81 Comments - jim - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:15 pm: AFSCME will want a lot and get more. - anon - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:18 pm: There is no reason for Governor Pritzker to roll over for AFSCME. He doesn’t need them, and they cannot bully him. He needs to be fair to them, and I think he has done a lot to demonstrate that he intends to be fair. However, he has a responsibility to the taxpayers to get the best deal he can on the AFSCME contract. AFSCME has asked for a lot in the past, and they share much of the fault for the situation they find themselves in. Its time for them to pump the brakes on the rhetoric and work in good faith with a governor who values organized labor and collective bargaining. - Perrid - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:19 pm: For the love of - cheaper healthcare? Cheaper? I’m all for not outsourcing work, I can get my head around some kind of COLA like pay bump, but the state has really really good health insurance, really expensive health insurance, and on average state workers pay less (as a percentage of the premium) than just about any other job. Better than most union jobs, even. And since there hasn’t been a contract in years and years, the employee premium has stayed the same. Meaning as the insurance gotten more expensive each year, the state had to eat the increase. I’m not saying we go with Rauner’s major hike in premiums, certainly not all at once, but asking for cheaper healthcare is just plain insulting. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:26 pm: jim, I fear you are correct. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:27 pm: Taxpayers should be very afraid. - Gohawks123 - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:28 pm: Y’all know it’s called the bargaining table of course Afscme is gonna start high….. it’s the way the game is played - LakeCo - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:28 pm: Yeah, that seems like a lot. I’m in AFSCME, and I’m fully expecting my health insurance costs to go up with the new contract. I’d be happy if the increases were kept to a reasonable rate and I was given a modest COLA. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:32 pm: Interesting foot to start out on with the new governor who is otherwise receptive to your members’ needs. - Fixer - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:32 pm: As an AFSCME member, I’m okay with this request. He and his staff have been in for 10 days at this point and asking for an extension costs us as a union nothing. Take the guy at face value right now and give him the time to get back to the table. If he hasn’t made an effort in that 90 day timeframe, fine, grab the torches and pitchforks. Also, for the love of God… AFSCME, don’t overreach on the negotiations. I know it’s a starting point for the conversation but the bargaining committee hasn’t even met yet. How about you let them get together first and make that determination before deciding publicly for them what their priorities are? - Smalls - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:32 pm: I can’t wait to see how Gov. Pritzker plans to pay for all of this as well as his campaign promises. Progressive income tax would still be years away if it gets approved by referendum in November 2020. - Original Rambler - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:33 pm: LOL - LakeCo, that’s why you’re not on the bargaining team. - NIU Grad - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:40 pm: Well. That was fast. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:48 pm: ===WITH MY TAX MONEY. I hope JB is able to keep them honest.=== (Sigh) For the 9,852nd time… those members pay taxes too. If you think they have a sweet gig, apply yourself. There are some jobs you might not think are too great. - Norseman - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:49 pm: Wow AFSCME. You were whipped like a dog for 4 years by a tyrant. I and so many others were strongly supportive of you during those dark ages. However, just because the tyrant and his whip has been removed doesn’t mean that it’s Xmas time 365 days a year. JB will support you, but there are a lot of problems to address. Like the starving man who has to slowly restart solid foods, you have to realize that all your desires can be met nor should it be met. - Norseman - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:51 pm: Oops forgot a “not” in “all your desires can not be met nor should it be met. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:59 pm: Members pay taxes to enrich themselves. Most of us pay and get very little. - Johnnie F. - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:03 pm: Bargaining chips for both sides are being tossed. If negotiations go well, both sides will be a little pleased and a little unhappy. - ike - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:11 pm: Im afscme as well. I just want a fair contract for all sides (the union members, JB, taxpayers) I will accept modest insurance and pension contribution increases, but want job security and pay steps. - Liandro - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:13 pm: That’s quite the good faith gesture on the part of…never mind. - A Jack - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:14 pm: This appeal just seems like a way that these outside attorneys, hired by CMS, can keep their hands in taxpayer pockets just a bit longer. The Governor can start eliminating government waste by dropping this case. