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AFL-CIO responds to Rauner

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* IL AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan…

“The Bruce Rauner that managed to mask his true feelings about working families for most of last year showed his true agenda today. Much like his past proposal to cut the minimum wage, he is now going after workers on all fronts by supporting Right To Work, attacking Unemployment Insurance and Workers Compensation, as well as prevailing wage and Project Labor Agreements that benefit both workers and the taxpayers.

“A recent University of Illinois study points out that the net economic benefit of right to work in Illinois is negligible. The study points out that Right To Work seriously erodes wages, benefits and compounds racial and gender wage inequality. Right To Work will drop wages in Illinois between 5.7 to 7.3 percent. Prosperous economies are driven by good wages and a thriving middle class. Rauner’s proposals are not economic development, but middle class eradication.

“We suspected all along that Bruce Rauner would go back to his roots as a mega-wealthy corporate CEO and force the tired philosophy of increasing the bottom line on the backs of the workers. I haven’t seen any proposals from him on increasing Illinois’ low corporate income tax or closing big business loopholes. Where is his shared sacrifice?

“His attack on the middle class will be vigorously opposed by organized labor and community allies. He’s going to have to come up with something better than failed right-wing economic policy.”

The U of I study is here. The U of I also studied the possible repeal of the prevailing wage law, and that’s here.

…Adding… The governor’s presentation today in pdf format is here.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:00 pm

Comments

Better get ready to spend all the union dues on the PR war. They failed to do that for two years during the pension reform run-up …

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:08 pm
“Bruce Rauner” - the policy-making Governor, the 1/3 of Illinois government person could very well turn out to be the most polarizing governor in the last 40 years;

Fundimentally changing government will do that.

My question is simplistic but .,,

“How do you lead the state being black and white in your visions, when governing in the gray, that’s where real governing is done?”

There won’t be picking sides; a side will be chosen for you, the gray is quite slim indeed.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:10 pm
The best negotiators don’t lob their first volley from the middle ground

Comment by Anonymoiis Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:13 pm
I can’t wait to see how pro-union Republicans like McAuliffe and Moffit will vote on RtW.

Comment by anon Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:14 pm
- Anonymoiis -

1) Rauner doesn’t lose, ask him.

2) You don’t travel with a power point to make a case…to back down and make a deal.

Sometimes saying little publicly, will speak louder when negotiating in private.

I get it, ask for 3/4, settle for 1/2 plus a smidge…that isn’t the mode Rauner is in, the AFL-CIO seems to think that the compromising Rauner isn’t the one with the power point too.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:17 pm
He’s using fake numbers again. The numbers are grim enough without faking them up to tell a more extreme story.

Were there any “Compassionate” slides in Rauner’s presentation?

Comment by walker Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:26 pm
The attacking against Project Labor Agreements were a thank you to the construction industry. Shaking up Springfield means different things.

Comment by Secretariat Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:27 pm
Let’s not forget that dropping wages 5-7% means substantial reductions in state income tax revenues (and presumably state spending). Another way that labor issues are everyone’s issues.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:31 pm
The U of I study from the School of Labor and Employment relations. No bias there. Nope.

I seem to Big Labor getting involved in the U of I’s ability to manage and run School of Labor and Employment Relations within the University that was ran in a bill a couple of veto sessions ago.

Comment by Phenomynous Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:40 pm
Phenomynous

What do you think of the Fraser Institute?

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:49 pm
Something tells me Rauner dosent really give a rats rear end what Carrigan thinks or says.

Comment by Hard R Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 5:53 pm
Rauner apparently fired a bunch of people again today. These people have families. Horrible.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:00 pm
4 years from today and Lisa will be governor. Thank god!

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:05 pm
Are any of the state comparisons statistically significant? On his comparisons to union and non union states, he shows a percentage growth in non union states - is that because wages were so low to begin with that their increase was fantastic? When I see all these Southern states being praised, I also see obesity, low graduation rates, more fed aid for Medicaid, and a bigger income disparity between racial groups. Notice there is no slide showing we are the lowest in income tax. But what do I know?

