A press release from Governor Bruce Rauner:
Rauner Administration Statement on Labor Negotiations with AFSCME
CHICAGO – The following statement is attributable to Lance Trover, Director of Communications for Governor Bruce Rauner:
“Today marked the 67th day of negotiations with AFSCME. Like every previous session, AFSCME rejected all of the Governor’s core proposals and insisted that they would never agree to those proposals despite our good faith efforts to address union concerns.
“In light of that position, our negotiators asked AFSCME if they believed we were at impasse. If so, both parties signed a tolling agreement establishing a Labor Board process by which that determination can be made. AFSCME insists that the parties are not at impasse while rejecting the offer for additional sessions next week.
“After a year of no meaningful progress, we must now evaluate the benefit of future sessions given AFSCME’s intransigence. In light of their answers today, we will now decide if the previously-agreed dispute resolution process should be considered.”
The below chart summarizes the status of the negotiations with AFSCME, while comparing it to its previous contract and the contracts the administration has already reached with 17 other unions representing state employees.
Where Bruce Rauner says AFSCME union negotiations are.
Here is the URL to the chart on the Illinois Government News Network website.
http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=13452
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Here is a reformatted version of the chart.
1. Merit Pay / Incentives
AFSCME Last Contract – Not in the contract.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – Bonuses to employees and units who achieve measurable, objective, attainable goals and/or save costs.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – Bonuses to employees and units who achieve measurable, objective, attainable goals and/or save costs.
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – Bonuses to employees and units who achieve measurable, objective, attainable goals and/or save costs.
AFSCME’s Proposal – Rejected management’s proposal.
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2. Hours of Work
AFSCME Last Contract – 37.5 hours a week with OT after 37.5.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – 37.5 hours a week with OT after 40 (federal law).
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – 40 hours a week with OT after 40 (federal law).
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – 40 hours a week with OT after 40 (federal law).
AFSCME’s Proposal – Rejected management’s proposal.
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3. Subcontracting and Cost-Effective Alternatives
AFSCME Last Contract – Cumbersome procedures that impede the ability for parties to work together to finding cost-effective alternatives to outsourcing that promote efficiency and protect jobs.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – A new, collaborative model that allows management and union to work together to provide low-cost alternatives to outsourcing.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – A new, collaborative model that allows management and union to work together to provide low-cost alternatives to outsourcing.
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – A new, collaborative model that allows management and union to work together to provide low-cost alternatives to outsourcing.
AFSCME’s Proposal – Rejected management’s proposal and proposed additional constraints on the management’s ability to manage costs while protecting jobs.
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4. Layoff
AFSCME Last Contract – Complex bumping rules with 6 different ways in which laid off employees can bump a colleague out of a job.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – Streamline the layoff procedure to reduce bumping from 6 to 2 levels.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – No bumping.
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – Virtually no bumping.
AFSCME’s Proposal – Rejected management’s proposal.
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5. Improving the Hiring and Promotion of Minorities in State Government
AFSCME Last Contract – Seniority rules block the State’s ability to address minority underutilization in state government.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – Management can hire or promote a less senior but equally or more qualified minority candidate.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – Less restrictive rules than in the AFSCME contract.
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – Management can promote a less senior but equally or more qualified minority candidate.
AFSCME’s Proposal – Rejected management’s proposal.
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6. Wages (steps)
AFSCME Last Contract – 3.8% annual step increases.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – Freeze steps temporarily.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – 4-year wage freeze.
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – Not applicable; wages set by DOL.
AFSCME’s Proposal – Rejected management’s proposal and AFSCME proposed $407M in automatic annual salary increases.
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7. Wages (general).
AFSCME Last Contract – General increases on top of steps in every year of the contract.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – Temporary freeze of general increases.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – 4-year wage freeze.
12 Trades Contracts, 2 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – Not applicable; wages set by DOL.
AFSCME’s Proposal – $1000 stipend in Year 1 and General wage increases in addition to steps in the amounts of 2.25%, 3%, and 3% in years 2, 3, and 4 of the contract (if CPI exceeds 3%, next year increase equals CPI).
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8. Insurance
AFSCME Last Contract – Unaffordable group health plan that provides platinum+ coverage at bronze-level prices.
Management Proposal to AFSCME – Multiple options for employees: (1) keep plan design but premiums go up; (2) keep premium rate but plan design is modified.
Teamsters Agreed (5 bargaining units of approx. 4,700 employees) – Not applicable; State contributes to Teamsters’ Funds
12 Trades Contracts, 12 Bargaining Units, Approx. 600 Skilled Workers – Multiple options for employees: (1) keep plan design but premiums go up; (2) keep premium rate but plan design is modified; (3) opt into a union plan.
AFSCME’s Proposal – Negligible changes to current plan, generating virtually no savings.
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Here is the URL for, and path to, the collective bargaining agreements currently in place between the State of Illinois and labor unions.
http://www.illinois.gov/cms/Employees/Personnel/Pages/PersonnelLaborRelations.aspx
http://www.Illinois.gov > Government > State Agencies > Central Management Services > For Employees > Personnel > Labor Relations
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What the public needs for each agreement is a change document, showing the changes between the previous and current agreement, with for example underlined text for additions and strike through text for deletions.
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Multi year collective bargaining agreements were not legal in Illinois until the passage of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act (IPLRA) and its counterpart, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (IELRA).
Both passed the Illinois General Assembly (State House and Senate) and were approved by Governor Jim Thompson in 1983, taking effect in 1984, in exchanged for organized labor support.
Illinois Public Labor Relations Act (IPLRA)
Public Act 83-1012 (PA 83-1012)
Signed by Governor Thompson on December 27, 1983
Effective date July 1, 1984
Senate Bill 0536 (SB 0536)
Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (IELRA)
Public Act 83-1014 (PA 83-1014)
Signed by Governor James Thompson on December 27, 1983
Effective date January 1, 1984
House Bill 1530 (HB 1530)
The laws created the basis for collective bargaining between public sector workers and government in Illinois.
They have now been on the books for a little over 30 years.
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Note there is nothing in collective bargaining law which says the funding levels of pensions and retiree healthcare must be considered.
Since pensions and retiree healthcare are deferred compensation and thus part of the overall compensation picture, funding levels should be considered and should have been considered since the creation of the pension and retiree healthcare funds.
And funding levels of pensions and retiree healthcare should definitely have been considered when the pension sentence was added to the Illinois State Constitution on December 15, 1970.
The pension sentence allowed unlimited benefit hikes to pension and retiree healthcare funds that were already underfunded.
Collective bargaining law allows unlimited pay and current benefit hikes irregardless of the funding levels of pension and retiree healthcare funds.
And so here we are with over $150 Billion taxpayer IOU to public sector pension funds in Illinois and that doesn’t include mass transit pension funds and doesn’t include retiree healthcare funds.
Very poorly run government.
Michael Madigan first took office as State Representative in 1971 and he was an elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention that made the changes to the state constitution before sending them off to voters for approval at the December 15, 1970 special election.
The legacy of Michael Madigan is the legacy of legislative pension & retiree healthcare benefit hikes to underfunded pension & retiree healthcare systems.
A fiscal disaster.
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Thank you, Mark!
Better idea: NO BONUSES.
This is not the private sector.
Don’t like it ?
Feel free to find employment elsewhere.