Since 1989, when comparable state data became available, union membership rates in Illinois have been above the U.S. average. Illinois had 708,000 union members in 2023.
Hawaii Has Highest Rate of Union Membership StatePercentage of U.S. employed workers who are union members in 2023 Connecticut 15.9% California 15.4% Alaska 14.8% Vermont 14.3%6 more rows •
Overall, the state of Illinois is very employee-friendly and has enacted several pieces of legislation designed to protect the rights of workers across the board. As an employer, it is your legal duty and responsibility to be aware of and respect those rights as you manage your team.
The Worker Freedom of Speech Act follows Illinois voters' approval of the “Workers' Rights Amendment” to the state constitution in the November 2022 election, which established a “fundamental right” for Illinois workers to unionize and engage in collective bargaining with their employers.
The statute guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers or to refrain from all such activity.
At 12.8 percent, Illinois had the 13th-highest unionization rate among all states. A total of 707,829 people in Illinois were unionized in 2023, down from nearly 847,000 in 2015.
Your union and employer must bargain in good faith about wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment until they agree on a labor contract or reach a stand-off or “impasse.” If negotiations reach an impasse, an employer can impose terms and conditions so long as it offered them to the union before impasse ...
New meal and rest break requirements: Requires employees be given a 20-minute break if working a 12-hour shift or longer, and at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every consecutive 7-day period, clarifying the day of rest requirements for workers whose schedules don't align with a Sunday to Saturday calendar week.
Mandatory subjects are those that directly impact – wages, hours or working conditions (or terms and conditions of employment). These are subjects over which the parties must bargain if a proposal is made by either party.