One of the eight democratic candidates for Illinois attorney general campaigned in the Quad Cities Thursday. State Senator Kwame Raoul introduced himself to local residents and leaders, including union leaders.
In the state senate, Raoul says he has a 90 per cent voting record for labor, and is sponsoring a bill to give the attorney general more power in workers rights cases. Instead of having to wait for a referral from the Department of Labor, he wants the attorney general to be able to get involved right away.
"Most employers abide by the law, but there are certain egregious violators and those are the folks that we would want the attorney general's office to be able to go after."
Raoul also wants to help the attorney general's public access counselor reduce its huge backlog of cases, by moving the most important cases to the front of the line, and adding staff.
During one of his stops, Raoul met with a small but important group - the 25 people hardly filled the room in a Rock Island union hall, but the leaders of the Quad City Federation of Labor and Tri-City Building Trades Council together represent 33,000 workers in central and western Illinois. And their support would certainly improve his chances in the March primary.
