Chris Welch’s staff says he’s rebuffed efforts to unionize

More than 20 staffers in Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office renewed calls on Friday — three days before the Labor Day holiday — to be recognized as a union.

The employees, whose roles include research and legislative functions, formed the Illinois Legislative Staff Association earlier this year in a bid for higher wages and better benefits. They went public with their intentions to unionize in May but in a statement issued Friday, the association said that Welch, a Democrat from Hillside who became House speaker in 2021, has not been willing to discuss the issue with the group despite requests it has made over the last nine months.

Welch and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker backed last year’s passage of the Workers’ Rights Amendment, codifying in the state constitution a “fundamental right” for workers in Illinois to unionize and collectively bargain.