On Wednesday, about 8,000 union supporters rallied at the Illinois Capitol to protest Gov. Bruce Rauner's calls to change collective bargaining policies. A coalition of labor groups marched by the governor's
mansion on their way to the Capitol. Both Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton took the stage.
Non-tenure track faculty have launched another strike at the University of Illinois Urbana campus, that could last up to five days. Meanwhile, federally mediated contract talks with the university administration were scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
Gov. Bruce Rauner says a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing labor unions to collect fees from non-members is "tragic'' and a lawsuit aimed at banning the practice in Illinois will continue. Justices divided 4-4 Tuesday in a California case over whether public workers represented by a union can be required to pay "fair share'' fees.
The Illinois Senate, led by Democrats, has approved legislation that would let an outside arbitrator settle state-employee wages and working conditions if talks reach an impasse. It passed by a 38-17 vote Thursday and now heads to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk. He vetoed an identical proposal last year.
Labor unions are going on the road to make their case against Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s pro-business agenda. The latest in a series of events took place Wednesday morning in Springfield.
