The union representing Illinois government workers released an ad this week calling on Gov. Bruce Rauner to return to the negotiating table. AFSCME alleges that Rauner has failed to engage in contract talks with the union since January.
The Illinois Department of Corrections and AFSCME are trading blame over the recent inmate assault against six employees at the Pontiac Correctional Center.
Four correctional officers and two lieutenants were taken to the hospital, and have since been released, after suffering non-life threatening injuries in a Sunday fight with five inmates at the Pontiac maximum-security prison.
IDOC released a statement this week saying the Pontiac incident apparently stemmed from a staff "failure to follow workplace safety procedures already in place."
AFSCME, which represents the prison workers, responded by calling the department's attempt to blame Pontiac employees for the altercation "shameful and baseless."
Illinois voters like labor unions, but generally find Governor Bruce Rauner's approach to labor negotiations to be unfavorable, according to a new poll.
The Illinois Labor Relations Board unanimously ruled against Gov. Bruce Rauner's request that the body rule on the status of its contract negotiations with AFSCME Council 31 ahead of a recommendation from an administrative law judge.
The Rauner administration is asking the Illinois Labor Relations Board to rule on the status of its contract negotiations with AFSCME Council 31 ahead of a recommendation from an administrative law judge.
On the 48th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Illinois religious leaders urged Gov. Bruce Rauner and the legislature on Monday to resolve state employee contract negotiations in a "peaceful manner."
Monday marks 48 years since King was killed in Memphis, where he was supporting striking sanitation workers represented by AFSCME.
The Rev. Robert Jones of Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side joined other faith leaders and state workers, represented by AFSCME Council 31 and SEIU* Healthcare Illinois, during a Monday morning press conference organized by Arise Chicago.
"We come together today because Dr. King's message of what government should be continues to resonate. We want Illinois to be a place where no one is left behind," Jones said at the Chicago Temple building. "We want Illinois to be a place where service providers are not demonized but cherished for their sacrifices that they make and respected for the professional services that they provide. This is the kind of Illinois that we want."