Springfield, IL – An Illinois judge has already rejected arguments opposing the proposed Workers Rights Amendment that would essentially outlaw so-called right-to-work laws in the state.
The amendment is now moving toward a vote in the November general election that would make it part of the state constitution if voters approve it, and a major public rally will be held at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, July 21 at the IBEW Local 309 Hall at 2000 Mall St. in Collinsville, featuring Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea.
But in April, a legal challenge to placing the issue on the November ballot was rejected by a judge in the 7th Judicial District, which surrounds Sangamon County, home of Springfield, the state capital.
The amendment is being opposed by many of the same organizations and individuals that promoted the lawsuit that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision, striking down “fair share” fees for workers in union workplaces who decline to join the unions.
The groups include such names as the anti-worker Illinois Policy Institute and the Liberty Justice Center.
THE LAWSUIT
They filed suit this past April 21, saying the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits state laws that would regulate collective bargaining, saying, “The state cannot adopt a measure that conflicts with federal law,” and thus, “cannot use taxpayer funds” to put the question on the ballot.
But 7th District Circuit Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow wasn’t buying it and ruled there were “no reasonable grounds’ to keep the measure off the ballot.
“The proposed amendment would serve at least three permissible purposes,” she wrote in her decision. “First, it would create rights for public employees, which Petitioners concede is not pre-empted by the NLRA. Second, it would restrain the power of the General Assembly to pass laws restricting union security agreements, a subject left open to the states.
“Third, it would act as a state-law failsafe to preserve rights for private-sector employees in the event the federal government ever decided to abandon the NLRA.”
Grischow concluded: “There are not grounds for denying voters the opportunity to decide whether to add the Workers’ Rights Amendment to the Illinois constitution.”
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Association of School Boards and the National Federation of Independent Business all are opposing the amendment.
Some of this information came from the Center for Media and Democracy. For more, go online to exposedcmd.org.
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