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 Roughly 24,000 employees in five state agencies aimed to collect
$62 million in unpaid wage increases promised in July 2011 as part
of a modified four-year contract that the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) negotiated with the
state.
Then-Governor Pat Quinn had budgeted for the increases but was
unable to deliver them because the legislature failed to appropriate
enough money. The union estimated the affected members, on average,
are owed $2,500 apiece.
AFSCME later won an arbitration ruling ordering immediate payment of
the raises despite no specific appropriation from the Illinois
General Assembly. A state circuit court and appellate court upheld
the decision.
 But in Thursday’s ruling, backed by six of seven justices, the
state's high court overturned the decisions and held that Illinois'
constitution requires a legislative sign-off on all spending
matters, including union pay raises negotiated with the executive
branch.
Justice Mary Jane Theis, writing for the court’s majority, justified
the stance by noting past court precedent that “when labor
representatives bargain with executive agencies, they do so with the
knowledge that any agreement reached will be affected by the General
Assembly’s appropriation power.”
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AFSCME was disappointed with the ruling.
“The court’s decision today raises the troubling prospect that
government could benefit from a contractual agreement - in this
case, the public services provided by many thousands of men and
women - but refuse to fulfill its own obligations under that
agreement if lawmakers and the governor do not enact a bill to fund
them,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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