New AFSCME contract?

Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced a few minutes ago that they have reached a tentative agreement with the state of Illinois. As of right now the terms are unknown. While they will leak out to the public slowly, there is no guarantee that the general public will get...

Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced a few minutes ago that they have reached a tentative agreement with the state of Illinois.

As of right now the terms are unknown. While they will leak out to the public slowly, there is no guarantee that the general public will get to see any official, binding description of what the state agreed to – the formal contract will not be formulated for several weeks at least.

So while we have a deal, what we really need to know is whether or not it’s a good deal for taxpayers. Employee costs make up more than half of the cost of state government and a bad contract can do a great deal of damage to the state’s budget. Will the new AFSCME contract suspend automatic pay increases? Will the governor be able to make long-overdue changes to the state’s retiree health insurance program? Will lawmakers be able to sunset the income tax hike in 2015 as promised? Those are the things Illinoisans really need this next contract to allow for.