Chambana Sun

Republican House hopeful Dan Caulkins worries new work requirement legislation proposed by the Chicago City Council could change the fabric of what the entire country represents.

“This is socialism," Caulkins told the Chambana Sun of the so-called Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance, which would slap various fines on businesses based on their perceived treatment of workers. “Democrats want to run private businesses where the government is in charge of every part of the economy. I ran a business for 25 years, and I don’t see the logic. You can’t run a business like that and survive.”

Jennifer McMillin

Sponsored by Chicago Alderman John Arena, who represents the 45th Ward, with the support of nearly three-fifths of all 50 city council members, Chicago Fair Workweek would require Chicago employers to post work schedules for their employees at least 14 days in advance and obligate them to pay for any subsequent changes.

The Chicago Tribune reports employers would also be required to pay employees harmed by any changes for at least an extra hour of work and businesses could face fines of up to $500 for each employee impacted by noncompliance in a given pay period. Schedule changes without less than a day’s notice for on-call workers would also be penalized.

“I don’t know who dreams this stuff up; it’s so insane,” said Caulkins, who is challenging Democrat Jennifer McMillin in the 101st District. “Next thing you know, the government will be telling you how much product to make, just like a communist nation does. They’ve already done this with health care, now they’re trying to do it with other industries. If any of this goes anywhere, it would be devastating. You can’t force regulations on people and businesses and not see it have some sort of adverse impact.”

If people don’t take a stand, things might drastically change, he said.

“It just keeps going and going and before long we’ll have robots doing everything,” he said.

The 101st House District spans parts of Champaign, DeWitt, Macon, McLean and Piatt counties.