By Fox Valley
Labor News staff
Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014

Unions fight right-to-work in Illinois

With Illinois’ governor-elect Bruce Rauner coming into office next month, it’s feared Illinois will walk the path of Wis. Governor Scott Walker and turn into a right-to-work state, something that will devastate unions, lower wages and limit rights in the workplace. A right-to-work law would end mandatory payment of dues for workers in companies or government organizations with a union presence. While campaigning, Rauner, a venture capitalist, promised to establish “right-to-work” zones in Illinois. Such zones could pit workers against each other.

Rauner says the plan offers fewer tax and regulatory burdens and told the Associated Press that an example of his plan could let municipalities or counties decide on whether to make paying union fees voluntary for unionized workers. Under right-to-work, workers face decreased earnings, unionization rates, and benefits. There is increased inequality and worker fatalities. Tax revenues would also decline by a projected $1.5 billion over the next five years.
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Walmart faces unrelenting protests against worker disparities

Nationwide this year, Walmart workers organized strikes on Black Friday, in protest of low wages and work hours. Chicago took part in the biggest strike ever, with OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart) leading the charge, a group of former and current employees who is supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
In the downtown Chicago protest, several Walmart Black Friday protesters were arrested after blocking a street with peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience. For bail, people need to check out a bondsman near me!

Members of OUR Walmarts want a future where the company treats Walmart associates with respect and dignity. They have helped build the Walton family fortune, yet are struggling just to get by put food on their table. They are looking for a fair shot, but the silver-spooned Walton family is robbing them of a decent living.
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Fast food and retail workers Fight for $15

In our Top Ten last year, the Fight for $15 shows up again in 2014 after he call-to-action ramped up protests. Chicago took part in the national Fight for $15 protests several times this year, with 2,000 people flooding the McDonald’s corporate campus in May, and about 50 being arrested for civil disobedience outside fast food locations in September.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McDonald’s said worker protests might force it to raise wages in 2015. A recent report shows the industry has by far the largest disparity between worker and CEO pay.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said, “Excessive pay disparities pose a risk to share owner value,” and that conversations around inequality should move into the boardrooms of profitable fast-food companies.
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National and local Post Offices to close

The four postal unions, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), and National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA) are urging their members and postal customers to send a message to outgoing Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and the USPS Board of Governors: Stop delaying America’s mail.

According to the APWU, on Jan. 5 2015, the United States Postal Service is slated to lower “service standards” to virtually eliminate overnight delivery — including first-class mail from one address to another within the same city or town, as well as close 82 mail processing and distribution centers. This will delay the mail and cost union jobs.
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Scabby the Rat, union members battle for better contracts

From teachers to laborers and from funeral workers to sheet metal workers, Scabby the Rat has been standing strong for union members, so it wouldn’t be a Top 10 if Scabby the Rat wasn’t included. Scabby backed several unions in 2014 as union members battled for better contracts.

After more than 18 months of negotiations, UIC faculty held a two-day strike in February, just days before they met with the university for additional negotiation talks. About 1,150 full-time tenured and non-tenured faculty walked out — the first in UIC history.
In Waukegan, schools reopened for students Nov. 3 after Waukegan Teachers’ Council (IFT Local 504) and the Waukegan Community Unit School District #60 reached a three-year contract agreement.

Teamster Local 727’s members have continued to fight Service Corporation International since July 2, 2013 after Service Corporation International (SCI) locked out Chicago-area funeral workers. In late October, SCI accepted Teamsters 727’s offer to enter federal mediation as the union attempts to reach an agreement on a new contract.

Scabby took main stage in May at the Arlington Downs construction project in Arlington Heights. A constant presence by Scabby and other inflatables, motivated contractors to impose a Project Labor Agreement.
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Northwestern football votes to unionize

Their votes may not be counted for years to come, but in April 2014, Northwestern University football players were allowed to vote in secret whether or not to unionize their non-professional team, the first in college sports to do so.

The player vote followed a March decision by the regional director of the NLRB in Chicago, who ruled players could be considered employees and are eligible to form a union. The decision is being appealed by Northwestern University to the full labor board in Washington.
Former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter helped lead the effort with the help of the United Steel Workers. Supporters say a union would help athletes obtain better compensation, medical care for injuries and other benefits.
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The 2014 election was a tough pill to swallow

In the 2014 election, Labor didn’t go down without a fight, but try as the might, Labor couldn’t deliver voters to the polls, allowing Bruce Rauner to walk his way right into the Governor’s seat. Rauner is everything labor unions in Illinois fear.

He has promised to establish “right-to-work” zones in Illinois and dramatically revise the state’s public employee retirement system. He’s launched bromides against “government union bosses” and touted his donations to charter schools.

“Organized labor did their part, I can tell you that much,” Kane County Chairman Mark Guethle. He manned countless evenings phone banking events. “This is what happens when people don’t vote,” he explained.
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Illinois’ pension reform bill ruled unconstitutional

Illinois’ pension trouble was our 2013 No. 1 story impacting labor. This year, it remains on the Top 10 list.

Senate Bill 1, known as Illinois’ pension reform bill, was ruled unconstitutional in November by a Sanagamon County Circuit Court Judge, setting up an immediate appeal to the state’s highest court. The bill was originally passed Dec. 3, 2013.

We Are One Illinois said it is gratified by the court’s ruling, which makes clear the Illinois Constitution means what it says. “The court held, as our unions have long argued, the state cannot simply choose to violate the Constitution and diminish or impair retirement benefits if politicians find these commitments inconvenient to keep.”
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Illinois voters approve minimum wage hike

In mid-November — after 64 percent of voters agreed that the baseline should be lifted in an election day referendum — state Democrats advanced legislation that would raise the hourly minimum wage in the state from $8.25 to $11 by 2017.

In December, Chicago’s city council voted to raise the city’s minimum wage from $8.25 per hour to $13 per hour by 2019 under a mayor-backed plan that cleared the full city council by a 44-5 vote. The law will close a loophole that previously exempted domestic workers from the law, meaning nannies will now be included in the minimum wage ruling. As of Jan. 1, 2015, 29 states and D.C. will have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage. Four states — Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota — approved minimum wage increases through ballot measures in the 2014 general election; Illinois voters approved an advisory measure.

The state of Illinois ranks 9th in the top-to-bottom measure of income inequality. This means that the top 1 percent of households made 24.5 times the average income of the bottom 99 percent in 2011.
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President Obama streamlines legal immigration

In 2014, fighting for immigration was our No. 10 story impacting labor. In the course of 12 months, it reached our No. 1 spot. President Obama took action through Executive Order to deal responsibly with the millions of undocumented immigrants living in our country. His decision to exercise “prosecutorial discretion” in the enforcement of federal immigration law means as many as five million undocumented immigrants will not face deportation.

The GOP is at a standstill in figuring out ways to counter Obama, and the House has yet to consider passing an immigration reform bill.

By extending relief and work authorization to immigrants, the Obama Administration will help prevent unscrupulous employers from using unprotected workers to drive down wages and conditions for all workers in our country. During the year, nationwide events were used to convince Obama to use his executive authority to stop deportations, acknowledging the president didn’t have to wait for full immigration reform law to be passed by Congress.