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 6:01 pm: Well, I saw this coming and nobody believed me. There was a prehearing memo due at the labor board today on a hearing next week that the union didn’t tell anyone about. They didn’t want to go to hearing and got it continued. Great. - Just A Dude - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 6:03 pm: Ike at 5:11. The union can’t negotiate pension contributions, especially after the ISC decision on SB1 in 2015. Otherwise “modest” is the keyword going forward. - Original Rambler - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:14 pm: Geez stop already with the rushes to judgment. It’s all posturing for negotiations. All of it. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:17 pm: Pritzker has just said to every member of the bargaining unit, Wait a minute actually wait 90 days Rauner had a point I’d like to consider. Total Betrayal - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:22 pm: The only reason I can think of to do this Is to get out the current contract So JB doesn’t have to pay the back step wages Legally owed to 14,ooo public servants. This tells me JB’s choice is To Not pay our bills To Not honor contracts To Not obey the law and the judgment of the Courts. He wants to fight - Perrid - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:33 pm: Honeybear, that’s a pretty big leap you made there. Take a breath before you declare the sky is falling. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:37 pm: And just to clarify I don’t speak for AFSCME I am a frontline public servant I am an actual victim of wage theft. I’m speaking on behalf of myself And I’ve voicing the rage of the public servants I work with. We all thought “Once Pritzker gets in” well…… That didn’t last long. It makes me feel lied too. - anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:59 pm: OW, We are tired, so…. Just, Thank you. - RNUG - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:12 pm: Didn’t see that one coming but maybe I should have. I thought they would just let things quietly die. But thinking about it, there is a kind of sense to it. It gives the State some leverage against AFSCME to try to get a new contract deal done quickly … 90 days or so to agree to a new contract that includes placing on the proper step and back pay. After all, the last thing AFSCME wants is a court to reverse and say an impasse did and does exist. There’s a new dealer in town. Looks like a bit of poker playing going on, maybe even a bluff, but you never know until you call … and sometimes you don’t call and (to mix metaphors) you settle for a bird in hand. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:14 pm: Guts to say ugh…sorry I’m runnin’ hot - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:24 pm: Rauner was clsingbthst due to impasse that steps were only due to be paid thru 2016. If JB is now going for an extension of this case is he also Halting the initiation of moving employees to appropriate steps. Causes do much confusion now - thoughts matter - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:26 pm: Either there was an impasse or there wasn’t. The Gov doesn’t need 90 days on that. Accept the decision and move on. Now- if what you want is a few weeks to get your negotiators up to speed before you meet to bargain, then say that. But those are two separate issues. Don’t conflate them. Look, at this point, AFSMCE is probably not going to get a retroactive raise for their members- other than the back par akreadybowed and the step pay back pay. The contract they were negotiating would expire on June 30 this year by law. So, what they will really be negotiating is a contract that begins July 1 2019. Should that one have raises- yes because as I said, members won’t get retroactive raises. So senior employees haven’t had raises for several years. FYI - senior employees are the ones that do all the complicated work. As to health insurance - my spouse could get comparable insurance at his company for $230 monthly for the entire family, but he doesn’t work year round and we could lose it in the winter. Maybe the state should ask its insurance companies why the cost of health care is so high. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:35 pm: Nobody has asked for retro active raises Thoughts Matter. This absolutely puts the 2011 negotiated contractual step increases and backpay for the illegal wage theft in question. - Huh? - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:41 pm: As AFSCME goes, so go the rest of the State employee unions. Pritzker is an unknown. He has taken over a very contentious relationship. High hopes were pinned on him. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:42 pm: The question now is whether JB is trying to use the impasse case to divert steps he promised. Just like Rsuner was trying to do w the impasse case. Makes no sense to ask for extension. