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The staffers have been hoping to meet with Welch, D-Hillside, to
discuss terms for unionization but have been unsuccessful up to
this point.
"For the last 9 months, we have asked in good faith for Speaker
Welch to meet with us. Despite his outspoken pro-labor rhetoric
and vocal support for the right of all employees in Illinois to
unionize, he is apparently intent on denying this right to his
own staff," the Illinois Legislative Staff Association said in a
statement posted to social media. “It should not be
controversial in 2023 for a group of workers in a blue state
with a strong union tradition to form a union, especially when
the right to organize is enshrined in the state constitution."
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday addressed the situation when
asked at an unrelated event.
"Workers can collectively bargain wherever they are, and as far
as I am concerned, and I believe the speaker feels the same,
that that goes for every position in the state," Pritzker said.
The workers have stated that Welch has yet to meet with the
staffers to discuss what the workers hope to gain. Pritzker said
no one wants to stop the workers, but these things take time.
"I don't think there is anybody who is hoping to prevent anyone
from unionizing," Pritzker said. "It does take time. There needs
to be a point where the organizer gets their workers together to
determine what they want."
Pritzker said he would continue to support the workers' efforts.
"I don't know the specifics of what they're demanding. I support
their ability to unionize. That's why we supported the Worker's
Rights Amendment," Pritzker said. "Workers that want to get
together in the workplace and organize should have the right to
do that."
Amendment 1 was passed by voters last year, codifying collective
bargaining in the Illinois Constitution.
Pritzker said of the entire workforce in Illinois public and
private sectors, about 14% are unionized.
"It's a time question and also a question about whether the
other people who work in state government for the legislature
want to be part of the union," Pritzker said. "Nobody is
preventing anybody from having a union and nobody is saying you
have to be unionized."
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