These days, the fight to pass bills and amendments typically begins with pithy — or, some might say, Orwellian — titles. Everyone knows that the controversial SAFE-T Act would have been more honestly described as the End Cash Bail Act, but Democrats clearly decided that everyone likes safety and therefore that name might just hide some of the legitimate worries about whether the bill would result in more violent criminals out on the street.
So it also goes with the so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment, as proposed to the Illinois Constitution. The naming theory here is that every decent person supports the rights of hardworking Illinoisans and, therefore, voters will be more likely to vote in favor.
In this, the first of the Tribune Editorial Board’s 2022 endorsements for the Nov. 8 elections, all to unspool here in coming days, we recommend you reject (to use the dryer, official name) Amendment One to the 1970 Illinois Constitution.
But first, here is what the amendment does.
In essence, Amendment One adds Section 25 to the Bill of Rights Article to the Illinois Constitution. It would enshrine a fundamental constitutional right to organize and bargain collectively and to negotiate salary and other working conditions. Any future state law that bars or restricts those rights would presumably be overruled by the amendment.
And thus, supporters say, workers will have better and more permanent protections in numerous areas, including whistleblower cases, safety violations and health issues. They also say there is a better chance of workers being able to secure higher wages.
Several Illinois unions, including the Chicago Teachers Union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois have expressed support for an amendment that, leaving aside any political spin, clearly would greatly increase the power of public sector labor unions. How voters view the amendment likely will turn on how they feel about such a change.
Simply put, the Illinois Constitution then would ban any right-to-work laws (not that Illinois actually has any such law), and employers would be able to require workers to pay dues to unions as a condition of employment — something unions generally like because it can otherwise be challenging to collect those dues.
The Chicago Tribune editorial continues here.
There has been no (or at best very little) publicity about this amendment and its harmful consequences. Why is that? You must get the word out on how bad this amendment is for Illinois citizens!