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:46 pm: Hey you all were so happy and in your feels about helping out a victim of the Rauner wage theft on this very blog. This move is JB Pritzker choosing to take 90 days to determine whether Bruce Rauner was correct in taking her wages. Again, it shouldn’t have taken 90 seconds to know it was wrong. - thoughts matter - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 9:23 pm: Honey bear - I’m talking about when the two sides finally get back to bargaining. They are still trying to settle the contract that should have begun several years ago. I’m saying that they will probably find it impossible to negotiate actual raises back to the earlier contract years for people who don’t get steps because they are stepped out. - Perrid - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 9:40 pm: Honeybear, really, wait until Pritzker actually trys to make an argument that there was impasse before panicking. There’s a good chance this is literally a delaying tactic so they have a solution in place on day one when a judge orders them to cough up the money again. I’d be fairly astounded if Pritzker put something in writing saying he thought Rauner was at an impasse. Astounded. I could be wrong, sure, but you’re going to the worst possible interpretation real quick here. - Grandson of Man - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 9:40 pm: There’s a broader environment where state workers fit in, the state’s financial situation. I think if we really push for and get a progressive income tax and maybe things like ending some costly corporate tax breaks, we will create a long-lasting environment in which state workers will be buffered from harsher cuts. I want to see long-term structural reforms that will secure good government jobs as much as possible. It’s obscene that multimillionaires and billionaires have had such a low state income taxes in Illinois for so long, subjecting folks with so much less income to economic dangers. Thankfully a progressive income tax polls well, so maybe we can take a very important foundational and forward-thinking step and reform our taxes. - MG85 - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 10:04 pm: ==Honeybear, really, wait until Pritzker actually trys to make an argument that there was impasse before panicking.== This is all state workers here: wait until we finish bargaining, wait until we go to arbitration, wait until we go to court, wait until we go back to the ILRB, wait until we get the unlawful Rauner out of office. Wait. Wait. Wait. The number one thing Union members were told, and reinforced by JB when he met with them, is Pritzker won’t be like Rauner. He will work with the unions. State employees have waited. They have won in court. They removed Rauner from office. Now they are being told to wait 3 months by the guy who told them to hire him and he’d fix what Rauner broke. And to those who say this is just a bargaining tactic then recognize that what AFSCME is doing is also a bargaining tactic: demanding the Governor they helped elect follow through on his promises. If you’re ok with Pritzker posturing, then you should be fine with unions doing it too. - A State Employee Guy - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 10:57 pm: Just a reminder that your backpay is gonna get 7% tacked onto it. Maybe this “waiting” thing isn’t all that bad. - anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 11:19 pm: Perhaps Honeybear, as well as many state workers, myself included, are a bit gun shy. For four years we endured the disrespect of a governor whose disdain for us was apparent from day one. A “governor” who claimed to be for the middle class, working man, who simultaneously froze the salaries of the modestly paid, newer employees. This, coming from a man who, while laughing, bragged about belonging to a wine club that costs $140,000. That’s more than my mortgage. I have no disdain for anyone who can afford those luxuries, I have a problem with someone who claims that my yearly salary, which is almost one quarter of the cost of his wine club, is extravagant. Contrary to popular belief, all state workers do not make $70, $60, or $50,000 a year. Many of the state workers affected by the wage freeze make very modest salaries, under $40 and that’s before taxes, and yes, we pay taxes. So for the last four and a half years, as mortgage payments, utilities, and the cost of living has increased, our salaries have remained the same. Not everyone is stepped out or near, many, like myself have been at the very first sub step from day one. WE have been waiting, and waiting, and are tired, and frustrated, and it’s demoralizing. So forgive us for feeling deflated about yet another delay. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 11:59 pm: The fact of the matter is that the theft of contractually bargained step wages Is a Settled legal matter It’s owed. Period Pritzker isn’t giving us anything He is legally obligated to 1) put us on our correct step 2) pay the eligible reparations for the illegal withholding of wages. He’s the governor. It’s his job. Except he doesn’t have to do that If He appeals and wins He just signaled He wants 90 days To let his lawyers find a way to win? He wants 90 days To let his Madigan and Cullerton Tell him “we can’t afford it”? He wants 90 days To let blame/understanding/attention to diffuse? No You said JB you were behind labor Prove it or did you give your tell? “Fair to taxpayers”? That’s Rauner Language Busting the union through impasse Is Rauners plan And you want to think on it? You want us to wait? Be patient, trust us he says Traumatized from Rauner Victimized by Rauner No I do not trust you. No I will not be patient. Trust is earned Patience comes from mutual respect Which is earned. 