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Season 3, Episode 157

Illinois residents to vote on worker rights amendment

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Guest Name:


Mike Raikes

Guest Website:


www.ibew197.org

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Mike Raikens, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 197 Business Manager, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and spoke about a proposed amendment to the Illinois constitution and the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program.

IBEW Local 197 represents about 360 members in Illinois. 

Workers Right Amendment 1 will be on the ballot for the November General Election. If passed, it will amend the Bill of Rights Article of the Illinois Constitution to give employees the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work. It also guarantees that no law shall be passed that interferes with, negates or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment and workplace safety.

Raikens said this is not a union or non-union issue, but a workers rights issue. For the amendment to pass, 60 percent of the voters must vote for Amendment 1. Union members will soon begin to knock on doors and explain the bill to registered voters, he added. 

Discussion also turned to a new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVIPT), which will train Local 197 members on solar work and charging stations. Rainkens noted that 10 of his members are currently certified through EVIPT. 

Listen to the interview to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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