 Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration on Tuesday confirmed it was putting the
brakes on the layoffs while they are being contested in court.
“Layoffs of union employees have stopped at this time due to pending
litigation,” the governor’s press office said in a written statement.
“The administration believes legal proceedings will confirm that the agencies
have properly followed the law in executing these layoffs,” the administration
wrote. “We hope to reach a final resolution very soon.”
State employee unions filed new complaints this month in their existing lawsuit
in St. Clair County in an effort to guarantee continued pay despite lack of a
state budget, get employee medical claims paid and stop nearly 160 layoffs
scheduled for Sept. 30.
Sean Smoot, director of the Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective
Association, confirmed the layoffs of about 20 conservation police officers are
among those halted.
The “Conservation Police Lodge represented by the PBPA and the state of Illinois
agreed to defer implementing any layoffs while the parties continue to discuss
and or litigate the propriety of the proposed layoff of conservation police
employees,” Smoot said in a written statement.
“Accordingly, we have been assured that the layoffs will not occur as scheduled
on Sept. 30. We have been told that official notification of the agreement is
being sent to the affected agencies and employees today,” the union leader said.
The state also agreed to defer proposed layoffs of employees represented by the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Illinois
Federation of Teachers, Smoot added.
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 In court, the unions are seeking an injunction barring the
layoffs. They argue the state’s “lack of funds” reason is
“demonstrably false” and contend there’s enough money in the state
treasury to continue employing the workers.
In addition to arguing the layoffs would amount to an impairment of
a contractual relationship, the unions also contend the layoffs are
premature in light of pending grievances.
In the case of the conservation police officers, the unions also
argue that funding comes largely from sources other than the state’s
general funds.
The halt in the layoffs comes as Illinois is winding out its third
month without either a state budget or new contracts with its
biggest employee unions.
State workers continue to report to work, and the Rauner
administration and unions have
so far have agreed to three “tolling agreements,” or deals to stay
at the bargaining table without threat of lockout or strike.
The plaintiffs in the St. Clair County lawsuit include AFSCME, PBPA,
IFT and several other unions. In total, they represent about 40,000
state employees.
Defendants include the first-term Republican governor, state
Comptroller Leslie Munger, R-Lincolnshire, and Tom Tyrell, the
Rauner administration’s director of Central Management Services.
A Rauner spokeswoman had no comment on whether the pause or halt in
layoffs would affect the planned Sept. 30 closure of the Illinois
State Museum in Springfield and related facilities around the state.
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