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Arbitrator rules against Quinn, says multi-year union contracts are imperiled

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Illinois

* An independent arbitrator has ruled against Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to nullify contractual union wages for state employees…

Arbitrator Edwin Benn on Tuesday ordered Quinn to start paying the 2 percent increase within 30 days with back pay. That’s according to a copy of Benn’s opinion provided by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Quinn had said the Legislature did not appropriate the $75 million necessary to pay the employees in 14 state agencies.

* Read the ruling by clicking here. From the text…

…as a matter of contract, the State’s position that it is not obligated to pay the reduced negotiated increase is clearly incorrect.

* However…

Because I am an arbitrator functioning solely under the terms of the Agreement and the Cost Savings Agreement, I have not considered the State’s statutory or Constitutional arguments.

So, this was a slam dunk case for the union. The contract says pay the raises, and the arbitrator’s decision is confined solely to the contract’s language. Pretty simple. The union had basically no chance of losing that one.

* The arbitrator did take up the governor’s logic that since no money was appropriated for the contractual raises, he doesn’t have to pay them…

Multi-year collective bargaining agreements bring stability to the parties and the public. Multi-year collective bargaining agreements set forth the parties’ obligations and responsibilities over a period of years.

It is mostly employers who seek multi-year collective bargaining agreements (typically longer agreements than those sought by unions).

If the State is correct that negotiated wage increases in multi-year collective bargaining agreements are unenforceable or are contingent upon action by the General Assembly (or, for other public entities, the various county, city, village, district councils, boards of trustees, etc.), it is quite likely that very few unions, if any, will now ever agree to multi-year collective bargaining agreements.

If the State is correct in its position, I highly doubt that any interest arbitrator setting terms and conditions of collective bargaining agreements in security employee, peace officer and fire fighter disputes under Section 14 of the IPLRA will choose to impose anything more than a contract for one year’s duration because final economic offers made by a public sector employer will, for all purposes, be illusory if those offers are contingent upon subsequent appropriations being passed by the public employer.

Very good points. If Gov. Quinn prevails in the courts, multi-year public union contracts will likely never be used again…

If the State is correct in its statutory and Constitutional arguments, the multi-year collective bargaining agreement is, for all purposes, probably dead.

* Meanwhile, Gov. Quinn said he’d make good on his NFL Championship game bet with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker…

.

Quinn told reporters during an unrelated news conference Monday that he’d pay up before the new season.

“We’ve had enough of these cheeseheads,” he said.

* In other news, subscribers knew this was coming at least a couple of weeks ago…

In a move that caught some DuPage County GOP foot soldiers by surprise, Chairman Dan Cronin resigned as Republican Party leader late Monday.

The party’s executive committee, which consists of nine township political leaders, unanimously voted in state Rep. Randy Ramey as his successor.

Rep. Ramey is former Senate President Pate Philip’s stepson. Pate was also county party chairman back in the day and now Rep. Ramey is gearing up for a state Senate bid.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 19, 11 @ 12:52 pm

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