Kane County Reporter

Wirepoints issued the following announcement on May 26,

The Illinois General Assembly has just passed a resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2022 ballot that would cement union power into the state's constitution.

 The amendment language creates a new “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively” for matters that include workers’ “economic welfare.” The amendment would further prohibit Illinois governments from passing any law that “interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.”

 Both the scope of that right and the rules for how the collective bargaining would be conducted are sweeping and open-ended. All matters of “economic welfare” could be forced into collective bargaining.

 The amendment language goes beyond banning Right-to-Work for private sector unions and would likely ban any attempt to reform collective bargaining for both public and private unions.

 Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski and Founder Mark Glennon are available to comment on the potential impact of this new amendment.

 To book Wirepoints, contact: Ted Dabrowski (312) 203-7736, ted@wirepoints.org 

Background information:

• Illinois public sector unions already have some of the nation’s most extensive bargaining powers. Collective bargaining between unions and governments is compulsory, teachers have the power to strike, public safety unions can force governments into arbitration over any contract they don’t like, and more.
• Illinois is an outlier nationally when it comes to giving unions power, according to a 2016 study by the Heritage Foundation. Only Pennsylvania, Alaska and Minnesota have a more union-friendly environment.
• Illinois is the only one among its neighbors, and one of just twelve states overall, that allows teachers unions to strike.
• Illinois neighbors have changed their labor laws over time to become more competitive. Wisconsin passed its Act 10 reforms and Iowa passed sweeping collective bargaining changes. If Illinois’ amendment passes, the state likely won’t be able to adjust labor laws to compete with its neighbors.
• Unions have used Illinois’ favorable labor rules to acquire some of the nation’s most generous salaries and retirement benefits. Illinois state workers are the 2nd-highest paid in the nation after adjusting for cost-of-living, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• The average, recently retired, career state pensioner in Illinois receives $70,600 in annual pension benefits and can expect to collect over $2.3 million in total benefits.
• The resolution to put the amendment on the ballot was supported by the entire Democratic Caucus. They were joined by some Republicans: 61% of the Senate Republican Caucus (11 of 18) voted in favor of it, while 20% (9 of 45) of House Republicans voted in favor. 

Wirepoints’ articles on the constitutional amendment are linked here:

Illinois lawmakers want to cement union powers into the state constitution

Scope Of Pending Illinois Constitutional Amendment Goes Far Beyond Appearances.