Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has stabbed organized labor in the back once again, this time, he's signed into law legislation to take collective bargaining rights away from 3,580 Illinois public-sector workers.
The new law would apply to Illinois public sector workers:
1. Have gained union representation on or after December 2, 2008
2. For whom a petition for union representation is currently pending before the labor board
3. Are not currently represented by a union or part of a pending petition
AFSCME Local 31 said in their press release that they have no basis to challenge the new law in court because it amends the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. Additionally, Henry Bayer, the executive director of AFSCME Local 31, called the new law "a blatantly anti-worker piece of legislation."
This isn't the first time that Governor Quinn has betrayed organized labor, which helped run Quinn's ground game during his 2010 campaign for Governor of Illinois. Late last year, Quinn terminated the State of Illinois's contract with AFSCME, making him the first Illinois governor to terminate a union contract.
Also, as someone who has been an outspoken critic of Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is notorious for taking collective bargaining rights from that state's public-sector workers, I am absolutely disgusted that the governor of my home state is a supporter of union-busting measures, yet calls himself a Democrat. Democrats are supposed to stand up for workers' rights, not take them away!