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Season 6, Episode 86

Illinois State Senator champions worker rights and safety

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Guest Name:


Robert Peters

Guest Website:


senatorrobertpeters.com

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

Supportive Documents:


 

Illinois State Sen. Robert Peters joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about his journey into politics, Illinois' pro-worker legislation and efforts to prepare Illinois residents for careers in the trades.

Born deaf with a speech impediment and adopted by a civil rights lawyer and social worker, Peters overcame significant challenges to become a community organizer and later a state senator. He emphasized the importance of solidarity in his upbringing and how it drives his work in criminal justice reform and economic justice. Peters highlighted Illinois' progressive worker rights legislation, including the Workers Rights Amendment, which enshrined the right to collective bargaining in the state’s Constitution. He also discussed the Worker Freedom of Speech Act, which protects employees from being forced to attend captive audience meetings.

Peters then spoke about his efforts to strengthen worker safety standards in Illinois, particularly in response to federal rollbacks. As the Chair of the Senate Labor Committee, he emphasized the need for states to step up and protect workers when federal protections are weakened. Peters also highlighted the Clean and Equitable Jobs Act, which combines environmental goals with labor rights, demonstrating Illinois' commitment to both climate action and worker empowerment. He stressed the importance of addressing worker safety and economic justice together, rather than treating them as separate issues.

The state senator also discussed his involvement in Higher360, a program in Cook County that secured over $550,000 to prepare local residents for careers in the building trades. This initiative is part of a larger $19 million grant funding effort by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to support pre-apprenticeship programs across the state. Peters emphasized the program's comprehensive approach, providing not only training but also essential services to ensure participants' success after entering the trades.

To hear more about Peters' efforts to champion worker rights and safety in Illinois, listen to the full episode of the podcast.


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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