 The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit
Nov. 30 against the state of Illinois in an effort to further obstruct progress
on a new contract for state employees. AFSCME officials lobbed their suit to a
judge known for union-friendly outcomes.
The Illinois Labor Relations Board determined on Nov. 15 that AFSCME and the
state are at impasse in negotiations for a new contract for state employees.
That decision meant the state could start implementing its last, best and final
offer to the union.
Under Illinois law, AFSCME is allowed to file an appeal of the labor board’s
decision with a state appellate court. But that didn’t fit with AFSCME’s legal
schemes.
Instead of following legal requirements, AFSCME chose to run to Judge Robert
LeChien in St. Clair County Circuit Court – which is a lower trial court and not
an appellate court. The reason: LeChien has a history of rubberstamping the
union’s legal requests.
And instead of appealing the labor board’s decision, AFSCME is suing the state
to keep it from implementing portions of its last offer to AFSCME – including
the bonus pay that many state employees are expecting to receive.
AFSCME’s legal game is easy to see through. The union keeps a “shell” case in
front of LeChien – a case against the state that has nothing to do with the
contract negotiations or the impasse.
Then AFSCME runs to LeChien and asks him to “amend” the case to include
additional issues. In this instance, the additional issues involve the impasse
and the state’s implementation of the AFSCME contract. AFSCME is asking LeChien
to issue an injunction to keep the state from implementing the contract.
If LeChien grants AFSCME’s request, he is asserting jurisdiction over issues
that should not be before him in the first place.
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AFSCME’s most recent ploy is a clear demonstration of its discard
for the labor process. The union isn’t interested in fair
negotiations and outcomes – it is only interested in skewing the
process to serve its own goals.
What’s more, those goals are detrimental to state taxpayers.
Throughout contract negotiations, AFSCME leadership made contract
demands the Rauner administration estimated would cost the state an
additional $3 billion in pay and benefits for state workers. Those
demands included wage increases of 11.5 to 29 percent by 2019,
continued platinum-level health insurance at little cost to workers,
and a workweek with overtime for workers after just 37.5 hours. In a
letter to state employees, Rauner explained that the wage-increase
demands alone would cost the state nearly $1 billion.
Illinois state workers already are the highest-paid state workers in
the nation when adjusted for cost of living. When the most recent
AFSCME contract expired in 2015, the median AFSCME salary was
$63,660 – compared with just under $32,000 for an Illinois worker in
the private sector. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau,
the median income for an individual AFSCME worker is higher than the
median income for an entire Illinois household in the private sector
(just under $58,000 in 2014).
Most AFSCME employees also receive free health insurance at
retirement, simply by working 20 or more years. This benefit alone
costs taxpayers $200,000 to $500,000 per employee.
In addition, state retirees with 30 years or more service on average
receive $1.6 million in pension benefits, in addition to Social
Security.
But that isn’t enough for AFSCME leadership. It wants more. And
clearly, AFSCME will undermine labor law and use the courts in its
effort to further burden state taxpayers with its unreasonable
contract demands.
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