* Illinois Legislative Staff Association…

We are the Organizing Committee of the Illinois Legislative Staff Association.

Due to the failure of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch to deal with his staff in good faith, in spite of numerous good faith attempts on our part since November of 2022, we have come to the conclusion that any further attempts to resolve this dispute amicably would be a waste of time.

Speaker Welch says he was “proud” to stand with us back in October—while the cameras were rolling and the people were watching. Unfortunately, he was also too proud to sit down and work with us once his publicity stunt was over.

The Speaker’s press secretary says his record is clear, and it is—but that’s the whole problem. We are where we are today precisely because the Speaker’s record is clear. Since November of 2022, he and his aides have continually doubled down on obstruction, stonewalling, insincere engagement, political theater and gaslighting. The empty platitudes issued in response to our last release are, in our experience over the last 18 months, par for the course.

We are done waiting for Speaker Welch to take responsibility for the lack of action on the part of himself and his aides. We are done waiting for him to take the initiative to do what is best for his caucus and the people of Illinois. We are done waiting for something more than reluctant half-measures and poorly written messaging bills. Enough is enough.

The people of Illinois deserve a Speaker of the House who lives by his stated values, deals with others in good faith, and has the morals, courage and integrity to do the right thing. Our experiences over the last year and a half have forced us to question whether, in Speaker Welch, Illinois truly has that.

Therefore, we are filing suit to resolve this issue once and for all. As we indicated in our previous release, a legislative staff union has been formed and will negotiate on behalf of willing employees of the Illinois General Assembly. We will not be put off, ignored or gaslit any longer.

We have said that we intend to exercise our right to form a union and today’s action is the next step on that path.

* What plaintiffs are asking from the court…

A. Declare that, by the acts set forth above, the Defendant Speaker has deprived Plaintiff Burden, Plaintiff ILSA, and the individual members of the Plaintiff ILSA represented by Plaintiff ILSA here in an associational capacity of their constitutional rights to engage in collective bargaining, as guaranteed by Article 1, Section 25 of the Illinois Constitution, and in doing so the Defendant Speaker has failed to perform the lawful business of the State and acted beyond his lawful authority.

B. Grant such other relief including injunctive relief as may be appropriate against the Defendant Speaker in his individual capacity including but not limited to appointment of a mediator to confer with the parties and assist them in the process of collective bargaining and grant other injunctive relief to bar Defendant Speaker from any act to forestall bargaining with the purpose or intent of depriving them of the constitutional rights guaranteed by Section 25.

C. Grant such other relief as may be appropriate, including an order to Defendant Speaker to post or mail to members of the Defendant Speaker’s staff recognizing and assuring protection of their right under Section 25 of the Illinois Constitution to engage in collective bargaining without reprisal.

Thoughts?

…Adding… The filed version, which has some minor corrections, is here.

…Adding… From the WBEZ story…

Whether the bill moves again or not, Burden and other ILSA members want to use what they see as their constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain for wages and benefits.

“Come to the table, man. That’s all we’ve wanted,” he said. “Like, literally, for a year and a half, we’ve been asking you to sit down and talk to your staff. Come talk to us when it’s not a PR opportunity for you, when there aren’t cameras.”