Foster Village Peoria received a $20,000 grant from Painters District Council No. 30, whose nine union locals include Peoria’s Local 157.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

Foster Village Peoria gets $20,000 grant from Painters District Council No. 30, whose nine union locals include Peoria’s Local 157. The grant, from the nonprofit Painters and Allied Trades for Children’s Hope (PATCH) Foundation, is being used to build an indoor sensory playground, for workshops, caregiver training, family visits, and safe space for kids coming from foster care/trauma.

LaHood votes nay, but House backs collective bargaining. Darin LaHood voted against a bipartisan, pro-labor vote, but the House on Dec. 10 overturned Trump’s Executive Order ending collective bargaining rights for two-thirds of the federal workforce. The Protect America’s Workforce Act would restore labor rights for almost 1 million federal workers. Although Republican LaHood (16th) voted no, the region’s two Democratic House members, Nikki Budzinski (13th) and Eric Sorensen (17th), voted yes.

“Democrats and Republicans have spent months working together in a rare show of bipartisanship to rescind the president’s shameful Executive Order,” Sorensen said. “I’m proud to stand with the men and women of labor to help restore their right to organize.”

For the 40th year, Labor Council helps youngsters celebrate Christmas. Dozens of delegates to the Labor Council of West Central Illinois and their families on Dec. 15 packed gift bags for about 600 students at Annie Jo Gordon school (formerly Harrison), part of the local Adopt-A-School program.

United Auto Workers union loses in Rockford. An NLRB election for a small bargaining unit at the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford voted against unionizing 90 no and 38 yes. The setback came despite the UAW teaming up with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Teamsters to organize the casino, and those unions easily unionized their separate bargaining units there.

Teamsters sanctions Starbucks Workers United strike. The Teamsters backing against the coffee chain could have major consequences in the work stoppage. “[Starbucks stores] won’t get their food, they won’t get their packages delivered to them, they won’t get their trash picked up because the Teamsters are standing with you,” said Teamsters Joint Council 42 President Victor Mineros. Starbucks Workers United went on strike at almost on 70 U.S. Starbucks locations Nov. 13. About 550 Starbucks have unionized.

Krishnamoorthi gets union endorsements for Senate. Peoria native Raja Krishna-moorthi, the five-term Dem-ocratic Congressman from suburban Chicago, has been endorsed by unions including United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881, Elevator Constructors Local 2, Illinois Letter Carriers Association, AFSCME Council 31, Associated Firefighters of Illinois, and most recently the 100,000-member Teamsters Joint Council 25.

“He’s stood with our members on picket lines, he’s gone after powerful corporations that shortchange workers, and he’s championed labor at every step,” said Thomas Stiede, President of the Joint Council. “Raja has always been the kind of leader who listens first and fights hard, and that’s why workers across Illinois trust him.” Besides Krishnamoorthi, the seat Dick Durbin is giving up is sought by Democratic Congresswoman Robin Kelly (Matteson) and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton plus more than half a dozen Republicans.

Illinois faculty union backs millionaires tax. The president of a union representing higher-education workers at the state’s public universities says they’ll be pushing state lawmakers to improve funding for the institutions. “I like to tell folks to think about how much money you made in 2002, and imagine living on that today,” says John Miller, President of the University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. “And that’s what the state has done for public higher education with the exception of one university, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.”

Miller is promoting a funding equity bill that would generate revenue through a new tax on those making at least $1 million a year. Illinois voters have twice supported advisory referenda for such a tax.

U.S. Steel restarting long-idle Granite City furnace. U.S. Steel announced Dec. 4. “We look forward to partnering with all stakeholders, including the United Steelworkers, to ensure a safe and efficient start-up and to discuss support for Granite City Works,” said U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt.

Now owned by Japanese company Nippon, the company said it expects to hire 400 workers to operate the furnace when it’s ignited in coming months, but concerns about the mill’s fate beyond 2027 remain.

— News briefs courtesy of The Labor Paper. “Like” us on Facebook.