Peoria Standard

Illinois voters will have more than candidates on their ballot this November. Alongside federal, state, and local candidates will be an amendment to the Illinois Constitution called Amendment 1, Right to Collective Bargaining Measure. 

The issue of collective bargaining, or ‘union state’ versus ‘right to work state’, is a discussion many might be familiar with. Currently, Ballotpedia lists three other states that have constitutional rights related to collective bargaining, including Hawaii, Missouri and New York. 

Among these, Missouri's and New York’s rights are laid out in their state bill of rights; New York’s stating “[e]mployees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing” and Missouri’s stating “employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.” 

Hawaii’s Constitution was amended by constitutional convention, in 1978, to state that both persons in private and public employment “shall have the right to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.” 

The Illinois government publication of the amendment lays out the arguments in favor of and against. Arguments in support of the amendment state it will protect a worker’s ability to speak out and not be silenced when calling attention to ‘food safety threats, shoddy construction, and other problems that could harm Illinoisans.’ The ilsos.gov publication continues to state that EMTs and firefighters will be protected and receive the training and safety equipment necessary to do their jobs. 

The opposing argument states that Amendment 1 ‘prohibits any law or ordinance that allows union workers to choose whether they wish to be a member of the union or not.’ The 2018 United States Supreme Court decision Janus v. Illinois AFSCME made it so ‘non-union government workers cannot be required to pay union dues as a condition of working in the public sector.’ The argument continues on to point out that the amendment states lawmakers could never “interfere with, negate, or diminish” certain rights, which are broad and undefined terms that would ‘leave lawmakers without the ability to clarify through legislation.’

The Illinois Policy Institute argues that the provisions in the amendment would give union leaders more power than state lawmakers. Compared to its neighbors Illinois already has statutes in place granting unions significant power, and Illinois Policy Institute believes that if Amendment 1 were to pass it would encase that power in “cement.”

This comes as the Illinois Policy Institute also published projected property tax increases for Illinois, calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau, finding on average Illinoisans will pay $2,149 more over 4 years. The institute’s argument is if Amendment 1 passes, unions will have the bargaining power needed to see this number increase.

Among the opposition, State Senate candidate Desi Anderson provided this statement to the Peoria Standard. 

 “Democrats are attempting to mislead voters this November with the ‘Workers’ Rights Amendment’ question on the ballot. Also referred to as 'Amendment 1', this amendment is guaranteed to raise property taxes across the state, making Illinois an even worse state to do business in. Additionally, it will give union bosses extreme powers and allows them to bypass state laws, giving them more power than state lawmakers in some circumstances. Illinois would be the first state to implement something like this, again making Illinois an outlier in comparison to our neighboring states.”

Anderson is a small business owner with her husband Nick and mother to a 1-year-old. She was abandoned as a baby in the Eastern Bloc of communist Europe in Bulgaria and went on to graduate from Indiana University with a double major degree. Anderson said her goal now is to be a “unifying voice” in elected office and fight back against the political corruption that she says has taken hold in Illinois.