Making Illinois a Leader in Temp Worker Protections

CWC drafted and passed landmark legislation that sets the bar nationally for labor protections that keep workers safe and preserve their right to organize against abuses.

CWC Executive Director, José Frausto at the campaign launch press conference

Temp Workers Needed Bold Action:

The staffing industry in Illinois has exploded in recent years, employing more than one out of every seven workers in Illinois, 85% of whom are people of color. Staffing agencies are third-party employers who recruit, hire, and assign temp workers to companies known as “host employers.” This form of employment results in the inability for workers to unionize, a lack of employer liability, and an absence of social benefits such as Paid Time Off and health insurance. Temp workers experience serious health and safety risks at a rate much higher than their directly hired co-workers.

In fact according to a recent UIC School of Public Health (2022) report, “Studies demonstrate an association between status as a temp worker and increased risk of hazardous work: paced work, repetitive work, awkward postures, intensive use of vibrating tools and machinery, lack of autonomy in applying skills at work, lower self-rated health, report musculoskeletal symptoms of the upper extremity, and suffering from mental health conditions, such as depression. Temp workers have a demonstrated increase in the rate of occupational injuries; and are less likely to return to work following an injury. Temp workers in manufacturing had injury rates that were two to three times higher than their directly hired peers.”

The Chicago Workers Collaborative (CWC) has long been a leader in formulating and passing nation-leading temp worker protections, dating back to the passage of the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Service Act in 1999. Responding to explosive growth within the industry and increased reports of abuse by temp workers during the pandemic, CWC decided to mount a bold and unprecedented campaign to not only improve temp worker protections but also ensure that those protections could be fully enforced across the entire state.

Temp workers in manufacturing had injury rates that were two to three times higher than their directly hired peers.

Meeting the Moment

Our organizers at the frontlines identified core labor issues and effective solutions.. CWC set the campaign up for success by leveraging every asset at our disposal, working with our legal and advocacy teams.We framed a policy proposal that was bold enough to deliver real change and strategic enough to draw support from movement allies. From there, we developed our key messaging, designed campaign materials, including an engaging factsheet  and even a microsite to help break through a cluttered and fast paced communications environment.

Senator Peters engages constituent Temp Workers 

Armed with a bill and the story of the workers that had had enough, we recruited two very strong sponsors in Senator Roberto Peters and Representative Edgar Gonzalez, and began engaging core organizational partners, including the AFL-CIO and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, who would be able to help us build the leverage needed to pass such a substantial policy.

Throughout the campaign, our Springfield lobbying team remained closely connected to our organizers on the ground as well as our allies across the country. It was this connection to the grassroots and the broader movement that enabled us to act quickly whenHannah Dreier’s reporting in the New York Times broke, exposing Hearthside Foods and their staffing agencies for violating a slew of child labor laws.

Representative Gonzalez speaks at a press conference holding Hearthside Foods accountable for child labor violations

Working with partners, our organizers exposed  local cases of child labor exploitation..Our policy team was able to amplify the story and secure coverage across all major local outlets, triggering an official investigation and reframing the impact of temp worker exploitation on children.. The effect was such that the staffing industry lobbyist made a condition of negotiations that we would not engage the media, claiming that our small non-profit was a “media machine”.

Ultimately, the bill passed the Illinois House on a partisan vote and went on to pass the Illinois Senate on a bi-partisan vote after industry negotiators agreed to major concessions.

The key to the success of this campaign came down to our success in putting a spotlight on the issue, mobilizing affected workers to educate their elected officials, identifying sticking points early so we had time to find ways around (or through), and always being persistent but never insistent as we used every engagement as an opportunity to deepen our understanding and relationships.

Changing the Industry

The new law gives worker organizations, such as worker centers and labor unions, the authority to enforce the law, lending support to overburdened regulators overseeing an industry that  employed nearly 1 million individuals in 2022.

After two successive, successful years, the new policy has been passed and signed by the Governor, giving regulators and organizers new tools to reshape a large part of the Illinois economy, bringing Temp Workers out of the shadows by:

• Guaranteeing equal pay for equal work after 720 hours

• This represents an average $4/hr pay increase for a substantial portion of the temp worker population, across several hundred thousand workers that could mean a transfer of a billion dollars a year from middle men to front line workers once the law is fully enforced. 

• Keeping Temp workers safe by creating a new right for workers to refuse an assignment without fear of retaliation if they feel they have not been adequately trained.

• Creating a third party right of action so that unions and worker centers can enforce the law through court, supporting enforcement efforts by the Illinois Dept of Labor  and the Illinois Attorney General.

• Protecting collective bargaining by mandating that workers be informed of a labor action and barring employers from retaliating against anyone who refuses to cross a picket.

• Fighting workplace gender and race discrimination by requiring the provision of daily application receipts.

This campaign is a shining example of how the Chicago Workers Collaborative is committed to continuing to use every tool at its disposal to expand and enforce the rights of temp workers across Illinois to ensure they always receive fair pay and dignified treatment at work.