Illinois Moves Toward Making ‘Right-to-Work’ Illegal
Date Posted: July 21, 2022
Posted In: News,
From St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune: Union leaders and members will unite on Thursday, July 21 in support of Illinois’ unique Workers Rights Amendment proposal, which would make so-called “right-to-work” virtually illegal in the state, unlike all others.
Both the state House and Senate have already voted to put the proposal on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. It would be an amendment to Article 1 of the state constitution saying workers have “the fundamental right” to choose collective bargaining by their own representatives and that no law could interfere with those rights.
“This is huge for Illinois,” said B. Dean Webb, president of the Greater Madison County Federation of Labor. “I believe we would be the first state that’s ever done this.”
Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea will be in Collinsville to lead the public rally, called “Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights,” beginning at 4:30 p.m. on July 21st at IBEW Local 309, 2000 Mall St. Sponsors are the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Madison County Federation, the Southwestern Illinois Central Labor Council, Ullico and the Southwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council.
STRENGTHENING LABOR RIGHTS
Illinois already has legislation on the books that makes “right-to-work” very difficult to enact. In 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Collective Bargaining Freedom Act, which eliminated individual municipalities’ attempts to establish zones that prevented employers and unions from enforcing union security provisions.
It was passed in response to a so-called “right-to-work ordinance” established by the Chicago-area town of Lincolnshire, which had declared itself a “right-to-work” zone. That ordinance was struck down by the U.S. District Court in 2017 and the U.S. Appeals Court in 2018.