By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are preparing to enshrine the extensive power of Illinois unions into the state constitution.
The Illinois Senate has passed, and the House is preparing to vote on, a resolution for a constitutional amendment creating a new “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively” for matters that include workers’ “economic welfare.” The resolution further prohibits the state and local governments from passing any law that “interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.” The recent Senate vote was bipartisan, with 11 of the Senate’s 18 Republicans voting for the resolution. No Senate Democrats opposed the measure.
If the House passes the resolution – and voters approve the amendment in November 2022 – essential labor reforms Illinois needs will be blocked. With both pensions and labor union powers protected by the state constitution, it’s unlikely the state can be turned around without falling into some form of chaos first.
The amendment is being widely reported as a private-sector union push to prevent Right-to-Work laws in Illinois, but those reports miss the bigger issue, which we will focus on here. The proposed language would lock-in a broad, new constitutional right and eliminate any hope of reforming collective bargaining rules for public sector unions – in perpetuity. From Capitol News Illinois:
During discussion on the measure Friday, Sen. Villivalam said it would have minimal impact on private-sector workers because the National Labor Relations Act governs organizing and collective bargaining in the private sector. He said the intent was to protect the right to collective bargaining that is already established under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act and the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act.
Illinois public sector unions already benefit from some of the most union-friendly labor laws in the country. Collective bargaining is compulsory in Illinois, teachers have the right to strike, public safety unions can force governments into binding arbitration, and more. Those rules have helped union members acquire some of the most generous salaries and retirement benefits in the country, contributing to Illinois’ largest-in-the-nation pension debts and the country’s lowest credit rating.
The good news is, the amendment must be voted on by the people. And with a strong majority of Illinoisans having recently rejected a progressive income tax amendment, the likelihood of voters authorizing a measure so blatantly pro-union is in doubt.
Which might be why the unions and their legislative supporters are acting now. They want one final pro-union blitz to lock-in their gains. This measure would ensure that even if current lawmakers are voted out, public union power would be protected.
Below are seven reasons why Illinois public unions shouldn’t have their collective bargaining powers permanently enshrined in the Constitution.
Please note that the focus is on public unions, though the ban on implementing right to work applies to the private sector as well.
In addition, be aware that the extraordinarily broad and vague language of the proposed amendment raises many questions not addressed here, some of which we mentioned in our recent Quickpoint. Aside from barring future reforms, which is in the second sentence of the amendment, the first sentence creates a broad, new constitutional right that would likely be given independent meaning by courts.
1. Illinois’ public worker labor laws are extremely union friendly and come at the expense of ordinary Illinoisans. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has laid out the eight levels of bargaining regimes nationally, from least union friendly (collective bargaining prohibited = 1) to most union friendly (forced arbitration required = 8).
Illinois receives a 7 and 8 – the most union-friendly levels – due to its rules of compulsory collective bargaining, the right to strike and the ability to force binding arbitration. Said another way, Illinois’ labor laws are some of the least taxpayer friendly in the nation.
At the other end of the spectrum, Virginia prohibits collective bargaining for state workers. For that, it earns a 1 on the scale.*
2. Illinois is an outlier nationally when it comes to giving unions power. In 2016, the Heritage Foundation compared state public labor laws using a variety of metrics, including each state’s NBER collective bargaining score, its Right-to-Work status, the legality of strikes, and overall union membership.
Illinois was ranked an extreme outlier nationally, with only Pennsylvania, Alaska and Minnesota having a more union-friendly environment.
3. Illinois’ labor laws are uncompetitive compared to its neighbors. Illinois’ labor laws are even more of an outlier when they’re compared to the neighboring states they compete with directly for jobs and residents. While Illinois’ neighbors are a mixed bag when it comes to collective bargaining, Illinois is the only state with union-friendly rules across the board.
And unlike Illinois, the state’s neighbors have also changed their labor laws over time to be more competitive. For example, Wisconsin passed its Act 10 reforms and Iowa passed sweeping collective bargaining changes that made both states more taxpayer friendly.
If Illinois’ amendment passes, Illinois will never be able to adjust labor laws to compete with its neighbors.