Comment by Dr X Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:06 pm
Rauner will try to bully his way through anybody. But he is no longer a corporate CEO but rather a Governor.

He might have some ’successes’ but in the long term he will expend to much political capital and destroy himself if he continues t proceed in this matter.

The state budget mess is a lot, lot more than public employees or even their pensions. And until he addresses these other fiscal issues he is more of a demagouge and that Governor.

Comment by Federalist Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:07 pm
As a state worker, I am bracing for the worst. I am waiting with trepidation the unveiling of his budget next month. My agency has cut and cut (we still have Windows XP for crying out loud.) The only thing left to cut are employees. Using Rauner comparatives we can show we are not over paid. I doubt he’ll listen. I think he is past listening.

Comment by Demise Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:07 pm
- Anonymous -,

Is that you John Kass?

Rauner winning is the “Lisa Plan” coming together!

People change with a new administration. Thems the rules.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:08 pm
What does Rauner object to with respect to prevailing wage and PLAs? Encouraging the hiring of in-state workers? Encouraging the hiring of workers who are properly trained? The Unions were clever when they came up with these ideas. The government has a strong interest in keeping work (and spending tax dollars) locally.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:08 pm
Lisa will be a federal judge long before governor. If the speaker stays she can’t and wont run. If the speaker leaves his many enemies will be out for revenge knowing he can’t do anything about it.

Comment by Hard R Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:09 pm
Rauner isn’t about listening, he orders.

Comment by Johnnie F. Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:14 pm
Lisa continues to support actions against public workers. Why would she change 180 degrees in 4 years? She’ll either be an anti-worker judge, governor, or senator. Watch as she helps Rauner with his dirty work as she helped Quinn.

Comment by Qui Tam Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:24 pm
I guess that since Rauner won the election, this is what the majority of Illinoisans want to happen.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:35 pm
- Anonymous -,

Like Obama won, so everything he wants or felled or believes is “justified”

Issues and policies aren’t people..,

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:44 pm
==I guess that since Rauner won the election, this is what the majority of Illinoisans want to happen.==

When he ran in the general election, he said little, if anything, about crushing the unions. And few of those voters looked back at his primary rhetoric. In addition, a significant portion of his vote was more anti-Quinn than pro-Rauner. The electorate is much more complicated than you make them to be.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:53 pm
“Horrible”

Didn’t the people PQ and Blago fire have families as well?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 6:59 pm
Willy. U are a cop

Comment by New era Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 7:11 pm
The GOP just don’t get it. I am so sick of the GOP faking and living in a world of fantasy and hogwash. The numbers prove empirically right to work is crap and climate change is real and man never walked with dinosaurs.

Comment by Jorge Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 7:45 pm
The inflatable rat on it’s way to the governor’s mansion?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 8:04 pm
when do the work slow downs begin? lol

Comment by foster brooks Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 8:30 pm
Rich, thanks for the slides.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 8:34 pm
Oh no, the unions are mad…what a shame.

Does that mean i get to hire more skilled workers for less rather than having mandatory union work shoved down my throat when doing business in Chicago? If so, I’m all in.

Comment by Dupage moderate Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 9:46 pm
Pat Quinn had already hurt labor.

Bruce the millionaire promises to do so.

Mike and John hated Pat and sat on their hands in the election.

Mike and John have veto proof majorities.

Bruce can’t order a ham sandwich on the State’s dime w/o Mike and John. So he’ll just buy the whole hog farm.

Bruce can still hurt labor some with his pen.

Mike and John didn’t care as long ast they still have the power and they got rid of Pat.

It’s going to be an interesting four years.

Comment by ROLLO TOMASI Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 9:52 pm
If it’s on a PowerPoint, it must be true!

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 10:09 pm
==slide 13== Not sure how pension costs are a root cause of high property taxes. The largest slice of property tax money goes to local schools and they don’t pay into the pensions. If Rauner shifts the pension costs onto the school districts, then that slide will be correct.

==slide 26==
A three-year retirement sweetener is capped at 6% per year (as intended). As Rauner should know, it moves an expensive employee off the books and brings in a cheaper one in a cheaper pension system. I thought he would approve of that.

