{"id":5241,"date":"2015-02-04T11:37:11","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T17:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=5241"},"modified":"2015-02-04T11:49:46","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T17:49:46","slug":"rauners-call-for-union-reform-stirs-talk-before-state-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/rauners-call-for-union-reform-stirs-talk-before-state-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Rauner\u2019s call for union reform stirs talk before state address"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Emily Hoerner<\/p>\n

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner ignited conversation by sending a memo<\/a> to the Illinois legislature, calling on lawmakers to prune union rights and government spending just two days before Wednesday\u2019s State of the State address.<\/p>\n

The memo prefaced the governor\u2019s cost-saving measures, including state employee rule reforms that Rauner described in the memo as \u201cfair to both state workers and taxpayers.\u201d The note<\/a> pointed out that federal workers are prohibited from striking and bargaining over wages, benefits and pensions. Illinois union workers are not.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Rauner\u2019s office declined to comment on the memo or provide further information about the governor\u2019s upcoming address.<\/p>\n

Dick Simpson, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and former 44th<\/sup> Ward alderman, said he thinks Rauner\u2019s comments on union power are an attempt to signal a change in direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the governor is trying to start out with an agenda of austerity,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cThere will be cutbacks and sacrifices, and one of them is to curb both unions and government employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rauner\u2019s venture into minimizing union power hasn\u2019t really been done before in the state, Simpson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is Scott Walker on steroids,\u201d
\n– Karen Lewis, Chicago Teachers Union<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kent Redfield, a political scientist at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs<\/a>, said the decision to bring up union powers was likely popular with the governor\u2019s base voters. But because of the Democratic majority in the legislature, the measure will be an uphill battle, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re fighting a fight you probably can\u2019t win and you\u2019re making it more contentious,\u201d Redfield said.<\/p>\n

By threatening union member rights, including those in labor, trade, public and private sectors, Rauner may be uniting the workers and solidifying opposition, he said.<\/p>\n

Even before the memo was released, Rauner\u2019s position on union power drew ire from Chicago Teachers Union<\/a> President Karen Lewis. During a speech at the City Club of Chicago on Monday, Lewis said the governor was working to \u201cvilify\u201d her teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real Rauner is also busy trying to make the term \u2018collective bargaining\u2019 into dirty words,\u201d Lewis said during her speech.<\/p>\n

Lewis said she and her teachers won\u2019t be silent in facing future conflicts, and compared Rauner to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who received national attention after cutting union\u2019s collective bargaining rights<\/a> in his state.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is Scott Walker on steroids,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n

Redfield said the move to go after union power in Illinois is out of Walker\u2019s and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniel\u2019s playbook, but that Rauner\u2019s views aren\u2019t necessarily any more extreme. In fact, Redfield said, Rauner\u2019s goals aren\u2019t likely to go anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabor has been a very powerful force in the state for a very long period of time,\u201d Redfield said.<\/p>\n

Darren Lubotsky, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has researched labor unions, said the sheer number of union members isn\u2019t the only force likely to protect their powers. Unlike in Wisconsin, Illinois provides protections for public sector union workers in the constitution, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re fighting a fight you probably can\u2019t win and you\u2019re making it more contentious,\u201d
\n-Kent Redfield, Institute of Government and Public Affairs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bargaining rights wouldn\u2019t necessarily save the state money, either, Lubotsky said. The real money issue with unions comes from the pension fund because in the past the state didn\u2019t make the monetary contributions they were required to, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t put in the money they promised to put in,\u201d Lubotsky said. \u201cNow it\u2019s more expensive to put that money back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rauner is facing a dismal budget deficit<\/a>, made larger when the 2011 temporary income tax increase expired on Jan. 1 this year. The governor is set to release his new budget on Feb. 18, two weeks after his State of the State address.<\/p>\n

Redfield said he thinks Rauner\u2019s speech Wednesday will focus less on the specifics about fixing the budget and more on big ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute you get specific, then you\u2019ve got winners and losers,\u201d Redfield said. \u201cIf he\u2019s smart, he\u2019s going to be making friends and not collecting enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the City Club of Chicago on Monday, CTU President Karen Lewis (in red) compared Gov. Bruce Rauner to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who received national attention after cutting union\u2019s collective bargaining rights in his state. (Emily Hoerner\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Emily Hoerner Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner ignited conversation by sending a memo to the Illinois legislature, calling on lawmakers to prune union rights and government spending just two days before Wednesday\u2019s State of the State address. The memo prefaced the governor\u2019s cost-saving measures, including state employee rule reforms that Rauner described in the memo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":5243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,30,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-public-affairs","category-winter-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nRauner\u2019s call for union reform stirs talk before state address - 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\/rauners-call-for-union-reform-stirs-talk-before-state-address\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rauner\u2019s call for union reform stirs talk before state address - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Emily Hoerner Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner ignited conversation by sending a memo to the Illinois legislature, calling on lawmakers to prune union rights and government spending just two days before Wednesday\u2019s State of the State address. 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