{"id":52089,"date":"2017-02-15T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T21:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=52089"},"modified":"2017-02-27T21:59:08","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T03:59:08","slug":"union-responds-to-rauners-refusal-to-negotiate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/union-responds-to-rauners-refusal-to-negotiate\/","title":{"rendered":"Union responds to Rauner’s refusal to negotiate"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bia Medious<\/strong><\/p>\n

State and municipal employees are threatening a strike in response to Gov. Bruce Rauner\u2019s refusal to negotiate their new contract.<\/p>\n

Rauner wants the union to accept both a four-year wage freeze and $10,000 in additional health insurance costs, which is a 100 percent increase. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31<\/a> (AFSCME) announced the ongoing vote to authorize a strike during Tuesday\u2019s news conference at the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St. Several state representatives also spoke in support of the workers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the person who caused this hostage crisis is Gov. Rauner,\u201d said AFSCME spokesperson Anders Lindall. \u201cAnd the person who can resolve it is Bruce Rauner, by coming back to develop a budget\u2026 and negotiating fairly with our committee to settle a contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, AFSCME\u2019s Bargaining Committee voted for a new framework for settling the state\u2019s contract after the Governor\u2019s yearlong refusal to further negotiate. Modeling the independent arbitrator\u2019s decision in the recent case between the Illinois State Troopers Lodge 41\/FOP and the Rauner Administration, the framework provided a four-year wage freeze coupled with smaller health care increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaying thousands of dollars for my healthcare insurance is simply something I can\u2019t afford,\u201d said Roberto Botello, a mental health technician at Chicago Read Mental Health Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody [in the union] wants that, but they\u2019re trying to be realistic, and the governor called [the new framework] superficial,\u201d said Jo Patton, AFSCME\u2019s director of special projects, after the conference. \u201c[Rauner] just showed how out of touch [he is].\u201d<\/p>\n

Holding Kasen, her 4-month old son, Sydney Arnold, from the Department of Juvenile Justice\u2019s Local 416, stood with legislators at the conference. \u201cWith me having a little one, it\u2019s like how do I provide?\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s talking about closing down the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cState workers, AFSCME workers, do not want to strike. They want to work together with our governor,\u201d said Illinois Sen. Omar Aquino (D-2nd)<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re asking [Rauner] to come back to the negotiation table, keep Illinois working.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Omar
Illinois Sen. Omar Aquino (D-2nd) says, \u201cIf unfortunately they are forced to strike, it\u2019s going to affect our communities of color, the African American and Latino communities, much more than others.” (Bia Medious\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dennis Murashko, general counsel for the governor\u2019s administration, responded to the conference with a statement that read, \u201cWe invite AFSCME to set aside its misleading, divisive rhetoric and work with us on implementing common sense proposals similar to what 20 other unions have accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor has come to agreement with trade unions that are predominately made up of white men,\u201d said Illinois Rep. Emanuel Welch (D-7th)<\/a>. \u201cHe has refused to even come to the table with the largest state employee unions that are largely made up of African Americans and Latinos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Emanuel
“We cannot balance this budget on cuts alone,” says Illinois Rep. Emanuel Welch (D-7th). (Bia Medious\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Illinois Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-8th)<\/a> offered up advice to the state\u2019s taxpayers, those unemployed, and anyone who had lost someone to street violence. \u201cStand up and\u2026 protest the governor,\u201d he said. \u201cProtest Springfield, just the way we\u2019ve seen people protest Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFSCME\u2019s 30,000 members finished voting on authorizing the strike on Feb. 19. The results have not yet been announced.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Several African American and Latino Illinois state senators and representatives stand behind Anders Lindall, AFSCME spokesman, and members of the union. (Bia Medious\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bia Medious State and municipal employees are threatening a strike in response to Gov. Bruce Rauner\u2019s refusal to negotiate their new contract. Rauner wants the union to accept both a four-year wage freeze and $10,000 in additional health insurance costs, which is a 100 percent increase. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":52111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2952,30,3516],"tags":[3742,3747,3743,3744,3481,111,3745,3746,930,2557,1972],"class_list":["post-52089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-public-affairs","category-winter-2017","tag-afscme","tag-anders-lindall","tag-contract","tag-emanuel-welch","tag-gov-bruce-rauner","tag-illinois","tag-la-shawn-ford","tag-omar-aquino","tag-state-legislature","tag-strike","tag-unions"],"yoast_head":"\nUnion responds to Rauner's refusal to negotiate - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/union-responds-to-rauners-refusal-to-negotiate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Union responds to Rauner's refusal to negotiate - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bia Medious State and municipal employees are threatening a strike in response to Gov. 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