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Forest Preserve referendum up for a vote in November
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FREE Vol. 36 No. 41
October 12, 2022
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Also serving Garfield Park
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Two Sisters closing, l page 8
Voters will decide on ‘right to unionize’ constitutional amendment Opponents, backers debate the measure’s warrants By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois voters will be asked in November to decide whether the right of workers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining should be enshrined in the state constitution. The first clause of the amendment contains two sentences. The first would establish a “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively and to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions, and to promote their economic welfare and safety at work.” The second would prohibit the state or any local unit of government from enacting “any law that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and workplace safety.” The provision is intended to prevent passage of any state or local “right to work” laws, which prohibit employers from requiring workers to be union members to keep their jobs. See AMENDMENT on page 11
Austin church welcomes migrants bused from south SHANEL ROMAIN/Staff
A mural of Mother Theresa, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez painted outside of the Revive Center in Austin, the nonprofit arm of Grace and Peace Church. The facility has been a welcoming center for migrants since August.
Grace and Peace Church and its nonprofit, the Revive Center, have been helping asylum-seekers from border states since August
By SHANEL ROMAIN Community Narrative Reporter
On Wednesday afternoon, a room inside of the Revive Center, the nonprofit arm of Grace and Peace Church, 1856 N. Leclaire Ave. in Austin, hummed with activity. Volunteers organized large boxes food and coordinated showers, among other duties. Since August, the church and its nonprofit have welcomed dozens of
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asylum-seekers who have been bused from Republican-led states like Texas, Florida and Arizona. According to the Chicago SunTimes, more than 1,600 asylumseeking migrants have been bused to Chicago from Texas alone since the first bus rolled into the city on Aug. 31. Last month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a disaster proclamation to unlock See MIGRANTS on page 4
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