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Q&A: Opponent says Workers Rights Amendment would be costly to taxpayers

A for sale sign is posted on a home last month in Philadelphia.
Matt Rourke
/
AP
A for sale sign is posted on a home last month in Philadelphia.

On this special episode of WGLT's Sound Ideas, you'll learn all about the Workers Rights Amendment that will be on your ballot this fall.

The proposed amendment would guarantee Illinois workers the “fundamental right” to collectively bargain for agreements on wages, hours and working conditions. If passed, Illinois would be among just a handful of states that guarantee the right to collective bargaining. It comes as a new Gallup poll shows support for labor unions in the U.S. is at a 57-year high.

Opposition to the Workers Rights Amendment is being led in part by the Illinois Policy Institute, a libertarian advocacy group that supports many conservative causes. Mailee Smith is the group's director of labor policy, and she lives in Greater Peoria. She tried to keep the amendment off the ballot but lost that challenge in the courts.

Smith says supporters of the amendment are wrong in their understanding of who it would impact. She calls it a potentially radical change to the Illinois Constitution. Listen to the full interview above.

Ryan Denham is the digital content director for WGLT.