Gov. Rauner seeks labor board ruling on impasse in talks with AFSCME

 

 

• By Doug Finke
  State Capitol Bureau

  Posted Jan. 15, 2016 at 10:49 AM
  Updated Jan 15, 2016 at 5:37 PM

  A week after denying it had declared negotiations at an impasse, the Rauner administration Friday asked the state labor relations board to determine if contract talks with the largest state employee union have stalled.

  If the Illinois Labor Relations Board rules in favor of the administration, it could open the door to the administration imposing its contract terms on the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 that represents about 38,000 state employees.

  The union would then have to decide whether to accept the terms, go on strike or challenge the labor board’s ruling in court.

  AFSCME executive director Roberta Lynch said Friday, "It’s regrettable and damaging to the public interest that the governor has chosen a confrontational path.”

  In a letter to state employees Friday, though, Gov. Bruce Rauner said AFSCME is demanding a contract the state cannot afford and is not bargaining in good faith.

  “AFSCME has no intention of ever reaching a deal at the table,” Rauner wrote. “Our efforts at responding to AFSCME’s concerns and producing thoughtful proposals were rejected. We are no closer today than we were 12 months ago. Taxpayers will not be served by further discussions.”

  Friday’s action by the Rauner administration is the latest escalation in the increasingly contentious talks with AFSCME. A week ago, the union said administration negotiators had declared talks were at an impasse and rejected AFSCME’s offer for additional negotiating sessions. The administration denied it had declared an impasse and said it was AFSCME that had canceled previously scheduled negotiating sessions, something denied by the union.

  'Extreme demands'

  In documents released Friday, the administration said AFSCME wants raises, improvements to health insurance and other proposals that would cost the state more than $3 billion over the four-year term of the contract.

  “While everyone would like to be paid more, our average state worker salaries have gone up twice as fast as inflation over the last 10 years,” Rauner wrote. “Nor could any employer, public or private, afford to continue our current practice of providing the platinum health plans at the price of silver plans. I reached the conclusion early on that leaner contracts for four years were far better than the massive layoffs our state government faces on its current trajectory.”

  Lynch said Rauner is demanding that workers pay double to keep their health insurance plan, forego pay raises for four years and create a bonus plan based on “unknown criteria open to political favoritism.”

• …..

  There is no firm timetable for the ILRB to issue its ruling. The Rauner administration said the process could take several months if the board decides evidentiary hearings should be held.

  The decision would come from the five-member state panel of the ILRB. Rauner has appointed two members and reappointed two who were previously chosen by former Gov. Pat Quinn.

  If the board rules in Rauner’s favor, it would allow the administration to impose its contract terms on the union. The ILRB ruling could also be challenged in court. AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said the union is exploring all of its options.

  If the board rules against the administration, negotiations would continue.

  In 40 years that AFSCME has negotiated labor contracts with the state, this is believed to be the first time one side has attempted to declare an impasse. There has also never been a strike by AFSCME members during that time.

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