The Illinois Freedom of Information Act requires open access to government union contracts. But Amendment 1 would allow union leaders to override state law to make those contracts secret.
AFSCME union members receive generous salaries and benefits from their state contract, yet union bosses are pushing to enshrine their power in the Illinois Constitution – something no other state has been willing to do.
“CTU wants to keep pushing and striking for demands not even related to education and I don't want the CTU to have any more power to do that. Learning should not be impeded or stopped for the union’s political games.”
Illinois voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to adopt a radical amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would hike taxes and empower special interests. Those are just two of eight reasons why Amendment 1 is bad for Illinoisans.
Amendment 1, billed as a “Workers' Rights Amendment,” actually covers so much more that it violates the U.S. Constitution. Parents and teachers worrying about it emboldening already militant teachers unions are suing to get it off the ballot.
Membership in teachers unions has decreased nearly 10% since 2017, when public educators gained the right to stop handing their pay to unions.
The unions’ own federal reports show 9% of workers have chosen to break away from unions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
Firefighters in a Chicago suburb won their appeal to remove the Service Employees International Union from their workplace. False claims by SEIU bosses complicated the process.
“Year after year, I had asked the state to stop deducting the dues. I don’t understand why they were still taking my money. I want my money back.”
Amendment 1 would allow government unions to nullify hundreds of Illinois statutes – including laws aimed at protecting school children – simply by contradicting them in union contracts.
The Proviso teachers’ union declared the strike over compensation March 4, canceling classes for the district’s 4,200 students for 8 days so far. The local school board tried to call a time-out to get students back in class, but the union refused.
The Chicago Teachers Union has gone on strike five times and walked out on students at least three other times since it got the right to strike in 1984. Gaining greater power through Amendment 1 would embolden militant union tactics.
Amendment 1 would permanently write indicted former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s public union deals into the state constitution. If passed, neither lawmakers nor voters could ever change them.
Despite revised statewide orders, Chicago Public Schools are still requiring universal masking in all schools and offices after the Chicago Teachers Union forced the change through a walkout. A judge was asked to let student faces go free.