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FACT CHECK: Darren Bailey’s Pro-Worker Claims Don’t Match His Extreme Anti-Worker Record

Chicago, IL— At a press conference today, Darren Bailey insisted that “by no means am I anti-union.” His record says otherwise. Bailey voted against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, voted against paid leave for workers, and pushed to abolish the Illinois Constitution’s pension protection clause. Every single chance he has had, he has voted against working Illinoisans. In contrast, the Democratic Party of Illinois hopes Illinois State University employees and the university resolve the strike soon.

While Darren Bailey and the ILGOP stay silent on Donald Trump’s role in spiking prices and pretend to stand with working families, Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats are taking real action – fighting for Illinois workers and making life more affordable.

DARREN BAILEY’S ANTI-WORKER RECORD:

Bailey’s voting record shows his anti-worker stance.

  • Sponsored a constitutional amendment to strip pension protections from the workers who earned them

  • Opposed the workers’ rights amendment

  • Voted against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour

  • Voted against paid leave for workers

  • Opposed raising the minimum salary for Illinois teachers

  • Voted against cost-of-living increases for retired firefighters

  • Was one of only two votes against occupational disease disability benefits for Illinois firefighters

  • Was the ONLY senator to vote against a homestead tax exemption for police officers and firefighters with duty-related disabilities

Bailey has a failing rating from the Illinois AFL-CIO. Here’s why:

  • Voted against allowing electronic sign-on to form a union – making it harder to organize

  • Voted against the strongest clean energy labor standards in the country

  • Voted against labor representation on state boards and commissions

  • Voted against restoring collective bargaining rights to public employees wrongly stripped of union membership

  • Voted against graduate teaching assistants being recognized as employees with labor rights

  • Voted against prohibiting Right-to-Work zones in Illinois – a direct attack on union power