Illinois takes center stage in battle over union rights vote

By DON BABWIN
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — With U.S. union ranks swelling as everyone from coffee shop baristas to warehouse workers seeks to organize, Illinois voters will decide next month whether to amend their state constitution to guarantee the right to bargain collectively. The fate of the Nov. 8 ballot measure is being closely watched in Illinois and beyond, as it will gauge public support for the labor movement that has lost ground for years in conservative-led states. Unions and pro-industry groups say it could signal a new chapter in the struggle over workers’ rights. Mailee Smith, the labor policy director at the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that opposes the measure, says if unions win, it “could be the future of the labor movement.”