http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-27/news/ct-edit-afscme-20120927_1_afscme-pat-quinn-state-workers
Can't really vouch for the Tribune's assessment of budget needs, one way or the other, but this is the gist of it:
Two years ago, you'll recall, all was comfy-cozy: Quinn agreed not to lay off AFSCME members, or close institutions where they worked, at least until mid-2012. And AFSCME put considerable muscle behind Quinn, arguably making the difference in his slim victory in the November 2010 general election.
By the end of the honeymoon, though, Quinn and AFSCME were throwing dishes. The governor, declaring a "rendezvous with reality," has tried to reduce state head counts and close some facilities, necessary moves we support. He also wants to reform the profoundly unsustainable pension system for state employees. And a nasty dispute over Quinn's decision not to award a contracted wage hike to many AFSCME members — he says legislators didn't appropriate enough money — is in litigation....
...AFSCME says Quinn's negotiators want to move employees down two pay grades, then freeze wages and steps for two years. And workers' health costs would increase. "For many employees," the union says, "this would represent a $10,000 pay cut next year." The governor's office responds that AFSCME members make, on average, 23 percent more than their peers in comparable states — and that, even with the changes being discussed, their benefits would remain better than those that employees receive in the private sector or in other state governments.
AFSCME hasn't threatened to strike; the union's allusion to "direct action" starts with such benign activities as union members taking "community walks" in green T-shirts. But, judging by the tone of a Monday communique to members, AFSCME is raising the possibility of a strike without precedent. Two headlines and a lengthy section of the three-page document praise Chicago Teachers Union members who "were sick and tired of being blamed for all of the shortcomings of a system that was poorly run by those at the top and lacked the resources to do the job right."
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