4. Illinois teachers’ ability to strike is particularly uncompetitive. Illinois is the only one among its neighbors and one of just twelve states overall that allows teachers unions to strike.
That’s allowed teachers unions to use the threat of strikes to constantly get their way in contract negotiations. The Chicago Teachers Union, for example, has used strikes or the threat of strikes constantly to extract maximum concessions from Chicago Public Schools. Most recently, Mayor Lori Lightfoot opened contract negotiations in 2019 by offering the “most generous” contract in CTU history. The union went on strike anyway and ended up with even greater benefits that ordinary, overtaxed Chicagoans will find it hard to pay for.
5. Illinois taxpayers are already burdened with the 2nd-highest paid state workers in the nation. Illinois’ collective bargaining rules have propelled Illinois state workers the 2nd-highest paid in the nation after adjusting for cost-of-living, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Illinois state workers also benefit from Cadillac healthcare plans, free retiree health insurance, and generous pensions on top of Social Security – adding to a total compensation package that costs taxpayers more than $110,000 annually per state worker.
6. Public sector workers salaries are growing far faster than Illinoisans can afford. Illinois collective bargaining rules – long-term guaranteed contracts, automatic raises and non-public negotiations – have also helped grow government worker salaries in Illinois at a far more rapid pace than the earnings of those who bear the burden of paying for them.
For example, Illinois state worker salaries increased 38 percent between 2005 and 2018. Teacher salaries have grown 32 percent. And local police and firefighter salaries have grown a whopping 58 percent. Meanwhile, the earnings of private sector Illinoisans who pay for all those public salaries have only grown 25 percent – less than the growth of inflation over the period.
7. Illinois’ pension benefits, particularly COLAs, are among the most generous in the country. Generous salaries translate into expensive pension benefits when Illinois government workers retire. The average, recently retired, career state pensioner in Illinois receives $70,600 in annual pension benefits and can expect to collect over $2.3 million in total benefits.
That’s a result of high final salaries and one of the most generous cost-of-living adjustments in the country, which doubles a retiree’s annual pension after 25 years in retirement.
*Virginia has recently amended its laws to allow for local collective bargaining.
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
The solution usually lies in plain sight by examining the problem: Unions are self-serving by design and have no governors or limits on ‘overgrazing the commons”. Unions canNOT be forced to behave rationally for the mid-or long-term survival of the body of the State. Therefore, the only State survival mechanism lies in making ALL Illinoisans members of one or another predatory, vicious, dog-eat-dog Union. There can easily be formed a new private-sector Union named “Anti-Socialist Workers Union”. This might be comprised of absolutely anyone who works in Illinois and is not employed by The State. This Union will not charge… Read more »
We all know that Chicago and Illinois are toast and headed nowhere good. Why do they need to keep destroying it more? Is it that destruction and demagoguery all that the corrupt leaders, media and activists know? Is this destruction really satisfactory for the plurality of voters?
If this is added to the Constitution, I will be moving.
All public service will be gone yet all taxes will remain. Illinois has more retired workers vs current workers for many departments. This law will force the closure of more government offices.
If you can’t adjust contracts then the only option is quitting.
What does this mean– “The resolution further prohibits the state and local governments from passing any law that “interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.”?? Is this saying no law can be past to “diminish” existing collectively bargained contracts (pay, working conditions & job security)? or no law can be past to “diminish” only new collectively bargained contracts going forward? Truly frightening. Seems this bill is primarily aimed at protecting public sector union job losses or re-negotiation of contracts when inevitably Illinois has to consolidate it’s ridiculous 8,900+ units of government.
The wording itself is monstrous. Note that the first sentence creates a new, broad, undefined constitutional right. So, the second sentence is surplus in a sense — of course the legislature couldn’t undo that. We will be writing about this again shortly.
