Amendment 1 would enshrine permanent power for public unions in the state constitution which could mean higher taxes, higher costs, and potentially costly litigation for business owners.
There’s been a 50-year national push to unionize inmate workers in prisons – including a 2020 article published by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The rights granted in Amendment 1 to all “employees” could result in Illinois prison unions.
The same unions that supported doubling the gas tax in 2019 donated $15 million to politicians who voted for Amendment 1, a proposed tax hike sold as a “workers’ rights” amendment.
“The Chicago’s Teachers Union has become too powerful and it is becoming even more powerful. I fear that if Amendment 1 passes, the union will have limitless power."
An admitted arsonist was able to become a fire chief and part-time police officer thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pardon. A proposed constitutional amendment could make it easier for violent felons to work in public safety – even without a pardon.
Chicago Teachers Union leaders made nearly $50 million selling property paid for with union member dues, only to shuffle the proceeds to a charity with less oversight. Members are voting May 20 for transparency from new leaders.
A Rockford family and their trucking business are being driven out of Illinois by high taxes and bad public policies. If voters agree Nov. 8 to enshrining public union power in the Illinois Constitution, expect more businesses and workers to leave.
CTU has walked out on students three times in three school years. The outcome of its upcoming leadership election pits the status quo against potential change – and could alter the political trajectory of the nation’s most militant teachers union.
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.