Labor Day & Amendment 1

Labor Day & Amendment 1

Labor Day

President Grover Cleveland signed legislation in 1894 making the first Monday in September a public holiday dedicated to honoring the labor movement in the United States. Like many things, the federal government was not breaking new ground for the country but rather following the lead of 30 states (out of 44) which already set aside a day each year for that purpose.

Illinois played a part in the establishment of the first Monday in September as Labor Day because of the "Haymarket Affair" which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions had established May 1, 1886 as International Workers' Day and planned a nation-wide strike to force employers to adopt an eight-hour workday. During the strike and aftermath in Chicago, two people were killed and a few days later, another protest ended with a homemade bomb thrown at police and a shootout between protestors and police. Seven policemen and four protestors were killed. Sixty policemen and about 70 protesters were wounded in the riot. The response of socialists and anarchists to the Haymarket Affair was to establish May 1st as a day of remembrance and a call to overthrow the capitalist system. This association concerned President Cleveland, who favored the first Monday in September to separate the celebration of labor workers from the revolutionary overtones of May 1st.

As we celebrate Labor Day, remember that union workers set the standard for much of the working environments and privileges that employees across many industries enjoy today.

Amendment 1

In addition to voting for various offices, Illinois voters will have the opportunity to vote on Amendment 1 to the Illinois Constitution, adding collective bargaining for "negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work" as a "fundamental right". Proponents of this amendment point to the protection of worker safety while ignoring that "negotiating wages" is the first privilege enumerated in the amendment. Amendment 1 would prevent the legislature or private employers from decreasing wages when economic conditions would call for it, thereby increasing costs for everyone in the state. Voting no on Amendment 1 is not voting against unions or rejecting their efforts to improve workplace safety; it is allowing voters to retain control of the money spent on wages and benefits.

I recognize the trade unions have done great work in leveling the playing field between employees and employers as the United States moved from an agrarian economy to an industrialized one. Many of the privileges they advocated for have been legislated into law, at both the state and federal levels. With the growth of the Internet, America's economy has transformed once again, from an industrialized economy to a knowledge worker economy. Amendment 1 would tilt the playing field heavily in favor of unions, whose members are a shrinking minority of the workforce in the private sector (~10%) but a much larger minority in the public sector (~33%).

Voting for this amendment will give —not the 10-33% of union employees— but employees' representatives (often not actual workers, but full time union representatives) the power to force the state, counties, and cities to continually raise taxes to pay for increased public sector union salaries and pension benefits. Private unions will also be able to drive up prices for goods and services within the state. Illinois already has the nation's second highest property taxes and over $70 billion in pension debt. Adding constitutionally-protected union wage increases to Joe Biden's inflationary policies currently squeezing American's bank accounts and retirement accounts is not a formula for Illinois' success. I urge you to vote no to maintain the current status quo of union workers in Illinois, with the many protections they already enjoy through existing legislation as well as preserving the ability of voters being able to negotiate fairly through their legislators.