Back in the 1990’s, the Republican IL legislature limited the reasons why CTU could strike aka collectively bargain. The Democrat legislature just undid that. That particular sentence seems to address this one-time particular problem from the 1990’s, when the IL Republican legislature limited CTU’s ability to strike. Republican Gov. Walker in Wisconsin passed a law, seemingly out of nowhere, back about 10 years ago, limiting teacher’s ability to collectively bargain. Democrats must have a feeling that their time will soon be up and the pendulum will swing back against them; and maybe Republicans might some day again take the legislature.… Read more »
Republican Gov. Walker in Wisconsin passed a law, seemingly out of nowhere, back about 10 years ago, limiting teacher’s ability to collectively bargain. Walker made the EMPLOYEES start paying their fair share, instead of the ZERO they were paying prior, and also implemented a “risk sharing” element for the good times AND the bad times. Per Dan Walters latest article/column: WISCONSIN, UNLIKE MANY OTHER STATES, HAS 100% FUNDED PENSION SYSTEM “A National Association of Retirement Administrators survey ranked Wisconsin’s ETF and the retirement systems of South Dakota and Tennessee at or above 100% funded. … One of the biggest changes… Read more »
I 100% agree with you, but our current legislature is likely the most partisan legislature I’ve seen in my lifetime, and they are fortifying their future power even against the most obscure future events – like a Rauner type with a simple majority legislature limiting union’s ability to collective bargain. That’s what this is about. Our current legislature will NEVER pass any law against a union (their major source of campaign contributions) so why exactly are they doing this? They’ve accomplished nearly every major legislative change they can imagine, and they’re only half way through the session. Now they’re fortifying… Read more »
If passed, is it the “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively” that cant be dismissed? Or the any of the existing/past collectively bargained for items (pay, working conditions,
job security, etc) that can’t be diminished. I think its both, its all legally the same. If passed forget about any reduction in cost of gov for chump/ 2nd class Illinois taxpayers. This law would guarantee you can only pay MORE
You need to read the first sentence. It stands alone creating a new constitutional right that is vague but incredibly broad. So, forget about existing/past laws and procedures. This would create something new, overriding and incredibly broad. We will be writing about that and other issues soon. This is about far more than right to work or locking in current law.
Illinois is good at solving non-existent problems.
If on a statewide ballot, the constitutional measure to enshrine union power will be the first test of the drop box voting. I fully expect the measure to pass.
Absolutely terrifying.
There’s a reason why so many thousands of Illinoisans have chosen to leave the Land of Lincoln, and it’s not because of the weather. My family was born and raised in Chicago & its western suburbs. In 2002 my brother and his wife and 2 kids moved to Texas. When I lost my teaching job in 2011–“RIF’d” as we call it–and couldn’t find a single opening for my certification (Social Studies 6-12, History 6-12, & Spanish 6-12) in all of northeast Illinois, I turned to Texas as an alternative. Within days of applying in several districts, I was interviewed and… Read more »
Randy – it takes a clear head and some fortitude to move in your circumstance. Much to admire in your decision
Congrats!
Best Gumbo I ever had was in Houston.
I thought a couple years ago the Supreme Court ruled mandatory union was illegal. Maybe back in 2011 or 2014. If that’s the case and even not, hope the smart people in Illinois, if there still are any, take it to the Supreme Court.
the judges in this state are as crooked and corrupt as the politicians,would love to see how much money the public unions give to the judges in illinois
I thought it was bad enough when Illinois leaders simply ignored the growing fiscal impending disaster. Now they want to tie the hands of anyone that wants to fix it. I’m tired of saying it. You’re tired of hearing it. Either continue to suffer the Illinois endless taxes and liberal indoctrination or resign yourself to the hassle of relocating to a new state. There really is no third option. Discuss the options with your household, make a choice, and be prepared to live with the consequences. FYI, if you are staying because because of family and/or friends, you may feel… Read more »
Perhaps a naïve question, but why not amend the constitution (by petition) to declare all state and municipal promises to pay more than $X (present value) to be contract rights of equal standing to pension rights? One could add a proviso that obligors unable to pay in full would be required, each year, to pro-rate payments when the obligor lacked current liquid assets to pay everything owing in that year. (It might be necessary to carve out collateralized obligations such as bond debt, but only to the extent of A/B where A = the fair market value of collateral and… Read more »
I thinks it’s cute that you think you have a choice on anything in Illinois…..that’s adorable.
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.”
Robert M. Hutchins