The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees claims to be seeking a “fair contract” on behalf of Illinois state workers. But the power and influence exerted by the state’s largest government-worker union means the bargaining table almost always tilts in AFSCME’s favor. The reality is that AFSCME is the power player in negotiations...
The regulatory cost of doing business in Illinois remains the highest in the Midwest for workers’ compensation, according to the 2016 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking study.[1] Illinois’ out-of-balance workers’ compensation laws contribute to the Land of Lincoln’s loss of industrial investment and blue-collar job opportunities. Illinois manufacturing firms often cite workers’ compensation as...
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show Illinois’ professional and business services sector has fared better than the state’s manufacturing industry, which recorded 800 job losses in September.
The divergence between professional and blue-collar work continued in September, and a shrinking workforce coincided with steady seasonal out-migration.
The August BLS jobs report shows Illinois is down 8,000 manufacturing jobs on the year, giving the state the worst manufacturing job losses in the region, and a summer workforce contraction totaling 100,000 people.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.