What Chicago can learn from Utah
Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s so-called mayor, now has a seven percent approval rating. This is far below any previous mayor — it boggles the mind. It is increasingly clear that he will be a one-term mayor, so the next mayor, who will probably be Hispanic, needs a platform on which to both run and govern.
So where will the new ideas that can save Chicago from itself come from?
Maybe Utah.
Utah? That’s right. Utah.
Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, just signed a bill prohibiting public unions from collective bargaining. According to The Wall Street Journal:
“By signing the bill, Mr. Cox put his state in rare company. Utah became the third state, after North and South Carolina, to ban collective bargaining throughout the government with no exceptions. Only nine states have laws restricting public bargaining, while another six let their agencies bargain on a discretionary basis.
Collective bargaining in government isn’t the same as in the private economy. In the private economy, unions and employers are on opposite sides of the bargaining table. In government, public unions and politicians are on the same side. Unions use their dues to support politicians who deliver them fat contracts that then help finance the same politicians, and so on. Taxpayers have no representatives in the room, and unions become a constant and powerful lobby for ever-higher tax rates. This has been the road to fiscal perdition for New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and California.”
Well, it’s great for our great state to be mentioned in the august Wall Street Journal, but not so great to be mentioned in this context. Unions have played a huge role in bringing Chicago to its financial knees. No union is more culpable for this piracy of the public purse than the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), particularly under the reign of the Queen of CORE, the notorious Stacy Davis Gates (SDG).
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) now consume over 50 percent of the property taxes paid by Chicagoans. What do we get for these exorbitant costs? We have one of the worst school systems in the country. We have overstaffed schools, some of which have more employees than students. We graduate illiterate and innumerate students who are unqualified for anything other than a life of crime. We have abandoned vocational education — desperately needed given the nature of the student body and the unfilled needs in our community.
And now, the CTU has an actual stranglehold on the government itself in the form of Brandon Johnson. Rather than representing the people of Chicago who elected him, he instead represents only the teachers of Chicago — and remains on a leave of absence from the CTU -- an unprecedented conflict of interest.
Enough is enough.
Soon, we’ll put Brandon Johnson on the ash heap of history, where he belongs. The next mayor needs to take bold steps to right the ship of state, which Captain Johnson has run into the iceberg of union profligacy and greed.
The next mayor should run on a platform of abolishing unions’ ability to collectively bargain. This is a state of emergency that warrants such a seemingly radical action. But, as we can see from the example of Utah and the Carolinas, it can be done. The sky will not fall.
We legislated ourselves into this, so we can legislate ourselves out of it
It hasn't always been this way. Younger voters, especially the increasing number who were not born and raised in our town, may not realize that unions didn't always run our city. Here's a brief history of how we got into this predicament.
The ability of public-sector unions in Illinois and Chicago to collectively bargain was established through a combination of legislative action, court decisions, and political influence over the years. Here’s how it came to pass:
1. One of the key legislative milestones was the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act (IPLRA) of 1983, which granted public employees, including municipal and state workers, the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. This law created a formal process for labor negotiations between public employers and unions, covering wages, hours, and working conditions.
2. Shortly after the IPLRA, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (IELRA) of 1984 was passed, granting the same collective bargaining rights to teachers and educational employees. This act gave the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and other school district unions the ability to negotiate contracts, benefits, and work conditions.
3. The Influence of Democratic Political Control — Illinois, and particularly Chicago, have long been dominated by the Democratic Party, which has historically aligned with labor unions. Over time, unions have leveraged their political influence by supporting and funding politicians who advocate for pro-union policies, reinforcing their bargaining power.
4. Mayor Harold Washington’s Role —The passage of these laws coincided with the tenure of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor (1983–1987), who was backed by labor unions and helped solidify their role in city politics. Under his administration, union bargaining power expanded in both city government and education.
5. The 1995 Chicago School Reform Act — This act, passed under Republican Governor Jim Edgar, gave then-Mayor Richard M. Daley control over the Chicago Public Schools. While the reform aimed to improve school governance, it did not significantly curtail the CTU’s bargaining power, allowing the union to continue negotiating contracts.
6. The Power of the Chicago Teachers Union — Over the years, the CTU has grown into one of the most powerful unions in Illinois. Through strategic organizing, strikes, and political activism, it has secured significant pay raises, benefits, and working condition protections. The CTU played a major role in the elections of union-backed candidates, including Brandon Johnson, a former CTU organizer, as mayor in 2023.
7. Illinois Constitution of 1970 — Strong Union Protections —The Illinois State Constitution (Article XIII, Section 5) provides strong protections for public employee pensions, stating that benefits “shall not be diminished or impaired.” This has made it difficult for the state or city to reform pension obligations, a major financial burden tied to collective bargaining agreements.
8. Legal Precedents and Court Rulings — Illinois courts have generally ruled in favor of unions, reinforcing their collective bargaining rights. Unlike states with “right-to-work” laws, Illinois requires government employees in unionized workplaces to pay union dues or “fair share” fees, strengthening union influence.
9. The Decline of Private-Sector Unions and the Rise of Public-Sector Unions — While private-sector unions have declined nationally, public-sector unions (teachers, police, firefighters, and city workers) have remained strong in Illinois. This is due to laws protecting their bargaining rights and the ability to negotiate directly with elected officials who benefit from union political support.
10. Failed Attempts to Restrict Collective Bargaining — Efforts to curb collective bargaining rights in Illinois — such as Governor Bruce Rauner’s push for right-to-work zones (2015–2019) — have largely failed due to union resistance and Democratic legislative control.
Illinois and Chicago’s strong collective bargaining rights for public-sector unions are the result of state legislation, political alliances, constitutional protections, and union organizing. Unlike states that have passed laws restricting public-sector bargaining, Illinois has only expanded these rights over time, making any rollback politically difficult. However, as financial pressures mount, the debate over union influence and its impact on city governance continues.
This history makes it clear that changing the way things are requires pushing through legislation at the state level. This is not as hard as it might otherwise appear.
- First of all, the Chicago delegation is arguably the most powerful force within the state legislature.
- Second, the rest of the state wouldn't be a tough sell. Downstate remains relatively conservative, and the suburban collar counties have their own troubles with union negotiations.
- Third, the timing will never be better. Chicago is in a desperate time in which even progressives have recognized that the CTU has amassed way too much power over the city. And at the national level, the zeitgeist is one of curbing government bureaucracies.
A relatively small number of people benefit from the largesse of the city, whereas a very large number suffer. This is a classic example of a problem democracy is designed to solve. The votes of municipal union members cannot stop this reform. What’s needed is a campaign that points out to the millions of non-union employees in this town that the city’s very survival depends on ridding the body politic of this cancer — which has metastasized to the point where bankruptcy is a very legitimate threat.
In that sense, there is perhaps one thing the city can be grateful to Brandon Johnson for: bringing the situation to such an extreme emergency that reform is now politically feasible.
Arguably, 93 percent of Chicagoans agree that he has done the worst job of any mayor in the city’s history — and that covers an awful lot of stiff competition.
We are in a crisis, and to quote another former Chicago mayor:
“One should never waste a good crisis.”
