A press release from Governor Bruce Rauner:
Statement on AFSCME’s Strike Authorization Vote
SPRINGFIELD – The Rauner Administration released the following statement in response to AFSCME’s strike authorization vote.
The following is attributable to General Counsel Dennis Murashko:
The vote to authorize a strike is an attack on our state’s hardworking taxpayers and all those who rely on critical services provided everyday. It is a direct result of AFSCME leadership’s ongoing misinformation campaign about our proposal.
AFSCME leaders would rather strike than work 40 hours a week before earning overtime. They want to earn overtime after working just 37.5 hours per week.
AFSCME Union Steward Carlos Acosta spoke to the Woodstock Square rally.
AFSCME leaders would rather strike than allow volunteers like Boy Scout troops to lend a helping hand inside government. They want to ban the use of volunteers.
AFSCME leaders would rather strike than allow state employees to be paid based on merit. They want to stick to paying people based on seniority, regardless of whether they’re doing a good job.
And while hard working families across the state face skyrocketing health insurance premiums, AFSCME leaders want to strike to force higher taxes to subsidize their health care plans that are far more generous than taxpayers have.
Put simply, AFSCME leaders will do or say anything to avoid implementing a contract that is fair to both taxpayers and state employees alike.
If AFSCME chooses to strike, we will use every resource to ensure services continue to be available to the people of Illinois. We continue to encourage AFSCME to work with us in implementing a contract that is similar to those ratified by 20 other unions.
Yet one more reason why residents are fleeing Illinois at a record pace.
Let them strike, then contract out as much of their work as possible.
That would be taxation without representation, then.
So we should not pay state tax.
Mr. Rauner Let them STRIKE then take our TAX $$ and pay people who want a JOB! and want to work for their $$ instead of getting free cheese and sucking the nipple from us,
Get A CLUE UNION WE ARE DONE WITH YOUR baby bird mouths hanging open and pickpocketing us…
No MO!!!!
see you in the unemployment line !
FOOL.
You people know that the members of AFSCME ARE hardworking taxpayers who provide the critical services that Rauner’s acting like he cares about as he slashes the budgets for those same services, right?
And you also realize that Rauner wants to get rid of unions so that he and his friends can strip all of us of decent wages, right?
Seriously, you all understand those facts, right?
If you really think that they are being paid so highly why are you arguing to strip them of those wages instead of demanding to be paid that much too? You really aren’t that dumb, right?
Audrey?
You fail to realize that the whole scam system is coming down.
Your answers are NOT answers.
Your idea is more of the same.
Audrey’s line of logic indicates to me, he / she / it belongs in another country.
“If you really think that they are being paid so highly why are you arguing to strip them of those wages instead of demanding to be paid that much too?”
The logic portrayed in that question resulted in Detroit looking like it was a victim of a war.
Call your legislators – demand Right to Work Laws!
Demand an end to Prevailing wage laws!
Demand a referendum to remove the Public Sector pension guarantee from the State Constitution!
Demand your local County Board represent us, the taxpayers, not the “round mound” who represents the public sector unions.
I find it interesting that Carlos Acosta indicates he now works in Lake Geneva.
Is he planning to move to WI to pay less taxes and leave us alone to fix the mess he helped create?
Also, why was he denied the position he applied for at the County?
Audrey another socialist union member.
I’d like to see them all fired.
In the real world it’s called overplaying your hand.
AFSCME, what a worthless group
No one who is paid by taxpayer dollars is a producing member of the taxpayer base.
They’re entire existence and all their taxes are paid by productive taxpayers.
The idea a politician, a government administrative functionary, a judge, police, any AFSCME member or(worse) a public union leader pays taxes as a function of sharing something they have produced with the rest of the community or our society as a whole is laughable.
Government lives entirely from the largess of other’s sweat.
To varying degrees government is useful(see Nobs rant).
However, we now live in an age where all government workers not only live on the sweat of productive members of society but they expect the producers to provide better for the government worker than they do for themselves or the job market would dictate.
There is a place for the government worker within reason.
We just don’t need them at all when they want to starve the producers for their birth to earth care.
This state is facing an existential crisis of producers leaving while the leeches stay and demand ever more.
This is unsustainable as an economic model and will end. Rauner is just trying to make it a softer landing than the Democrats who apparently would rather delude themselves with the idea the producers will just never run out of money to demand.
Idiots.
Sorry, Priest.
No one is going to understand that “sentiment”.
It goes againt their me, me, me indoctrination.
