Smart Ass Cripple: Libertarian Union-Busting Tactics Target Illinois Health Care Workers – Progressive.org

There appears to be some old-fashioned union busting going on here in Illinois. Some people I employ tell me theyve received mail thats intended to convince themor, more accurately, to trick theminto not paying dues to their labor unions.

I use a motorized wheelchair, so I employ a crew of people to assist me in my home doing everyday stuff like getting out of bed and getting dressed. Their wages are paid through a state program.

Theres no way that these raises would have happened if personal assistants had no collective bargaining power.

I call them my pit crew, but officially they are my personal assistants, whom the government recognizes as part of the SEIU Healthcare union.

The front page of the mailing my workers received, in big, bold letters, reads: It can be hard to make ends meet. Why should SEIU take your hard-earned money?

It goes on to claim that the union spends very little money representing its members, and instead spends it on lobbying and frivolities such as hotel rooms and catering.

It then suggests that you can opt out of SEIU and keep more of YOUR money in YOUR pocket.

Page two is designed to make opting out easy breezy. Its a letter addressed to SEIU Healthcare (in both English and Spanish) that begins: Effective immediately, I resign my membership from the Union . . .

If this reeks of libertarian propaganda, youve got a good nose: The mailer is put out by the Illinois Policy Institute, a libertarian think tank that calls itself the strongest voice for taxpayers in the state.

It seems that the goal of this campaign is to financially drain SEIU, leaving workerslike theones in my crewwith no union representation at all.

That idea scares the hell out of me because, when Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner was Illinois governor from 2015 to 2019, the wages of personal assistants remained stagnant at $13 an hour. Rauner was a cold, nasty, libertarian type with great hostility toward unions. SEIUs negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement for personal assistants went nowhere with his administration.

Since then, my workers wages have gone up steadily. They currently make $16.50 an hour and will reach $17.50 an hour by this time next year. These increases are part of the collective bargaining agreement that SEIU reached with the current governor, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who beat Rauner in the 2018 election. Pritzker is also a billionaire, but at least hes pretty progressive, as far as Democrats go.

I promise you theres no way that these raises would have happened if personal assistants had no collective bargaining power. Obviously, the higher wages make my life smoother because the higher the wages, the easier it is to find people suitable for the job.

If Rauner were still governor, personal assistants would probably still be making $13 an hour. And maybe their union would have been busted by now, and they wouldnt have to pay a few bucks a month in dues. But theyd have a helluva lot less money.

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Smart Ass Cripple: Libertarian Union-Busting Tactics Target Illinois Health Care Workers - Progressive.org