SPRINGFIELD (Feb. 23, 2017) – This morning the union that represents more than 35,000 employees of state government is expected to announce the results of a strike authorization vote.

Experts from the Illinois Policy Institute and Liberty Justice Center are available to provide reaction to the vote result, discuss what’s at stake and what happens next.

The Illinois Policy Institute has labor policy experts who can explain why the union and state have not been able to reach an agreement on a contract, and economic experts who can discuss what types of labor reforms Illinois should consider implementing.

The Liberty Justice Center public interest law firm is representing two state workers who sued AFSCME because they do not want to belong to the union or be forced to pay money to AFSCME just so they can work for state government.  This case is currently on appeal in the Seventh Circuit and will be back in court next week. 

EXPERTS AVAILABLE:

Kristina Rasmussen, president and chief operating officer, Illinois Policy Institute

Mailee Smith, staff attorney and labor relations expert, Illinois Policy Institute

Michael Lucci, vice president of policy, Illinois Policy Institute

Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, which is representing two state workers in the case Janus v. AFSCME

BACKGROUND:

• AFSCME has been without a contract since summer 2015. Negotiations have dragged on for months, with 67 days of meetings, 24 formal negotiating sessions and more than 300 different proposals exchanged between the two parties.

• Officials from the union haven’t been willing to back down on demands for a contract that the Illinois governor’s office says will cost the state an additional $3 billion in wage and benefit increases. According to the AFSCME website, the union is seeking a $1,000 pay increase for workers during the first year of the contract, a 2.25 percent pay increase during the second year of the contract, a 3 percent pay increase during the third year of the contract and another 3 percent pay increase during the fourth year of the contract – in addition to “step” and “longevity” pay increases, and other benefit increases. The union is also pushing back on attempts to rein in overtime and paid-time-off policies that are out of norm with other state government policies and the private sector.

• THE AVERAGE SALARY for employees of Illinois state government is $59,088.  State government workers in Illinois are the highest-paid in the country after adjusting for cost-of-living differences between the states.

• More than half of state workers retire in their 50s, and career workers receive AVERAGE LIFETIME PENSION benefits of $1.6 million. This is in addition to Social Security. According to state data, the average retired career state worker put just $63,000 into his or her own retirement fund.

• State government workers in Illinois are eligible for FREE RETIREE HEALTH INSURANCE after working for the state for 20 years. This benefit has a cash value of $200,000 to $500,000 for each retiree, all paid for by taxpayers. Free retiree health care is virtually unheard of in the private sector.

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 For bookings or interviews, contact: Diana Rickert, media@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977