SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois, along with many other states, has experienced a dramatic decline in manufacturing jobs since the 1940s, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

The report documents the shifting landscape of manufacturing over the past 70 years, and the impact on the sector in Illinois and other states. According to the findings, nearly one in four workers in the country was employed in manufacturing in 1940. Report co-author Neil Ridley, state initiative director at the Georgetown Center, said that share fell to 15% in 2000 and then to about 10% in 2016.

"And it's been in relative decline going back well into the 20th century, in relation to the rest of the workforce and the economy, since 2000," he said. "Illinois has lost nearly 300,000 manufacturing workers with the ups and downs of the global economy."

Despite the decline, the report underscored increases in production capability, with manufacturing adding $4 trillion in economic output nationally from 1947 to 2016. In Illinois, manufacturing output per worker rose from $118,000 in 2000 to $163,000 in 2016.

Ridley said the manufacturing downturn has meant a particular loss of economic opportunity for workers with less education.

"Manufacturing going back to the 1940s has been the primary source of employment for workers with a high school diploma or less," he said. "In fact, in 1980, nearly a third of all high school-educated workers found a job in manufacturing."

The report attributed the steep decline in manufacturing jobs to advances in automation, international competition and rising worker productivity. As executive director of Manufacturing Renaissance, a research consultant in Chicago, Dan Swinney contended that another factor is the lack of a clear industrial policy for the nation.

"We have fewer people working in manufacturing, but the productivity has increased," he said. "The big question is, how much could it have increased with a coherent focus on the importance of manufacturing by government - a commitment to really invest in the long-term of our manufacturing sector by financial interests, rather than just short-term thinking?"

In 2016, the top three manufacturing industries by output in Illinois were chemical; then machinery, followed by food and beverage and tobacco products.

The report is online at cew.georgetown.edu.

A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could have implications for the country's growing labor movement. Justices will hear oral arguments in Starbucks versus McKinney today to determine if the bar should be raised for the National Labor Relations Board when it seeks to impose court-ordered injunctions on companies.

David Groves, communications director with the Washington State Labor Council, said the Supreme Court could further undermine the power of the NLRB, the independent federal agency that protects employees' rights.

"We already have weak labor laws in this country that have such minor penalties for breaking union organizing laws that companies routinely do it, and this is another opportunity for them to weaken labor laws even further," he argued.

The case involves Starbucks' firing of seven employees in Memphis during their union campaign in 2021. The coffee company says it rehired the workers and denies wrongdoing. If the justices rule in favor of Starbucks, it could make it harder for the NLRB to seek court orders.

Groves said the law states that workers have a right to organize unions in their workplace without coercion or retaliation from their employers.

"That's all fine and good but if the penalty's not significant enough, then they'll just go ahead and break that law and consider it the cost of doing business if they have to pay a fine two years down the road," he explained.

Groves said his and other labor organizations support the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize or PRO Act in Congress, which would strengthen labor laws, including providing greater authority to the NLRB.


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The U.S. House has approved a measure to expand the Child Tax Credit. It would help 16 million children from low-income families in Indiana and nationwide. Despite bipartisan support, the bill is stalled in the Senate. Advocates praise the credit's pivotal role in combating child poverty, pointing to its effectiveness in the past, and especially during the pandemic, when it was broadly expanded.

Candace Baker, an Indianapolis mother of 4, said the previous tax-credit expansion worked for her family, and she wants it reinstated.

"Having a child, and I had to get on some government-assistance programs. My grandmother never did because she just didn't want that stigma over her, but I utilized those services when I had a child. I didn't want to either, but I'm like, I need this support," she explained.

Congress approved expanding the Child Tax Credit in 2021. However, the expansion has expired, leaving families without vital assistance. As the Senate deliberates, pressure mounts on lawmakers to prioritize the needs of struggling families and secure passage. Opponents believe taxpayers who don't work should not be eligible. Some Republicans also contend the provision may incentivize parents to leave the workforce.

Families reeling from the pandemic received between $300 and $360 per month per child from the expanded tax credit. It lifted 3.7 million children from poverty. Baker currently works for a food bank in Indianapolis where she says she is able to help neighbors in need and give back to the community.

"Being able to be a voice for those who have no voice - that is my motto. Even though where you start, you don't have to stay there. So, that is my biggest motto that I stand on: You may start here, you may be on government assistance, you may be in poverty, but that does not have to be your end game," she said.

Families who benefited from the increased aid were more than twice as likely to pay their overdue rent during the initial stages of the pandemic. The Child Tax Credit did not pass in time for this year's tax deadline, and its prospects for the future are uncertain.


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Washington joins a handful of states to do away with mandatory meetings for employees on political or religious matters.

Sometimes known as captive audience meetings, the gatherings were seen as a way for employers to give their opinions on subjects like unionization, and held potential consequences for employees who didn't attend. Lawmakers passed a bill this session allowing workers to skip the meetings without repercussions.

Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, a sponsor of the bill, said we live in a divided society where emotions run high on political topics.

"This bill simply protects employees to have a real choice on whether or not to attend a meeting called by their boss to be told about some political or religious issue," Keiser explained.

Keiser pointed out the legislation is nonpartisan. For instance, employers could not force employees to attend anti-union meetings, but also could not force them to attend a meeting about the importance of reproductive rights. The bill takes effect June 6.

Keiser noted the bill likely got across the finish line this session because of the uptick in union organizing and support for labor. She added there are widely known stories of Starbucks managers, for example, requiring employees to attend anti-union meetings while the employees organized the workplace.

"Employees have been forced to attend meetings to listen to the boss or the employer basically tell them why they shouldn't join a union," Keiser observed.

Washington is the sixth state to pass a law prohibiting attendance at captive audience meetings. Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota and New York have passed similar laws in recent years. Oregon passed a law allowing workers to skip such meetings without repercussions in 2010.


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