At its Jan. 13 meeting, the City of Urbana Human Rights Commission said it will start drafting a formal procedure to review labor organizations that work with city contractors. Commissioner Peter Resnick raised the proposal during new business and volunteered to lead the work with staff assistance.

Resnick said the commission’s authority is rooted in City ordinances, Chapter 2, section 2‑119, which requires contractors doing business with the city to submit workforce information to the commission and allows the commission to review associated labor organizations. "We've talked for some time about doing something," Resnick said, and "I've been on the commission a long time, and we still haven't gotten it done." He urged creating a clear, replicable process and bringing a draft back to the commission next month.

Commissioners discussed the likely scope and practical limits of the review. One participant estimated there are roughly eight to ten unions that could be relevant to Urbana contracts, while others cautioned the number could grow depending on contractors’ wider affiliations. Commissioners debated focusing on national union programs versus local chapters and suggested setting pragmatic thresholds — for example, limiting review to unions that actually supply labor to Urbana projects or using an employee-count cutoff to avoid requiring detailed reviews for very small organizations.

Carla, staff from the Office of Human Rights and Equity, was identified as the staff contact and the commission agreed she would support the volunteer subteam as it drafts questions and a timeline. The commission did not take any formal votes or adopt a policy at the meeting; members directed the volunteers and staff to produce a draft procedure for discussion at the next meeting.

Next steps: Resnick and at least one other commissioner agreed to work with Carla to develop a draft procedure. The commission expects to discuss the draft at its next regular meeting, scheduled for Feb. 17, 2026.