(No one will even understand why I used the word sentiment and put it in quotes.!)
The bottom line is nothing will change unless we, the taxpayers, get better candidates to run for office.
Just watch next the primaries next week and see who the voters choose.
Also, take notice of how many ‘taxpayers’ actually even bother to come out and make their choice!
Remember, we ended with another ‘water boy’ for the “round mound” when voters chose Reick over Lichte.
We need candidates who will actually work on behalf of the private sector taxpayers and not kneel to the wishes of the organized labor or other ‘fat cat’ donors.
here again is an example of how unions ruin the lives of non union working people.
If you want overtime work 40 hours first like the workers of the state do. Pay for insurance like workers do.
And the big problem in
ILLINOIS LAND OF CORRUPTION IS madigan and cullerton.
These guys do not deserve upper case for their names.
I’m always amused by people like “Priest” who spew silly garbage at will but don’t have the guts to say who they are or what they do for a living; assuming they even work at all. So let’s break Priest’s most recent silly down a bit.
“Priest’s” broad proclamation that public employees are not “producing members of the tax base”, is weird. Of course they “produce”. They perform their job, they produce and they pay taxes! In fact, they pay more income tax than 70% of the corporations in Illinois which pay ZERO taxes (so much for the producers).
And as far as “Priest’s” assumption that public employees don’t earn what they make, that’s just goofy too. In addition, he seems to be assuming that public employees make so little that they are on public assistance. That’s Walmart employees that you’re thinking of Priest.
I know that it probably never occurred to Priest that public sector employees pay taxes too; yet they do and portions of those taxes pay for the things that Priest enjoys, like fire and police protection (even though Priest seems to think that we don’t need police protection) good roads, clean air and water and good schools.
Priest, I know, I know, you hate everything government, but you’re really just sounding goofy now. Bless your heart.
For the record, I’m not a union member and never have been one.
So let’s just make sure that we all understand what you folks are arguing.
You believe that unions are bad because you believe that they make more money than you do and get more and better benefits than you do and you don’t like that. They don’t deserve to make all that money or get those great benefits and pensions, right?
So I take that to mean that you think that you deserve what you are paid and the benefits that you get are sufficient for the work that you do. Is that the case? You are willing to take whatever your boss wants to pay you because, after all, he or she is the “producer” and you are just the lowly employee, right?
Ok, well if that’s what you are willing to settle for, so be it. But you do know that over the last thirty years, the “producers'” income has skyrocketed because production has steadily increased over time while wages have remained stagnant or have gone down. Is that fair? Are you all really OK with that? And your taxes keep going up because the “producers” don’t want to pay their fair share and then in addition, they demand “Subsidies” and handouts from our tax dollars, just because.
You all have spent so long arguing and voting against your own self-interests that you don’t even realize that you’re doing it anymore.
Unions are individual people, banding together to demand fair and equal treatment. The likes of Rauner hate them because they have power that the Rauners of the world do not want them to have. They stand in the way of Rauner getting to do whatever the hell he wants to and you want to stop that. Rauner is not your friend. He does not care if you live or die, as long as he makes more and more money.
What do you think is going to happen once the unions are gone? Do you think that Bruce is going to say – “ok, now that we’ve gotten rid of the unions, let’s give everyone a raise and great benefits and a nice pension”. You do know what Rauner did for a living before he became Governor, right? He broke up companies and stole pensions from PRIVATE SECTOR, NON-UNION workers. Why? Because he could.
Wake up people, you’re screwing yourselves.
Public sentiment has turned against your argument Audrey.
The state is broke and non-union workers resent paying for benefits that are beyond what they can afford.
It’s not the union salaries, it’s the unrealistic benefits that unions demand.
Unions need to give in or risk losing everything. It sucks, but this is the reality in cr@ppy illinois.
I’m actually impressed Audrey.
You’re giving your argument a real shot at being heard.
I asked you to improve and you’re trying.
Well done.
Let’s continue the conversation…
You assert you desire to know commenter’s names and occupations.
First- you comment under a pseudonym and have stated you’re “self employed”.
Both belie hypocrisy on your part and could mean anything so please don’t criticize that which you enjoy yourself.
Second- any human capable of thought has value, an opinion and should be capable of forwarding their thoughts and opinions alone.
Without prejudice. Without the jaundiced eye of prejudgment and presupposition based upon knowledge outside the argument at hand.
No one here could care less who you are or what you are but merely desires to hear your argument.
