Illinois Protects Union Shop; Two States Vote to Raise Minimum Wage - More Election Fallout

Four states voted to protect abortion rights: California, Michigan, and Vermont will add the right to abortion and birth control to the state constitution, with the margin more than 3-1 in Vermont.

By Steve Wishnia

Voters in Illinois solidly approved amending the state’s constitution to protect the right to collective bargaining and the union shop, while Tennessee voted to embed its ban on the union shop in its constitution.

In Illinois, the Workers’ Rights Amendment (Amendment 1 on the ballot) had about 60% of the vote with three-fifths of ballots counted. It declares that workers have a “fundamental right to organize and bargain collectively” and will prohibit laws interfering with that right — specifically those that bar contracts “requiring membership in an organization as a condition of employment.”

“Through all the lies and misinformation, Illinois voters elected themselves tonight and passed the Workers’ Rights Amendment!” Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter posted on Twitter.

But in Tennessee, the “Right to Work Amendment,” also Amendment 1 on the ballot, won close to 70% of the vote. It will outlaw denying anyone employment for either joining or refusing to join a labor union — with emphasis on the latter. Judging by Gov. Bill Lee’s denunciations of “union bosses,” it’s not going to be used to prosecute Starbucks for firing union supporters in Memphis.

Two states voted to raise their minimum wage. In Nebraska, Initiative 433 will increase it from $9 an hour to $10.50 next year, and bring it up to $15 in 2026. Nevada’s Question 2 will bring the minimum up to $12 in July 2024. It’s currently $9.50 for workers whose employers provide health insurance and $10.50 for others.

Washington, DC voted by an almost 3-1 margin to end the city’s $5.35 subminimum wage for workers who receive tips. Initiative 82 will increase their minimum pay to $16.10 in 2027. DC voters had approved a similar measure in 2018, but the City Council repealed it.

Four states voted to protect abortion rights: California, Michigan, and Vermont will add the right to abortion and birth control to the state constitution, with the margin more than 3-1 in Vermont. Kentucky voters rejected having its constitution prohibit abortion, but the state’s law against it remains in effect.

Abortion is often considered a cultural issue, not economic, but few things make more of a difference in your economic life than having children. It should be painfully obvious that you have to make enough money to house and support them, and you’ll need child care in order to work. About 60% of women who get abortions already have kids, according to figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Individual races

The vote for governor of Pennsylvania averted the possibility that its Republican-dominated legislature would make it the first Northeastern state with a right-to-work-for-less law. Democrat Josh Shapiro easily defeated election denier Doug Mastriano, who said he would “pressure my colleagues” to enact one.

But in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott won re-election over Democrat Beto O’Rourke, in a race with a clear contrast. When O’Rourke voluntarily recognized his staff’s union, Abbott’s campaign spokesperson told a right-wing online publication that “European-style collective bargaining” is “a nightmare for business and would destroy the Texas miracle.”

“Our state will continue to be led by those more focused on divisive and false political rhetoric than addressing the real issues that would improve the lives of working people,” Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said in a statement. “The consistent efforts to suppress the votes of working-class Texans and people of color in this state, combined with the tsunami of money spent to distract and divide us in a tough national moment, brought us to this outcome.”

In Ohio, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat active in the effort to rescue failing multiemployer pension funds, won her 21st term despite her Toledo-area district being gerrymandered to include heavily Republican rural counties. She took 56% of the vote against J.R. Majewski, a Trump-backed election denier whose support crumpled when the Associated Press reported that he’d lied about being a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.

But Rep. Tim Ryan, another advocate for the pension-rescue bill, lost his Senate race to ex-hillbilly venture capitalist J.D. Vance.

In Nevada, intensive on-the-ground campaigning by UNITE HERE Local 226, the casino and hotel workers’ union, might have helped Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto turn back a strong challenge from Adam Laxalt, the MAGAfied grandson of a Reaganite senator. Laxalt was ahead by 23,000 votes as of Wednesday morning, but most of the remaining ballots were in the Las Vegas area, Local 226’s core.

Also in Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman may have ensured that Democrats would retain control of the Senate when he narrowly defeated fad-diet promoter Dr. Mehmet Oz to win a vacant GOP-held seat.

Fetterman, who campaigned on labor issues and a blue-collar persona, won while recovering from a stroke he suffered in May.

“Health care is a fundamental right,” he declared in his victory speech. “It saved my life.”