By Kevin Bessler, includes “More than 100 labor organizations in Illinois endorsed a proposed amendment on the November ballot to change the state's flat-rate income tax structure to a system that has higher rates for those who make more than $250,000 a year, but business groups said it would make it easier for lawmakers to raise taxes. … Many state workers are union members. Statewide, about 870,000 employees were union members or had jobs that were governed by a union contract, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Almost half of those union members worked in the public sector.”