CMHC Local 424 pickets impasse decision
<p dir="ltr"><span>Two days after being on the wrong end of an Illinois Labor Relations Board decision regarding its contract talks with the state, AFSCME workers were out in force on the picket line on Thursday.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents about 38,000 state workers, designated the day for statewide picketing at state job sites. One of those sites was the Chester Mental Health Center.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We're conducting an informational picket to show the people we're not supportive of the board's decision that we're at an impasse," said Randy Clover, spokesman for CMHC Local 424 of AFSCME Council 31. "We're not at an impasse, we have several proposals on the table.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We just need (Gov. Bruce Rauner) to come back to the table."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>On Tuesday, the ILRB ruled unanimously that talks were at an impasse between the state and the union, allowing Rauner to impose his contract terms on the union that include a four-year wage freeze, 100 percent increase in employee insurance costs, merit pay and overtime after 40 hours rather than 37.5.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"Today's decision is fair for taxpayers and state employees," Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a statement the day the ILRB announced its decision. "As a result of this agreed-to process, the state can now implement its contract, saving the taxpayers more than $3 billion over four years."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>AFSCME has disputed the state's price tag for the contract and has said it will appeal the decision in court once the ILRB's final written ruling is issued.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We feel like he's forcing us into a strike," Clover said of Rauner. "Which we don't want."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>AFSCME has never gone on strike against the state and negotiations have never before reached an impasse.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"Our plans are to appeal that (decision) through the Appellate Court to say that the board totally went against the decision by the administrative law judge," said AFSCME Council 31 staff representative Ty Peterson, who noted that the the ILRB's ruling could come within two or three weeks.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We will try and keep the governor from imposing his last, best offer, which is detrimental to employees and the communities that they serve."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Thursday's picket was under the theme of "Governor Rauner don't dictate, negotiate," with a strong contingent of CMHC workers carrying signs with the phrase.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We have several members who are single parents," Clover said. "The insurance rates would be devastating to their livelihood."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Earlier Thursday, State Rep. Jerry Costello II (D-Smithton) issued a written statement urging the governor's administration to return to the negotiating table.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"The Labor Relations Board's ruling is disappointing," Costello said. "Thousands of hardworking union employees have kept our correctional facilities, emergency response systems, child care providers and more functioning during this budget impasse and without a contract in place.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"After almost two years with no budget, the last thing that our state can afford is union employees kept off the job by either a lockout or a strike."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The five-member ILRB is appointed by the governor. Since taking office, Rauner appointed two of the positions and reappointed two others that had been initially appointed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The fifth member is also a Quinn appointee.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We feel the governor wants to dictate," Clover said. "That's all he wants to do."</span>