Cunningham: Path to a good-paying job or new career may be an unexpected one

ORLAND PARK – Area jobseekers will have access to more than 70 potential employers and staffing agencies in one convenient location during a hiring event in Orland Park Thursday, Sept. 13.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Orland Park Civic Center, 14750 S. Ravinia Ave. It is presented by State Sen. Bill Cunningham, State Rep. Fran Hurley and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

“With Illinois experiencing historically low unemployment, many companies are looking to expand their talent pool. If you want a job, someone out there wants to recruit you,” Cunningham said.

The Orland Park hiring event will feature representatives of companies in sectors including health care, construction trades, sales, hospitality, retail, state government, trucking and transportation, industrial, manufacturing, clerical and more. Numerous staffing agencies also will be on site. And construction trades will have apprenticeship applications.

At least one company is looking for retired veterans who may be interested in working as security guards. Another is seeking people for driving and non-driving positions in public transportation. Health care-related companies are looking for nurses, medical technicians, therapists, and housekeeping, laundry and food service workers.

Companies also are looking to hire forklift operators, clerical workers, customer service representatives, accountants, legal support, warehouse workers, truck drivers and dispatchers, home health care aids, financial representatives, bartenders, line cooks and more.

“That’s why I would encourage people to come out with their resumes, talk to these recruiters and learn about the doors that are open. They may be surprised to find the path to a good-paying job or a new career may be someplace they’ve never heard of or considered before,” Cunningham said.

Jobseekers are asked to register in advance at senatorbillcunningham.com. For more information, call the senator’s district office at 773-445-8128.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Rauner has vetoed legislation that would give local school boards final authority to approve or decline new charter schools.

“This veto allows the State Charter School Commission to undercut decisions made by local school board members who ultimately know what’s best for the students in the communities that elected them,” said State Senator Bill Cunningham, the chief sponsor of the legislation.

The legislation, House Bill 5175, would have eliminated charter schools’ ability to appeal a local school board’s decision to deny or not renew a charter school. Under current law, a charter school applicant may file an appeal with the State Charter School Commission, who can reverse the school board’s decision.

The legislation left in place a provision allowing charters to be approved by referendum if at least 5 percent of the voters in a school district petition the school board.

Cunningham is a Democrat representing parts of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs.

CHICAGO – The City of Chicago would be prohibited from requiring police officers to fulfill ticket quotas and assessing officers based on the number of tickets they issue under a plan signed into law today.

Senate Bill 3509, sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham, rescinds Chicago’s exemption from a 2014 law banning counties and municipalities from assigning ticket quotas and using the number of tickets an officer issues as a performance evaluation. The law made exemptions for municipalities with their own independent inspectors general and law enforcement review authorities.

“Policing should not be used as a revenue enhancement strategy by municipalities,” said Cunningham, a Democrat representing Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “Officers will no longer be distracted from their regular law enforcement duties in order to meet ticket quotas.”

The Fraternal Order of Police argued that ticket quotas created unnecessary tension between law enforcement and the communities they serve by interfering with officers’ ability to exercise compassion in certain situations.

Cunningham: ‘This is the result of Gov. Rauner’s obsessive attacks on public workers’

CHICAGO – State Senator Bill Cunningham expressed disappointment in this morning’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to weaken collective bargaining rights for average workers who depend on unions to amplify their voice in the workplace.

“This is the result of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s obsessive attacks on teachers, police officers, firefighters and all the other public employees who do difficult work on behalf of taxpayers every day,” said Cunningham, a Democrat representing Chicago and the southwest suburbs.

“The middle class is shrinking in our nation, and it is in large part due to the loss of union jobs. Those losses will accelerate with the Janus decision. It’s both shameful and telling that the governor will count this set-back for working families as one of the few ‘accomplishments’ of his tenure.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the landmark Illinois public employee union case Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 overturns unions’ ability to collect fees from non-members to cover the costs of collective bargaining and enforcement of labor contracts. These fees are known as “fair-share” or “agency fee” payments.

Rauner filed suit over fair-share fees in 2015 shortly after becoming governor. The Supreme Court’s ruling, which overturns a 1977 decision, has implications for collective bargaining units all over the country.