Labor united in response to new governor’s attacks
In response to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s renewed attacks on Illinois labor unions, more than 200 union members and allies turned out Thursday in Champaign to protest an appearance he made before the local chamber of commerce.
The spirited crowd – which included members of AFSCME, the teachers’ unions and the building trades – provided a counter to the governor, who has been unveiling his agenda through a series of speeches.
Matt Kelly, president of the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council in Champaign County, told The News-Gazette that he believes that Rauner is "trying to destroy unions. That's really, we feel, what he's trying to accomplish by doing this stuff. It has nothing to do with making the state better. It has nothing to do with anything other than destroying the unions."
Rauner has criticized public employee unions from the earliest days of his campaign, calling their hard-won contracts “sweetheart deals” during his inaugural address. In his speaking tour, he’s relied on cherry-picked data to lay blame for the state’s fiscal woes at the feet of state employees, claiming they’re overpaid and enjoy overly generous health care benefits and pensions – claims that fall apart in the face of facts.
Rauner also recently unveiled a proposal to bring so-called right-to-work to Illinois by allowing local governments to declare themselves “right-to-work” zones – forcing unions to represent employees who pay no dues and weakening labor’s ability to fight for fair wages and benefits. Numerous studies have shown that “right-to-work” results in lower wages, reduced benefits and less safe workplaces for all workers in the states where it already exists.
The governor has also signaled he plans to go on the attack against other measures that promote good jobs, including prevailing wages laws and project labor agreements, and programs that help struggling families, such as workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance.
“Much like his past proposal to cut the minimum wage, he is now going after workers on all fronts by supporting right-to-work, attacking unemployment insurance and workers compensation, as well as prevailing wage and project labor agreements that benefit both workers and the taxpayers,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan said.