House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) speaks on the House floor in February. [Blue Room Stream]   

Illinois Democrats usually find themselves earning praise from the state’s labor unions, but House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) was accused of abandoning unions over the Labor Day weekend.  

Across the aisle, some members of the House Republican Caucus took aim at teacher unions asking the Illinois Republican Party to prevent Republican candidates from receiving contributions from teachers’ unions.