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AFSCME PAY
DECISION REVEALS HIGH COST OF GOVERNMENT WORKER UNIONS
Illinois Policy Institute/
Mailee Smith
An Illinois appellate court ruled Nov. 6
the state must pay “step” raises to the approximately 35,000 state
workers represented by AFSCME – a cost that burdens already overtaxed
Illinoisans.
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 Illinois state workers represented
by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have been
without a contract since the last one expired June 30, 2015. Negotiations for a
new contract stalled when AFSCME wouldn’t relent in its demands for $3 billion
in additional wages and benefits.
In the meantime, the state has not been paying “step” increases – built-in wage
increases negotiated under the last contract that are based on years of service.
But now an Illinois appellate court says the state must pay those extra wages.
AFSCME workers already receive incredible wages and benefits. In fact, Illinois
state workers are the highest-paid state workers in the nation when adjusted for
cost of living. On average, AFSCME workers receive nearly $110,000 a year in
total compensation.
And yet, the union is demanding even more.
AFSCME workers receive multiple pay raises each year
State workers represented by AFSCME don’t just receive a single annual raise.
They can actually receive multiple wage increases each year.
In addition to typical annual raises promised under the collective bargaining
agreement, state workers can receive semi-automatic in-series promotions to fill
vacancies and also receive wage (or “step”) increases upon completion of 12
months of service. State workers can also get longevity pay increases when they
have reached the top step and have 10 or more years of creditable service.
The state argued it was not bound to pay the step increases after the expiration
of the last collective bargaining agreement. But the 5th District Appellate
Court disagreed, and the case has been sent back to the Illinois Labor Relations
Board for further proceedings.
AFSCME’s list of demands
Between 2005 and 2014, AFSCME worker salaries grew five times faster than
Illinois worker earnings and at twice the rate of inflation.
But AFSCME wants even more.
During the now-stalled negotiations with the state, AFSCME outlined demands that
would cost taxpayers $3 billion in additional wages and benefits.
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Those demands include:
AFSCME later claimed
it would accept a wage freeze. But that claim is misleading
because that freeze would only apply to base wages. The union is
still demanding all of the other wage increases promised under
the last contract, including step increases. It also continues
to demand overtime pay after just 37.5 hours in a workweek.
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Platinum-level
health care at little cost to state workers.
Under the previous contract, state workers receive
platinum-level health insurance – a level of coverage not even
available to Illinoisans on the state’s insurance exchange, let
alone at the rock-bottom prices state employees pay. Taxpayers
subsidize a whopping 77 percent of the average AFSCME worker’s
health care, which costs taxpayers $14,880 a year per worker.
Instead of continuing to provide platinum-level health insurance
at bronze-level prices, the governor is asking AFSCME workers to
pay 40 percent of their health care premiums – up from the 23
percent they pay now. This means state taxpayers will continue
subsidizing 60 percent of an AFSCME employee’s health care, at
$11,600 per worker annually – still a significant amount by any
standard.
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Overtime pay
starting at just 37.5 hours.
Currently, many state workers earn overtime after working just
37.5 hours in a workweek. The governor proposed overtime
provisions that more closely reflect the private sector,
requiring 40-hour workweeks for state workers before overtime
kicks in. The difference between a 37.5-hour workweek and a
40-hour workweek would save the state $63 million dollars over
the term of the contract. And adjustments to the way in which
holiday overtime pay is computed would save the state an
additional $48 million.
Missing from this list
of demands is consideration for the people who would have to pay for
continued AFSCME perks.
Instead, AFSCME believes its demands can be paid for by raising
taxes – a slap in the face to taxpayers in a state with the worst
income recovery in the Midwest since the Great Recession.
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