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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, For the last quarter-century, the Ford Motor
3Company has garnered a reputation for mishandling complaints of
4sexual and racial harassment at their production plants across
5the nation, giving rise to a string of lawsuits in the 1990s,
6an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
7investigation, and a $22 million settlement to Ford employees
8who experienced harassment; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The allegations made by female employees have
10included crude comments about women's bodies, graphic images of
11male genitalia, groping, males simulating sexual acts or
12masturbating in front of the women, and supervisors who offered
13favorable treatment to women who would have sex with them; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The culture at the Ford plants enabled this
15conduct, thereby causing many of the women who reported
16harassment to be mocked, dismissed, threatened, or ostracized;
17and
 
18    WHEREAS, While Ford touted its purported commitment to
19cracking down on this hostile work environment of the 1990s, it
20continued to delay firing those accused of harassment, did not
21provide adequate sexual harassment training, and failed to
22stamp out retaliation against those women who reported

 

 

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1misconduct, leaving workers to conclude that offenders would go
2unpunished; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Ford has done little to address the longstanding
4culture of sexual harassment at its plants, resulting in
5another EEOC investigation, a recent $10 million settlement of
6sexual harassment claims, and continuing litigation between
7Ford and employees who suffer from this pervasive sexual and
8racial harassment; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and the Chicago
10Stamping Plant, which together employ over 5,700 people, of
11which just under a third are women, have been the source of
12half of all sexual harassment and gender discrimination
13complaints lodged against Ford with the EEOC; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Although United Auto Workers (UAW) is the union
15entrusted with representing Ford workers in employment
16matters, UAW not only breached its duty of fair representation
17to women experiencing harassment at Ford's Chicago plants, but
18many of the alleged perpetrators of harassment included UAW
19representatives and leadership; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Harassment victims who sought protection from UAW
21were instead rebuked for tattling on a union brother and
22putting a man's job at risk, and bullied into tolerating the

 

 

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1harassment as just another aspect of the job; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Neither Ford nor UAW took any action to mitigate
3the inherent conflict of interest that arises when both a
4victim and the perpetrator of sexual harassment are members of
5the same collective bargaining unit and the union must fairly
6represent both workers; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Many of the known and unknown women who became
8victims of sexual harassment throughout their employment with
9Ford are Illinois workers who have suffered serious
10psychological and physical trauma, economic loss, and
11retaliation including loss of their jobs as a result of Ford
12and UAW's gross mishandling and failure to eradicate this
13impermissible behavior; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
15ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Equal
16Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of
17Human Rights, and the Illinois Department of Labor to
18investigate the culture of harassment at Ford's Illinois
19plants, and provide increased support for the brave women who
20have come forward to make their voices heard; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That we call upon the Governor of Illinois to
22review all state contracts with Ford Motor Company for

 

 

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1compliance with the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Illinois
2Procurement Code, and other laws and regulations governing
3state contractors; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That we call upon the National Labor Relations
5Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the
6Illinois Department of Human Rights, and the Illinois
7Department of Labor to investigate UAW's role in facilitating
8the harassment at Ford's Illinois plants, including whether it
9breached its duty of fair representation to union members who
10were victims of harassment; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
12delivered to Governor Bruce Rauner, the Acting Chair and the
13Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
14the members of the National Labor Relations Board, the Director
15of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Director of the
16Illinois Department of Labor, the United Automobile Workers
17International Executive Board, and the Board of Directors at
18Ford Motor Company.