Shred Event August 19!

On Aug.19 from 10:30-12:30 p.m. my office will co-host a back to school event alongside IL State Representative Kim du Buclet - 5th, Commissioner Bill Lowry, Cook County - 3rd District, and Alderman Lamont J. Robinson at Insight Hospital, located at 2525 S. Prairie Ave.

Back to School Event

On August 16 from 3-6 p.m. my office will co-host a back to school event alongside State Representative Kam Buckner, Commissioner Bill Lowry, Cook County - 3rd District and Alderman Lamont J. Robinson at Ellis Park, located at 3520 S. Cottage Grove. The event will take place rain or shine! Register here: http://www.illinois26.com/.../free-2nd-annual-back-to....

Peters champions temporary worker protections

SPRINGFIELD – Temporary workers will soon have increased safety, transparency and recourse thanks to a new law sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters.

“Temp workers’ contributions to our economy are often overlooked and taken for granted, even though they often deal with the most unsafe work conditions,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “This new law is long overdue. Temporary workers deserve to work in the same safe conditions as permanent workers.”

The Day and Temporary Labor Services Act requires staffing agencies to provide transportation and safety equipment to workers, provide an itemized list of wages due to workers and maintain records related to third party clients.

Peters’ law expands the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act to ensure safety and transparency for workers. Under the expansion, temporary laborers assigned to a third party client for more than 90 days will be paid no less than the rate of pay and equivalent benefits as the lowest paid hired employee of the client with the same level of seniority and performing the same or substantially similar work.

The measure also requires agencies to notify laborers that the assigned workplace is where a strike, lockout, or other labor trouble exists and that the laborers have a right to refuse the workplace assignment. Further, temporary and day labor service agencies must obtain information about a client company’s safety practices and provide training to workers on industry hazards they may encounter at the worksite.

“The expansion of the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act will bring an end to the hazardous workplace situations that many Black and Brown workers face,” Peters said. “A new normal is coming. I appreciate the work the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative, the Illinois AFL-CIO and State Representative Edgar Gonzalez have done to make this new normal a reality for a service sector that is often forgotten.”

House Bill 2862 was signed into law Friday and takes effect immediately.

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Peters law to offer unpaid leave to families impacted by homicide

SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans whose family member was killed in a violent crime will soon be able to take two weeks of unpaid leave, thanks to a new law sponsored by Senator Robert Peters.

“The pain of homicide and other violent crimes on families, from the original trauma to re-victimization from the investigation and prosecution, is unimaginable,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “We can’t expect anyone to operate as usual under these circumstances. People need time to adjust to their new normal.”

A report published by the University of California, Berkeley Law School’s International Human Rights Law Clinic found that family members of homicide victims commonly experience anxiety, depression, complicated grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms of PTSD can include nightmares, intrusive thoughts, startled reactions, and difficulty concentrating – and almost a quarter fully develop PTSD which means that they experienced intense, ongoing symptoms that interfered with day-to-day functioning.

The Victims Economic Security and Safety Leave Act provides employees who were victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or any other violent crime up to 12 weeks of leave.

Under Peters’ new law, all employees who are already eligible for leave under the Victims Economic Security and Safety Leave Act may now use up to 10-days of leave for bereavement when family members fall victim to violent crime.

“We have to remember that trauma manifests in both physical and mental ways,” Peters said. “Grief isn’t linear and there’s no set time frame in which people are able to grieve. This measure gives families something to fall back on in the event of the unthinkable.”

House Bill 2493 was signed into law Friday.