|
 Sangamon County workers represented
by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have been
negotiating for a new contract for nearly two years. On Sept. 19, workers took
to the picket line.
Twyla Moore, president of AFSCME #1936, told Fox Illinois she’s frustrated.
“Two years is a long time to go without a contract or an agreement, and like I
said we are ready to move forward come to an agreement and be able to wrap
things up,” she said.
The problem is, it’s not that unusual for government workers to go months – or
even years – without a contract in Illinois. And Illinois’ labor laws, which
allow an extensive list of details to be negotiated, are largely to blame.
Look at AFSCME Council 31, which represents state employees. That union has been
without a contract with the state for over two years. Negotiations between the
state and the union have stalled, and the parties are litigating the matter in
the Illinois Appellate Court.
 Another example: the Chicago Teachers Union. That union’s previous contract
expired in 2015, but CTU didn’t reach a tentative agreement for a new contract
with Chicago Public schools until October 2016. And according to information
obtained by the Illinois Policy Institute via a Freedom of Information Act
request to CPS, the tentative agreement still hadn’t been finalized as of July
2017.
A big part of the problem is that government-worker unions are practically
unlimited in what they can demand in negotiations. And that means negotiations
over every minute detail can drag on for months or even years.
The Illinois Public Labor Relations Act governs employment relations between
units of government and government-worker unions. Similarly, the Illinois
Educational Labor Relations Act governs employment relations between school
districts and teacher unions.
Both laws allow contract negotiations over wages, hours, and “other conditions
of employment.”
That’s incredibly broad. And it’s a detriment to both taxpayers and government
workers who want certainty and efficiency in the contract process.
For taxpayers, it drives up costs. AFSCME Council 31 provides a good example.
The contract the state wants will make union costs more affordable for
taxpayers, particularly with regard to healthcare costs. But for each month the
negotiations drag on – and that contract isn’t in place – Illinois is paying an
additional $35 million to $40 million on health coverage alone.
[to top of second column] |
It also inhibits
government flexibility, which again affects taxpayers. East Aurora
District 131 recently implemented a bus transportation plan that
would aide thousands of students in getting to school. But to be
most cost effective, the school district wanted to change school
start times. Unfortunately, details as minute as school start times
are negotiated into teacher contracts and can’t be altered by the
school board without negotiating new terms with the teachers union.
That means for now, East Aurora can’t adjust those times. And
taxpayers are on the hook for thousands of dollars in extra bus
costs required to work around the current schedule.
There is also an impact on the workers themselves. The fact that
just about every subject under the sun can be negotiated brings an
element of unpredictability to the labor process. Once negotiations
open, workers can’t know how long it will be before a contract is
ratified. And as negotiations drag on, talk of going on strike
begins.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Other states limit what contract
subjects can be negotiated. For example, Wisconsin and Iowa limit
bargaining with government unions to negotiations over base wages
only. Other subjects – like overtime or vacation days – are off the
table.
But in Illinois, almost everything is up for negotiation. Wages,
overtime, holiday pay, vacation time, sick time, leaves of absence,
healthcare, time off for union work – to name just a few – are all
on the table every time a government worker union contract is up for
negotiation.
In fact, a municipal employee contract with the City of Kankakee
even includes paid time off for employees’ birthdays.
When negotiations come to a halt – as they have with AFSCME Council
31, which represents Illinois state workers – the negotiators and
their demands are not the only problem.
Illinois law allows government units and government-worker unions to
bargain over too much – and that slows down the process, drives up
costs, and undermines the “labor peace” Illinois’ collective
bargaining laws were meant to support in the first place.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article |
