PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS “He was a god in that district,” a high-level Rauner guy told me about state Sen. Sam McCann’s poll numbers from before this year’s Republican primary campaign began. Benchmark polling taken months ago showed McCann (R-Plainview) had a voter approval rating of about 70 percent. Sen. McCann “really was everywhere” in […]
AFSCME
Posted inOpinion
Rauner continues to skirt responsibility
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is proving to be quite adept at skirting responsibility for the current Statehouse impasse and impending government shutdown. He has relentlessly painted himself as the good guy, even to the point of blatantly abandoning his previous stances. For instance, Rauner has righteously slammed the Democrats’ “unconstitutional” unbalanced budget, even though his […]
Posted inNews
To Arbitrate or Not to Arbitrate
The Illinois General Assembly has voted to strip state workers of the right to strike, and the unions actively lobbied to make it happen. A bill passed Saturday would apply mediation and arbitration procedures to all state workers in Illinois. The procedures are already used when negotiations fail between governments and police, fire and other […]
Posted inOpinion
Rauner’s labor attacks continue
More than a few Statehouse types have been wondering aloud for weeks what Gov. Bruce Rauner is up to with his almost daily attacks on organized labor. Just what, they ask, is the end game here? His people say that the governor feels “liberated” since the election to speak his mind about a topic which […]
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SIU makes up with AFSCME
Employees at SIU School of Medicine protested in April after being told they were no longer part of the union. Photo BY PATRICK YEAGLE They took a firm stand, and then they promptly retreated. In late April, SIU School of Medicine in Springfield surprised about 230 employees by not deducting their union dues from their […]
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‘Clerical error’ means headaches for SIU union
Employees at SIU School of Medicine protest the school’s assertion that they are no longer in the AFSCME Local 370 union. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE A group of unionized employees at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield claims the school is illegally trying to force them out of their union. With signs, chants […]
Posted inOpinion
Rauner’s race for governor
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has focused like a laser on his absolute disgust with public employee unions like AFSCME, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. The wealthy former business executive claims the unions are the root of most of Illinois’ problems and has decried the “corrupting” influence of their campaign […]
Posted inNews
No raises for unions under House resolution
Kevin Holmes of Springfield devotes his life to caring for a young man with severe disabilities. For that full-time work – seven hours a day, seven days a week – Holmes makes just more than $11,000 per year, which puts him and his wife below the federal poverty level while she goes back to school. […]
Posted inNews
AFSCME under siege
What would drive a crowd of unionized state employees to boo the very governor they helped elect? The answer is about $83 billion of pension underfunding, a broken labor contract and a lot of jobs in jeopardy. When Gov. Pat Quinn stood before a crowd of fellow Democrats and union members on Governor’s Day at […]
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Lawmakers vote to keep supermax prison open
A panel of state lawmakers voted last week to keep the state’s “supermax” prison open, but the costly facility’s ultimate fate rests with the governor. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) met on May 1 to vote on several facility closures meant to save the state millions of dollars. Among the facilities on […]
Posted inNews
Time to graduate?
Illinois grapples with another round of difficult budget cuts, some lawmakers want to eliminate the state’s constitutional flat-rate income tax requirement, opening the door for what some experts call a more equitable and lucrative graduated income tax. Illinois currently has a 5 percent individual income tax for all taxpayers, regardless of income. But a pair […]
Posted inNews
State union accepts halved raises
The largest union of state employees has ratified an agreement with the State of Illinois for the state to save upwards of $50 million in exchange for a promise of no layoffs. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 signed an agreement with Gov. Pat Quinn in November to implement […]
