Rauner, Public Unions Not Close On Contracts
From the Associated Press
The contracts for more than 40,000 Illinois state workers will expire at the end of the month, and their unions and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's negotiating team apparently aren't close to agreeing on new ones.
The standoff has gotten more public attention in recent days, with union members staging nearly 100 protests throughout the state, including last week in Springfield, to rally public support to their calls for fair contracts.
With the potential for a far-reaching strike or lockout looming, here are some things to know:
The state's contracts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state's largest public employee union, representing roughly 36,000 state workers, and those with roughly two dozen smaller unions representing roughly 5,000 nurses, police officers and others expire June 30. Although they have been negotiating new pacts for six months, the sides remain far apart on several key issues, including wage increases, health insurance costs, the promotion process and how overtime pay is calculated.
Rauner has said little publicly about the status of negotiations. But AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch indicated they're not going well, telling members in a letter last month that Rauner had indicated he planned to "force a strike and shut down state government" until the union agrees to his terms.
In response to Lynch's allegations, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly told The Associated Press that the governor's "negotiating team is committed to bargaining in good faith with the government unions to reach a deal that is fair to employees and taxpayers."
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Associated Press
The contracts for more than 40,000 Illinois state workers will expire at the end of the month, and their unions and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's negotiating team apparently aren't close to agreeing on new ones.
The standoff has gotten more public attention in recent days, with union members staging nearly 100 protests throughout the state, including last week in Springfield, to rally public support to their calls for fair contracts.
With the potential for a far-reaching strike or lockout looming, here are some things to know:
The state's contracts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state's largest public employee union, representing roughly 36,000 state workers, and those with roughly two dozen smaller unions representing roughly 5,000 nurses, police officers and others expire June 30. Although they have been negotiating new pacts for six months, the sides remain far apart on several key issues, including wage increases, health insurance costs, the promotion process and how overtime pay is calculated.
Rauner has said little publicly about the status of negotiations. But AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch indicated they're not going well, telling members in a letter last month that Rauner had indicated he planned to "force a strike and shut down state government" until the union agrees to his terms.
In response to Lynch's allegations, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly told The Associated Press that the governor's "negotiating team is committed to bargaining in good faith with the government unions to reach a deal that is fair to employees and taxpayers."
Read more in our daily News Update...