"What A Difference An Election Makes"

So says Steve Preckwinkle, director of political activities for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, as he discusses labor's big success during the Illinois 2003 legislative session.  Organized labor reaped the benefits of campaigning for a pro-labor Democratic General Assembly: swift passage of three bills sure to benefit organizing efforts in the state, particularly those of part-time community college faculty.

Senate Bill 19 restores collective bargaining rights to teachers unions in both the Chicago City College system and the city public school system.  It also reinstates contract language destroyed in 1995, when Republicans held the legislature and the governor's office.  State Senate president Emil Jones--who replaced anti-union state Sen. James "Pate" Philip as Senate leader--introduced SB 19 as his first piece of legislation this session, and newly elected Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed it into law in April.

House Bill 3396 forces employers to recognize unions after a majority of members sign union cards.  Both houses of the assembly passed HB 3396 on May 28, and Gov. Blagojevich has expressed his support for the measure.

House Bill 1457 switched a single character in Illinois state law, changing the definition of those who qualify for union membership at community colleges from faculty who teach six semester hours to those who teach three.  The IFT's efforts to correct this restrictive language date back to the mid-1990s.  Part-timers can thank IFT and local affiliates for their effective lobbying efforts, the Democratic legislators for their pro-labor views, and community college employer groups for not taking a position on the legislation, says Preckwinkle.

Although they had bitterly opposed the bill in past sessions, the employer groups backed down this session.  Preckwinkle attributes their retreat to a sense of inevitability that the bill would pass and the employer groups' desire to work with higher education unions on the Illinois state budget.  Gov. Blagojevich has publicly supported HB 1457 and is expected to sign the bill.

Considering the pro-labor atmosphere created by the other labor legislation, HB 1457's passage "will break open organizing" for part-timers, says AFT vice president Norman Swenson, president of Cook County College Teachers' Union.  HB 1457 nearly quadruples the number of part-time faculty eligible for union representation, he notes, therefore increasing bargaining power.

"I think this bill will enormously increase our strength at the bargaining table because the numbers will be there," says Swenson. "The potential in our local alone is probably close to 6,000 faculty now eligible.  Statewide, there would be more than double that."

This new bargaining muscle will enable the IFT and all Illinois affiliates to fight harder for important issues like pay equity for part-time faculty. [Mark Henson]

[June 13, 2003]