypal profit motive in the government sector. Congress passed laws promoting collective bargaining in the private sector to prevent the exploitation of workers by employers who were seeking to increase their profits through long work hours and poor working conditions.
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.
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."
OPINION: Public sector union employees deserve more power over their leadership
May 15, 2023 // The attempt to alter the Pennsylvania Constitution by passing HB 950 will further diminish the rights of union members in favor of union executives. According to an analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation, government unions have spent more than $190 million on politics in Pennsylvania since 2007. In 2021-2022, government union PACs spent over $20 million in Pennsylvania, including $13.1 million directly to candidates and partisan PACs. More than 99% of the contributions to candidates for statewide office went to Democrats.
From Starbucks to Marijuana Dispensaries, 2022 Marked a Year of Gains for Labor Organizers in Chicago, US
December 28, 2022 // Election day also brought a win for union backers, when voters supported the so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment broadening rights in the Illinois constitution for collective bargaining. “This is a major win for workers rights that will outlast any single politicians’ term and enshrine a key right for Illinoisans for generations to come,” Governor J.B. Pritzker said in a December proclamation announcing the amendment had passed. Organizers and their supporters are also hopeful the National Labor Relations Board is about to get a financial boost in a new federal spending plan. The $25 million budget increase will be the agency’s first in nine years, according to the NLRB union. Union supporters say the agency has been chronically underfunded, weakening its ability to enforce labor laws.
Illinois: Local unions celebrating anticipated passing of Workers’ Rights Amendment
November 10, 2022 // Marilee Smith, with the Illinois Policy Institute, said the amendment could give union leaders too much power. “It could allow government unions to negotiate virtually anything,” Smith said.
Illinois: Labor amendment remains on November ballot after court blocks petition
August 31, 2022 // Amendment 1 would create a state constitutional right for employees to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work. The case, Sarah Sachen v. Illinois State Board of Elections, was brought by parents and teachers from Chicago Public Schools and claimed the proposed amendment would unconstitutionally enshrine union powers in the Illinois Constitution. Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Citizen Advisory Coalition to Save Illinois,
HOW AMENDMENT 1 COULD GIVE ILLINOIS MORE ARSONISTS AS FIRE CHIEFS
May 27, 2022 // Analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute shows the language of the amendment would allow abuses of unionization and collective bargaining rights to nullify more than 350 existing state statutes. The amendment creates new threats for a wide variety of sectors, including policing, child care services and education. The impact of Amendment 1 would likely be felt by virtually all Illinoisans – including children.
Illinois: AMENDMENT 1 WOULD CEMENT STRIKES AS GO-TO WEAPON FOR CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION
March 10, 2022 // The Chicago Teachers Union has gone on strike five times and walked out on students at least three other times since it got the right to strike in 1984. Gaining greater power through Amendment 1 would embolden militant union tactics.