90 days is a slap in the face. - Me Again - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 1:41 am: Honeybear, Why don’t you calm down and let the leaders of AFSCME sort this out? It doesn’t help anybody to get in a panic. - union proud - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 4:13 am: In early 2017 a frame work was offered to Rauner by the union that zeroed out the colas for 2015-2018. And offered increased contributions to health insurance. As to the post, I say take a breath and wait. I see it as J.B. trying to get a handle on all he inherited. - Honeybear - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 6:27 am: Me Again, No I won’t. This isn’t about AFSCME. With all due respect, no one at AFSCME has had money stolen from them. They have bigger pictures to consider, political, economic factors to weigh and assess, etc. They are privy to a larger view. All I have is that I’m likely to never see that backpay. Hanging on is likely to never see the money returned. You All know it. Go ahead Ask Madigan What are the plans to appropriate the money? Is it being built into the budget? What I’ll bet you anything is you’ll get well uh…economic conditions…ahhhh we’re assessing….ah you’ve got to be patient….ahhh… let them handle it….. That that that that is the type of bullcrap that makes me look up yellow vests. The front line has had it. With ALL the lies told us. By ALL the parties involved. - Grandson of Man - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 6:33 am: Some who scream that state worker raises are too expensive support giving billion-dollar corporations a 21% raise. No tears of fiscal doom are cried by some of these people over the massive corporate tax cut. - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 6:48 am: Agree honey bear. Front line workers are at wits end. JB seemed to give us a glimmer w the step declaration a week ago but this action now puts that in jeapoary. Front lie workers just don’t have any trust left in the gov office regardless of who is in it. - Just A Dude - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 7:04 am: Possibly effected staff are placed in proper steps and the back pay being part of a negotiated settlement as part of the contract? Would simplify things and allow for appropriations. - State Engineer - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 7:17 am: Question, Is anyone resurrecting the Arbitration bill that Rauner Vetoed? - Oberon - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 7:36 am: Everyone should consider that an appeal which the Supremes refuse to hear, or that they affirm, strengthens the Governor politically by removing any assertion he is caving to unions. - Responsa - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:00 am: Perfidy or politics? Anybody who thinks any given politician/officeholder is going to be a savior based on campaign promises is naive. Sad but true. - Duke of Normandy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:11 am: This is incredibly frustrating to hear. Maybe it is just a bargaining chip, or an attempt to see what the new administration is dealing with, but for me as on of the little people, it’s incredibly disheartening. - Honeybear - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:14 am: Responsa- true but… This is not about a campaign promise It’s about Paying our bills Honoring our contracts Obeying the law and judgment of the courts We won the entire legal battle Done No more court And that is going to be ignored Victims not made whole Because it’s inconvenient To a costly agenda So Pritzker, Madigan, and Cullerton Are saying Because we have big plans We will defy the law and judgment of the courts Just this it out or ignore it. We do it to black folk We do it to women We do it to the poor We do it to all sorts Now we’re going to do it to public Servants Bad idea It’s size 10 chaos time We are organized Now more than ever Ironically Because we fought for Pritzker - Perrid - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:24 am: “If you’re ok with Pritzker posturing, then you should be fine with unions doing it too.” I really doubt this is a bargaining tactic on JB’s part. It’s too obvious of a bluff; it would be a bad idea for him to turn on labor on day 1, especially on such a long shot, since the courts have not been kind to Rauner’s position so far. I tend to believe the administration when the say the just need time to get their ducks in a row because of the transition. So it’s not the same, in my mind, it’s not posturing for a better deal. - Honeybear - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:25 am: This rage and anger You see is not going away. I’m the tip of it Pritzker Madigan and Cullerton Will be held to account for Paying our bills Honoring our contracts Obeying the law and judgment of the courts That’s the difference now Held to accountability - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:31 am: Grandson, corporations should not be taxed. Tax the people working for corporations. - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:32 am: Frontline taxpayers have little faith in JB either. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:38 am: I’ve stayed silent and read the comments. To the Post, Perspective? Rauner went to Decatur mere days/weeks into his administration to take on and attempt to take down all of labor. Pritzker is asking for 90 days to get organized and actually sit down and prepare to negotiate a contract to bring labor peace. If you are confused to these differences…. Oh, turning on the governor now mere days/weeks into his administration for asking for “space” in a way unlike arguably your biggest nemesis these past four years, you’re willing to throw away the good will you both had… for an unknown reason that could still be an outcome (as best it can be) that is better than any Rauner may have bargained (forced). AFSCME is representating it’s members. I have no beef. Good on them. If representing means turning on Pritzker… already… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:39 am: ===taxpayers=== We’re all taxpayers. - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:45 am: Someone has faith in him. He won - Iron - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:55 am: Oberon-Nailed it. - City Zen - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:56 am: ==Some who scream that state worker raises are too expensive support giving billion-dollar corporations a 21% raise.