Illinois Senate Democrats
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
IllinoisSenateDemocrats.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
John Patterson (217) 782-1012
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Illinois Senate Democrats vow to fight for working families
Wisconsin, Missouri union busting called a mistake for middle class
SPRINGFIELD – With lawmakers in neighboring Wisconsin and Missouri vowing to quickly push
union-busting legislation in the new year, key Illinois Senate Democrats said such laws make
little economic sense and they will fight to block any similar efforts here.
Illinois state Sen. Linda Holmes, an Aurora Democrat and vice-chair of the Senate's Labor and
Commerce Committee, said such laws are a bad deal for working families.
“Unions built our middle class by fighting for the five-day, 40-hour work week and other basic
protections,” Holmes said. “I will vehemently oppose any legislation that would cripple labor
unions and hurt working families.”
Dubbed "right-to-work" laws by supporters, these provisions undermine organized labor by
forbidding businesses from entering into union contracts requiring all employees to pay their
share of the cost of union representation. Critics contend such proposals serve only to erode
worker pay and benefits.
Several other Senate Democrats joined Holmes in voicing support for workers.
"Collective bargaining made America and the middle class strong, but the middle class has taken
it on the chin in recent decades," said state Sen. Pat McGuire, a Joliet Democrat. "Adopting
right-to-work in Illinois would be the final blow. I'm not going to let that happen."
State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, a south suburban Democrat who represents communities that border
“right-to-work” Indiana, said the types of anti-union laws being considered in Wisconsin and
Missouri are a step in the wrong direction.
“Illinois has long fought for stronger worker rights and better wages and benefits for our
residents,” Hutchinson said. “Let’s keep in mind what kind of working conditions we want for
our families and the next generation by protecting organized labor in Illinois and across this
country. Union-busting legislation is not progress. It only serves to suppress workers’ rights.”
Backing up their view is a recent University of Illinois study that found such laws tend to result
in lower wages, reduced benefits and increased reliance on government welfare programs.
In fact, study authors Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the Urbana
campus, and Frank Manzo IV, the policy director of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute,
concluded that if Illinois had adopted a right to work law in 2013, it would have increased the
need for government assistance through food stamps and other programs by $440 million
because of lost worker protections and declining pay.
Yet Missouri and Wisconsin are poised to take up anti-union proposals when their lawmakers
return to session in early 2015. Michigan and Indiana approved "right-to-work" laws to reduce
union influence in 2012.
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