This is the purest way to get to excellent ideas and weed out the idiots.
Now… The assertion made about government workers was fully explained without you comprehending so we shall attempt a more clear explaination for you.
In life’s simplest form each human follows Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs(look it up).
In an environ with only disparate individuals these needs are provided by each individual for themselves.
As individuals banded together(you liberals exhaust those of us who understand Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, History…
Read a book now and again and we wouldn’t have to teach each of you over and over again…) these individuals began to specialize for efficiencies sake.
Better hunters hunted while better cooks cooked and such.
Jumping forward each governmental worker is an extension of this specialization.
They have a purpose but have completely lost the ability to provide for themselves.
They only live because people feed, clothe and house them in exchange for their service to the whole of society.
This was originally a noble pursuit and those in government were grateful for the provision others offered them.
Jumping forward again through history when government’s stop serving their functions, the people who provide for them and then have the temerity to believe they deserve to have far better anything than their providers they consistently historically have devolved into dictatorship, nation state ruin and revolution.
Producers are desirous of avoiding this end and AFSCME(public unions) are rushing to repeat it.
Stupid.
Ignorant.
Short sighted.
Backwards.
Intolerable.
They, and their selfish ilk, will be stopped.
Lesson ended.
You said quite a bit more wrong but I doubt your ability to comprehend this far longer explaination of why you are wrong Audrey. We shall see.
You may be the very first liberal in history to impress me.
It could happen….
Audrey, you had better Rest Your Case, now.
Sigh…
Another one cannot formulate an intelligent or coherent thought so we’re left to guess what may have been.
In Audrey’s defense there is a severe education deficiency in our nation.
It has been a purposeful plan to create ignorant drones who blindly follow anything they are told without regard for information readily available from historically credible sources.
To be fair to liberals, although they seem to be particularly venerable to influence, conservatives are just as susceptible.
In McHenry County the board HAS been Republican and has absolutely forwarded a previous Chair who attempted to enrich himself by using his position to attempt to influence a land sale worth millions.
We had a particularly stupid States Attorney who openly flaunted the law, most famously the First Ammendment and all case law associated, right on this blog.
The leadership in administrative positions overseen by a Republican board have been provably incompetent and nothing was done.
The Sheriff’s Department was at war with several other county government branches for years and all were Republican controlled.
Most recently Sandra Salgado has allowed the entire Party to burn as Republican leaders all over the county have endorsed, aided and promoted Jack Franks and his total takeover of County government.
And yet… People vote Party politics rather than voting for a person, their agenda and their qualifications.
No thinking person is “anti government” as this would work against everyone’s self interest but there are folks in government who could take the rest of their life off as paid vacation and society would be better for it.
So to Audrey, the high school student trolling Mark, the jester and to all others espousing liberal ideology: you lack wisdom, education, specific political knowlege/savvy, manners, upbringing, social training or the ability to even communicate the ideas you forward intelligently but this is why this blog exists.
Don’t give up.
Keep trying.
One day you could stumble on a great idea worthy of praise.
Blind squirrels find nuts too occasionally.
There are many of us who appreciate and solicit your engagement.
Keep it up and we may get you a Participation Trophy for trying really really hard.
You must be ancient, Priest.
That was such an old school liberal type smack-down (from the days when liberal actually mant charitable) it almost brought tears to my eyes.
And the payee was nontheless unwittingly scoured.
Really, Priest.
Thanks for the journey back.
It truly made me wax nostalgic for my old Birkenstock friends back in the day of Triton College with Marshall Tucker, and then Molly Hatchet.
Count your blessings Priest, Cindy usually calls people stupid or idiot.
This is the first time I have seen ancient. LOL
I surely wish Priest would put each sentence in a separate paragraph.
I try to do that so that people will have an easier time reading his thoughts.
Tried to Cal.
For years.
Something on your end hates the breaks and makes its own rules.
AI taking over I’m sure…
anotherwatcher?
Only stupid gets called out when it rears it’s ugly head.
(Ask Priest, I have called him out before!)
Guess what – it just reared it’s ugly head again.
Your comment is completely stupid!
Strange, because others succeed in writing more than one paragraph.
You’ve been at this for somewhere near ten years Cal.
You’ve changed the format and publisher at least once.
Before this change your publisher failed in multiple areas.
The ideas remained true whether the publisher allowed the breaks or not.
I didn’t care enough to change habits.
If it is your belief and experience breaks are both possible and help comprehension I’m happy to oblige.