Lincolnshire voters overwhelmingly support Right to Work
In the face of strident union opposition, Lincolnshire’s Village Board voted 5-1 to pass a worker-freedom ordinance.
Right to Work is here in Illinois.
On Dec. 14, five trustees from the village of Lincolnshire took the type of vote that should be the envy of all other local governments across the state. By a 5-1 vote, the Village Board passed an ordinance establishing worker freedom in Lincolnshire.
Though a union cohort opposing the Right-to-Work ordinance attended the meeting, residents polled in Lincolnshire overwhelmingly support the idea behind Right to Work.
Unions such as Park Ridge-based Teamsters Local 700 declared, “Right-to-Work is Wrong for Lincolnshire,” and stated in a flyer, “WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN!” Opponents who spoke at the meeting identified themselves as residents of Chicago, Tinley Park, Oak Park and other non-Lincolnshire locations.
Lost in the unions’ coordinated efforts was the fact that Lincolnshire taxpayers (and voters) support their elected Village Board and approved of its passing the worker-empowerment ordinance.
An Advantage Inc. poll conducted between Nov. 9 and Nov. 17 returned the following results after dialing 4,585 registered voters in Lincolnshire:
Q – Illinois has a policy known as forced unionization. This means that individual workers at unionized companies are required to pay dues or fees to the union even if those workers do not want to belong. Furthermore, the union can get those workers who do not pay dues fired.
Do you agree with this policy or not agree with it?
1 Agree 20.08%
2 Do not agree 58.16%
3 Undecided 21.76%
Q – Local governments can pass laws to ensure that individual workers in a unionized workplace can keep their jobs whether or not they choose to pay dues or fees to the union. Some local governments in Illinois are considering passage of such laws.
Do you support such a law for your community or oppose such a law?
1 Support 52.72%
2 Oppose 22.59%
3 Undecided 24.69%
(±6.17 margin of error, all registered voters, 48.12% female, 51.88% male)
The members of Lincolnshire’s Village Board showed great courage in the face of more than 100 vocal union workers. And their vote for the ordinance – which poses no financial risk for the village – was backed by a clear majority of their constituents.
Surrounding states Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa have adopted Right to Work statewide, and home-rule counties in Kentucky are passing similar ordinances to make themselves more business-friendly. With Lincolnshire’s embrace of worker freedom, Illinois can now claim to be in the game, too.