Photo: Associated Press

Please attend Tuesday’s Naperville City Council meeting to stand against the Governor’s so-called “Turnaround Plan.”

The agenda for Tuesday night’s Naperville City Council meeting includes a vote (by the “lame duck” board) on Governor Rauner’s so-called “Turnaround Plan,” which looks to most of us like a race to the bottom, pulling the rug out from underneath working Illinois families.

Other communities have successfully stood together against the Governor’s destructive agenda.  Now it’s our turn.

(click to enlarge)

The invitation at right, from our friends at the Construction Industry Service Corporation, captures it well.  [Click on it to enlarge.]

Other resources:

• IL Governor Rauner Gets $750,000 Tax Break, Proposes Slashing Services to Middle Class and Poor
• Rauner:  You Get Injured on the Job, It’s Gonna Be Your Problem.
• Austerity in Illinois? Critics Slam ‘Morally Reprehensible’ Budget Proposal

The political world of Illinois according to Bruce, is controlled by insiders –  the kind of people who make deals “for the insiders against the taxpayers.”  Among these inside deals, Rauner identifies “details, the work rules, the regulations, and the laws.”  In truth, those most vulnerable are the ones protected by work rules, regulations, the laws, things like workman’s’ compensation, safety standards, medical assistance programs, fair wage, etc.  The governor’s elimination of these impediments to unbridled capitalism seem unlikely to assist the most vulnerable or even those chasing employment and fair pay for a family of four. – John Dillon

Finally, let me attach some text from Dianne on the importance of what’s going on here:

On the agenda for the Naperville City Council is a resolution supporting the:

• Repeal of prevailing wage
• Creation of a Right to Work Zone…same as Governor’s Rauner’s “Empowerment Zones”
• Dilution of collective bargaining rights

So, what’s an “empowerment zone”? The governor would like to create areas across the state where voters could decide if workers in their communities should be forced to join a union or pay associated dues. A related advisory vote on the April 7th Hinsdale District 86 ballot asked voters to weigh in on whether teachers should be able to strike. Guess what? It passed with 61% support! At the same time, Hinsdale voters rejected Tea Party candidates and returned the majority control on their school board to more moderate folks. To see voters holding these diametrically opposed positions at the same time underscores the dangerous appeal of “good spin” and where it can lead.

Other ideas promoted by the Governor during his February State of the State speech included the following:

• Calling for a ban on political donations by unions
• Giving taxpayers a say in the collective bargaining process at the local level
• Ending the requirement that prevailing union wages be paid to workers on state and municipal construction projects

Public sector unions will be especially vulnerable to these attacks, inasmuch as their members’ occupations are supported by taxpayer funds.

How would this work? If a unit of local government (county, municipal, or other unit of local government…e.g. community colleges, school districts, etc.) supports such a resolution, it could then be placed as a referendum on the next ballot to decide “whether business (school district) employees should be forced to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment.”

About 15% of the state’s workforce (831,000) are members of a union. An additional 49,000 workers were identified as having no union affiliation, although their jobs were covered by a union contract. These are the “fair share” fee payers…and they are at the heart of the right to work movement.

We need you to come forward on behalf of “workplace democracy”! As a member of the IEA for 27 years, I treasured my collective voice, expressed by the leaders of my union. One of the greatest frustrations for so many in the workforce is that they have no “voice”…no one to express – safely – the issues related to fairness, safety, respect, etc. that arise in the working lives of each of us. Being a member of a union provides that “voice”…which is why I call it “workplace democracy.”

So, what is it we are hoping you will consider doing?

Show up at the Naperville Municipal Center at 7 PM…and, if you plan to speak, about 6:30 PM…If you plan to speak, the agenda item is “N-2”. Your presence in support of your fellow union members and Democratic progressives is vital to the success of this grass-roots “push back” to this proposal. Send me an email if we can count on your support and presence on  Tuesday: Dianne@napervilledemocrats.org