Politics are about you!

Political policies passed by legislators and signed by mayors and governors are all about you. Legislative policies and budgets control your wages, the health insurance your family relies upon, your retirement security and dignity, and the services you provide for the communities you serve. As public servants, you see how bad policies and ineffectual government hurt working families every day.

You see what it looks like when mentally ill and drug dependent individuals lose services. You see the frustration when inadequate translation services are provided and the indignity caused when children under the age of 10 have to translate for their parents. You see the impact of charter schools robbing neighborhood schools of their best students and most involved parents. You see the frustrated students when there are too many children in classrooms.

The communities we live in are racked with the emotional toll and physical aftermath of each government failure to provide adequate services. Decisions made by politicians are all about you. Our communities didn’t get this way by accident. It’s a result of Governor Rauner and his friends making policies. Bruce Rauner’s agenda is all about you. He’s bad for working people because he ardently believes that workers are paid too much and that their employers should not be responsible for healthcare or retirement benefits. He also firmly believes that unions and workers speaking collectively should be banned in the public and private sectors. It’s ideological for him. Bruce Rauner is a zealot. His zealotry is pointed directly at you. His “right to work” is your “freedom to lose.” Lose in your paychecks. Lose in your healthcare. Lose your pension.

Governor Rauner caused millions of Illinoisans to make unthinkable life choices because of you. He believes you are the problem:

• Your pensions are unaffordable. He proposed an unconstitutional plan to move all of you into 401ks.
• Your health insurance is too generous. He proposed a 300% increase in state and university employee health insurance premiums.
• You are too highly paid. He says Illinois public employees are the highest paid public employees in the nation.
• The collective bargaining laws which you rely upon to negotiate your union contracts are strangling your chance to achieve greatness and the American Dream. He proposed to make Illinois another “Freedom to Lose” state by proposing “Right to Work” legislation.

You are the speed bump, the road block and the hurdle to Bruce Rauner implementing his agenda upon you. You may not have asked for this responsibility – fighting for your futures, your families’ welfare, and other workers who won’t even know that you are fighting for them. The task of stopping Bruce Rauner’s assault on all of us is squarely on our shoulders. The actions we take collectively, each person doing their piece of the work, will become mighty fists by which we fight back.

This election is about you. We say that every election is the most important election in our lifetime. That has never been a truer statement for members of a public sector union with a defined benefit pension, a living wage, affordable healthcare, and contractual job protections. You and your rights are on the ballot this year. Brothers and Sisters, let’s do our work in the primaries to protect our flanks and then work this summer and fall to give Bruce Rauner the best and biggest layoff notice he will ever see.