== Are you sure it wasn’t 20%? ==We’re all taxpayers.== (Checks license database for all those state workers buying his software.) Came up empty. Are you sure we’re all taxpayers? - HangingOn - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:58 am: -Just a reminder that your backpay is gonna get 7% tacked onto it. But the credit card I used to make ends meet all those years charges 18.99% so waiting isn’t improving the situation - Generic Drone - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:00 am: Well, I still have not forgotten what Madigan and Quinn did to state employees. Question is, is JB now going to add his name - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:02 am: ===Are you sure we’re all taxpayers?=== Buy food, clothing, gas, electric, natural gas… pay income tax… Get through a day “in the life” without paying any tax, get back to me. It’s utterly tiring. - The Dude Abides - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:02 am: AFSCME needs to show some patience here and give the new administration some time to get both feet on the ground. The Rauner administration left them with a mess and a huge pile of bills to deal with. It’s way to early to assume that Pritzker is another Pat Quinn, a guy who talked nice to Unions before the election then tried to renege on contracts after the election. I’m sure once they get down to business AFSCME will find Pritzker a lot more reasonable than the previous Governor who just wanted to destroy them. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:03 am: ===Well, I still have not forgotten what Madigan and Quinn did to state employees.=== Boy, was Quinn taught a lesson. How did that go? Good? Better? - Honeybear - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:07 am: I don’t speak for AFSCME This is my voice alone. Although I’m sure 14,000 public Servants Will hold my beer. - Nick Name - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:13 am: === The contract they were negotiating would expire on June 30 this year by law. So, what they will really be negotiating is a contract that begins July 1 2019=== I highly doubt AFSCME will accept broken time, a period when there was no contract. It would undermine their argument that the Gov has to abide by an expired contract via a tolling agreement. And in the long run it would establish a horrible precedent. AFSCME will insist on negotiating a four- or five-year contract that is retroactive to 2015. - State Engineer - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:16 am: It seems to me the wise move for AFSCME, who couldn’t care less about my opinion, would be to offer a date to renew negotiations at least 45 days in the future. Pritzker gets his time to get his people up to speed and this case can finally be settled and we can all move on. - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:21 am: ==Taxpayers should be very afraid.= State workers dont pay taxes? Huh? I thought everyone paid taxes. Am I incorrect? - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:27 am: him. He won - Iron - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:55 am: Oberon-Nailed it. - City Zen - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:56 am: “(Checks license database for all those state workers buying his software.) Came up empty.” I have no idea what you mean. I have been a taxpayer for 50 years including this last decade as a State employee. I started out making 26,000 and paid taxes. - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:28 am: - City Zen - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 8:56 am: “(Checks license database for all those state workers buying his software.) Came up empty.” I have no idea what you mean. I have been a taxpayer for 50 years including this last decade as a State employee. I started out making 26,000 and paid taxes. - A State Employee Guy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 10:52 am: @HanginOn if you were using a credit card to make ends meet because you didn’t get a raise, I don’t think steps are the problem here. - A Non - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 11:02 am: We counted on the steps because they were in the contract. Silly us for not knowing someone would renege. - HangingOn - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 11:03 am: @State Employee Guy Wasn’t sure how else to not lose my house at the time. Sorry if not declaring bankruptcy when my house has storm damage and my car is totaled by a deer makes me a bad irresponsible person. - A State Employee Guy - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 12:04 pm: Why would you lose your house if it had storm damage? - Me Again - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 1:14 pm: Honeybear, AFSCME has been doing a good job on representing our interests so far. I trust them and you should too. - A Non - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 1:48 pm: It worries me that JB is still using Laner Muchin, the same outside law firm Bruce spent the 6 million taxpayer dollars on fighting us. - Anastacia Rozanski - Tuesday, Jan 29, 19 @ 9:43 am: I have recently started a site, the info you provide on this website has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.