==slide 31==
Prevailing wages actually helps ensure that local folks are hired to do local government construction projects. The alternative “saves” money by hiring low-cost out-of-state workers.

==slide 34==
If folks like Rauner did not threaten the rights of all workers to organize and bargain collectively, union members would have lower dues.

==slide 35==
The unions don’t like me.

And, the numbers are WAY OFF: If 99.9% of the contributions from those unions went to Blagojevich and Quinn, that leaves $25,500 for everyone else. However, Kirk Dillard received over $1 million in the first quarter of last year form those unions.

Overall impression: Unions are killing Illinois Government. Get rid of them and everything will be great!

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 10:57 pm
“Does that mean i get to hire more skilled workers for less rather than having mandatory union work shoved down my throat when doing business in Chicago?”

Maybe if you treated your workers better they might not have joined a union? Just a thought.

Comment by justthefacts Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 10:59 pm
Pot - slide 26 - teachers get 4 years of 6% increases which happens to come to a 26% increase on top of regular Cost of Living and other increases. The reason teachers retirement is the most underfunded is because teachers dont contribute according to how they are going to draw their pentions. They all have the Bobbie Steele retirement. Take out every year more than you ever put in.

Comment by We're Doomed Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 11:57 pm
Adding to == Pot’s == list:

==slide 25== Admittedly a number or two is missing on this slide to reverse engineer, but but I spent some time trying to duplicate the results using the standard SERS formula from the average salary / total contributions / years worked. I keep coming up with either an Average Final Compensation that is about $10,000 lower than what is required to match the payout, or I end up with an average salary about $9,000 higher than claimed. While I don’t doubt you could create such a scenario through careful selection of the data used, I don’t think it would be typical. I’d rate the graph somewhat questionable.

==slide 29== Aren’t most IDOT contracts federally funded and don’t they mandate prevailing wage? If that is true, no savings to be found there.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 12:28 am
@dupage:

Why does the “Chamber of Commerce” have the Freedom to Associate to negotiate better conditions (taxes, wages, etc) for business?

Yet employees are not allowed to do the same?

Make the “Chambers” illegal. No more Collective Bargaining for them.

Comment by Del Clinkton Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 7:30 am
When I began teaching in 2001, our pension was funded in the high 90s. However, the pension fund was raided consistently and minimum payments weren’t met. I’ve got a credit card, I bet if I did the same thing with those obligations, it would also get a very high debt. Teachers do not get social security and it would actually cost the state considerably more if we received social security instead of a pension. When I left a higher paying job in broadcasting, I figured that I could afford a cut in salary and at least I’d have a middle class retirement. Now, I have some very serious doubts.

Comment by Chicago Teacher Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 7:45 am
I have found that an employer gets the union they deserve.

Comment by facts are stubborn things Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 8:44 am
Why do you think Rauner ponied up $20 million for that GA slush fund PAC…..geee George let’s take a look at this…..“A recent University of Illinois study points out that the net economic benefit of right to work in Illinois is negligible. The study points out that Right To Work seriously erodes wages, benefits and compounds racial and gender wage inequality. Right To Work will drop wages in Illinois between 5.7 to 7.3 percent. Prosperous economies are driven by good wages and a thriving middle class. Rauner’s proposals are not economic development, but middle class eradication.

Comment by 75th district Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 9:06 am
“Does that mean i get to hire more skilled workers for less rather than having mandatory union work shoved down my throat when doing business in Chicago?”

“Maybe if you treated your workers better they might not have joined a union? Just a thought.”

Chicago has many rules that require a laborer to be a union member, whether they want to or not. joining a Union and working in Chicago are mutually inclusive.

Comment by Pastor Mike Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 9:49 am
I recall when I joined my Union, nobody pointed a gun to my head. I joined of my own free will. Unions have 11% membership. 89% of the people do not belong. So how are unions forcing people to join? its a free country. You don’t want to join a union? get a job with a business that employs the 89%. pretty simple.

Comment by Illinois Union Member Wednesday, Jan 28, 15 @ 5:30 pm