On Friday, May 28th, 2021 the Climate Jobs Illinois Coalition organized a rally on the Steps of the Capital building in front of the Abraham Lincoln Statue in Springfield, Illinois. It was an impressive rally that included many IBEW Local 15 members and their families. There were other Illinois IBEW members in attendance as well, including Local 51 members that represent the Clinton Nuclear Station workers. Coal City and Byron had a strong community showing as well at the rally with Superintendents and teachers in attendance. Joe Duffy with the Climate Jobs Illinois organized the event with the help of the Illinois AFL-CIO and IBEW Local 15 President Terry McGoldrick and Vice President Bill Phillips. There were many speakers that spoke for the need to save the Nuclear Plants from premature closing including: Joe Duffy with Climate Jobs Illinois, Illinois State Representative Marcus Evans, Chairman of the Illinois Senate Energy Committee Michael Hastings, Illinois State Senator Sue Rezin, Illinois State Representative David Welter, Illinois State Senator Neil Anderson, Illinois State Representative Jim Durkin, Coal City Superintendent Dr. Kent Bugg and last but not least IBEW Local 15 President Terry McGoldrick.
All speakers encouraged the crowd to make their voices heard and assured us that they were going to get this done for us. Representative Evans told the group that he works for the people and to let him know what we wanted him to do. The crowd responded with a loud "save our jobs" chant. Senator Hastings assured the group that nothing's going to stop us from saving these Nuke plants. Senator Rezin stated that she supports these Nuclear plants as they support thousands of jobs. Representative Durkin relayed the importance to maintain the nuclear plants to keep a diverse energy portfolio throughout the State of Illinois. Senator Anderson, previous Union firefighter, left a calming message to the group that we've done this before, we are going to get through this again and then start having a conversation on building more nukes. Representative Welter represents half of the nuclear fleet in the State and says it's an awesome responsibility and that we must save these Nuclear power plant jobs. Superintendent Kent Bugg discussed the devastating impact on the communities surrounding the nuclear stations, if the stations were to close. Our President, Terry McGoldrick thanked all that have helped us in our cause to keep these great jobs alive. He thanked all those that showed up to the Rally on 24 hours' notice. He finished out his speech with "we need to get this damn thing done!"