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Fun with numbers (Updated)

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AFSCME Council 31 filed its 2023 federal report with the U.S. Department of Labor this spring, and its own numbers – from membership to spending practices – don’t look good.

The union claims to represent more than 90,000 state and local government employees in Illinois. Yet just 55,771 of those workers are members of the union, according to the union’s annual report, called an LM-2.

That means nearly 40% have rejected membership in the union supposedly representing their interests.

Um, no.

* First, if you click the link in the IPI’s own story, AFSCME Council 31 includes retirees in that number…

Statewide, AFSCME represents more than 90,000 active and retired employees of state, county and city governments, state universities, local school districts and nonprofit agencies.

* Second, the IPI didn’t link to the LM-2’s, so I looked them up myself.

In 2017, the year before the Supreme Court’s Janus decision, which allowed people to pay no dues but still receive full representation, AFSCME Council 31 reported having 57,995 full and part-time members, plus another 7,047 “Agency Fee Payers” - employees who paid for union services without being actual union members.

In 2018, Council 31 reported having 57,000 full and part-time members and no fee payers.

And in 2023, Council 31 reported 55,771 full and part-time members.

So, yeah, there’s been a decline. They lost 2,224 members since before Janus, which is a 3.8 percent drop, not “nearly 40%.”

…Adding… It turns out that Council 31’s 2023 membership actually increased by 2,757 over 2022’s membership. From spokesperson Anders Lindall…

Our active membership of 55,771 as reported on our most recent federal filing reflects growth over each of the last two fiscal years – the result of public and private employers beginning to recover from the pandemic and fill needed positions, and of the great enthusiasm of newly organized workers to join our union in recent years, especially among cultural workers such as library and museum employees.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 12:47 pm

Comments

That’s a very impressive hold considering people can receive full benefits without paying a penny thanks to Trump & the Supreme Court.

Comment by Chicago Blue Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 12:50 pm
There are lies, darned lies, and IPI propaganda lies. Thanks for exposing their continuing scam “reporting”.

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 12:51 pm
When in doubt, assume that the IPI is either lying, misreading the information they’re talking about, or both.

Comment by TJ Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 12:57 pm
Surely IPI would never deliberately misrepresent AFSCME numbers.

Comment by thunderspirit Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 12:58 pm
IPI still learning that there’s a difference between the world you live in and the world you fantasize about living in.

Comment by BilboSwaggins Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 12:59 pm
IPI and others have been mailing anti-union propaganda at least monthly since the Janus decision. How about finding a cause that means something to people?

Comment by Politix Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 1:05 pm
I am confused by these numbers. I would like to see the break down over the years of dues paying active employee versus eligible active employees. In my eyes that percentage would show more.

Comment by I Love Decatur Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 1:09 pm
Standard IPI reporting: cherry-picked numbers and wrong concluding summary.

Unfortunately they are the source of almost everything my political opponents have known about Illinois state government.

I really don’t blame them — I thought IPI might be a legitimate source when first running for office. It took me about a month to discover otherwise.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 1:09 pm
===I am confused by these numbers===

Google “second-option bias”

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 1:10 pm
Before Janus there was a big push to get all agency fee or “fair-share” members to convert to full membership. My local held weekly weekend membership drives coordinated and staffed in part by paid AFSCME organizers. We always had at least one local regular member of the union with each organizer.

It was during that effort that I learned that the union organizers from AFSCME Council 31 were themselves in a union, with Council 31 leadership playing the part of management.

Turtles all the way down…

Comment by Downstate Danny Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 1:22 pm
==plus another 7,047 “Agency Fee Payers”==

If they didn’t convert these agency fee payers to members, they should be considered lost members. The revenue from agency fees is definitely lost.

Put another way, if AFSCME converted those 7,047 “Agency Fee Payers” to members, we’d be saying they increased membership.

Also, be wary of retiree numbers. Some unions auto-enroll their retirees and don’t charge them anything. Others, like AFSCME 31, have drastically reduced rates for retirees. In either case, there’s not much financial vestment in retiree membership.

Comment by City Zen Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:01 pm
===they should be considered lost members===

lol

From the federal form: “Agency Fee Payers are not considered members of the labor organization.”

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:04 pm
===Also, be wary of retiree numbers===

Tell that to the IPI.

You’re missing the whole point of this and trying to sidetrack discussion with red herrings.

Stop it.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:07 pm
So the IPI is lying again?
Shocked about that I am :/

Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:13 pm
Seems like someone wants to be the new LP.

Comment by Big Dipper Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:17 pm
I’ve been in and around Illinois government for night upon 25 years. I cannot recall a single incidence during that tenure where the IPI was right about anything. You’ve gotta give them points for consistency.

Comment by Duck Duck Goose Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:17 pm
So much for the “mortal blow” Janus will deal public employee unions (also not much of a drop off nationally, per BLS). Is he still working for/with the IPI with such poor performance (thought they believe in meritocracy)? AFSCME has been getting new membership via unionization at museums and places like Shedd Aquarium.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:19 pm
I’m sure the IPI will issue a retraction or a correction……
:/

Comment by btowntruthfromforgottonia Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 2:20 pm
I understand that AFSCME seems to be the only source of this information in the media, but aren’t there thousands of funded and unfilled state positions and aren’t some of the prisons at really, really low headcounts compared to a decade ago?

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 3:06 pm
==but aren’t there thousands of funded and unfilled state positions==

What does that have to do with the current % of state employees who are members of AFSCME?

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 3:21 pm
“IPI and others have been mailing anti-union propaganda at least monthly”

For some reason they think Teamster can opt out of AFSCME. I send their junk mail back to them.

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 3:46 pm
===What does that have to do with the current % of state employees===

I’m comparing the total members in 2018 to the total members in 2024. If a member retires AFSCME doesn’t get to enroll a new member until the state fills that position. If a facility is short dozens or even hundreds of positions the total number of union members from 2018 through 2024 would go down.

I would actually be impressed if someone at the state could tell us exactly how many ASFSCME represented employees are working in any pay period. This is mostly because I assume that they aren’t and have never been capable of saying exactly how many people are working for the state at any given moment.

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 4:00 pm
I can tell you exactly how many employees we have by union for any pay period that you would like and I suspect every agency can do the same. Also we have to provide a report of it twice a year. I’m not sure where you hostility toward the topic of headcount comes from but I would love to sit down with you sometime and provide you with some facts to help assuage any nefarious activity that you think it occurring.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 4:04 pm
Chicago blue IPI was behind Janus

Comment by Macon Bakin Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 6:26 pm
So the union that negotiated one of the best contracts for state workers in recent memory has lost 40% of its members? C’mon, IPI, if you’re going to come up with a lie, at least make it believable. I’ve been a member for nearly 16 years, and I ain’t about to drop out now.

Comment by Fivegreenleaves Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 8:38 pm
===I can tell you exactly how many employees we have by union for any pay period that you would like and I suspect every agency can do the same===

With absolute certainty? Does that include everyone out on unpaid leave?

===any nefarious activity that you think it occurring===

My assertion here isn’t based off concerns about nefariousness. There’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of agencies, and a lot of people involved in collecting and reporting the data.

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Jun 20, 24 @ 9:55 pm