Illinois - AFSCME Wins Reprieve for State Workers

The jobs of 2,600 state employees facing layoffs were spared, temporarily, through a court ruling won last fall by Council 31.

Springfield, Illinois

The jobs of 2,600 state employees facing layoffs were spared, temporarily, through a court ruling won last fall by Council 31.

The first wave of layoffs would have affected more than 500 workers, mostly state prison employees. But a preliminary injunction, issued by a judge of the First Judicial Circuit Court in Johnson County, blocked the state pending resolution of three union grievances, including one over outsourcing. The state appealed the ruling.

Council 31 argued that the administration of Gov. Pat Quinn (D) failed to complete bargaining with the union over the impact of layoffs, such as the health and safety risks posed to workers in already understaffed prisons. The council has warned that threatened job cuts would harm vital services, erode public safety and drive up overtime costs.

The council also contends that state employees should be performing work now done by contractors.

“AFSCME calls on Governor Quinn to use this opportunity to revisit his ill-advised layoff plan,” said Council 31 Exec. Dir. Henry Bayer, also an AFSCME International vice president. “He should rescind the layoffs, protect vital services and save jobs. To save money, he should look at these tens of millions of dollars in private contracts, eliminating those that aren’t needed and bringing in-house work that should be done by state employees.”

Bayer said Quinn also should hire public employees to reduce costly overtime. In June alone, Department of Corrections employees worked more than 145,000 hours of overtime.

“The real root of this issue is the state budget crisis,” Bayer added. “The governor and every state lawmaker should commit to passing comprehensive tax reform that raises adequate revenue to fund essential services and preserves the jobs of those who provide them.”