Vol. VII No. 42 Maywood school gets a new garden, PAGE 4
OCTOBER 19, 2022
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Voters to decide on workers’ rights amendment
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Opponents, backers debate the measure 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. The second clause states that the amendment would be controlling over another part of the See AMENDMENT on page 9
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Proviso East’s defense attempts to intercept a pass on Oct. 8, during a flag football game against Proviso West at Oak Park and River Forest High School’s football stadium in Oak Park. Read the story on page 6.
Bellwood Aldi staying, planned Westchester store scrapped Mayor Andre Harvey said Bellwood store is due for remodeling while Aldi, reversing course, says it has no plans to build at Roosevelt and Mannheim By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
One Aldi in the Proviso Township area is poised to undergo significant renovations while plans to build another one have been scrapped. The Aldi at 400 Mannheim Road in Bellwood could be slated for about $1.6 million in improvements, said Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey on Oct. 14. The mayor said the village has been negotiating with Aldi “for a while.” The negotiations, he said, resulted in the village deciding to give the company about $400,000 to spur the remodeling effort.
“Hopefully work starts this year,” the mayor said. “We’re waiting for the agreement to be sent back to us and plans drawn up and submitted to the village soon.” Harvey said the $400,000 subsidy will come from a sales tax fund created many years ago. The fund has since been eliminated but there’s still money in it, he added. “Years and years ago, we had a business district sales tax [along the Mannheim See ALDI on page 9