Never enough: AFSCME votes to strike, declines Rauner’s contract offer that retained many lavish perks

The state’s largest government-worker union just voted to authorize a strike for state workers. The union perpetuates a myth that Gov. Bruce Rauner is waging war on the middle class – all while ignoring that his contract offer to state workers includes benefits unavailable to most Illinoisans working in the private sector.

State workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have authorized the union to call a strike in an effort to force Gov. Bruce Rauner to cave to the union’s extravagant salary and benefits demands.

These demands include wage increases up to 29 percent, overtime after just 37.5 hours in a workweek and platinum-level health insurance at little cost to state workers.

While demanding bigger and better benefits, AFSCME ignores the generous perks state workers will continue to enjoy even under Rauner’s last contract offer – including free health insurance at retirement, generous leaves of absence and holiday pay, and incredibly lax disciplinary procedures.

AFSCME is completely out of touch with the taxpayers it expects to pay for its extravagant perks. And by failing to acknowledge that Rauner’s offer to the union still includes such lavish benefits, AFSCME drives a wedge between state workers and the rest of Illinois.

Rauner’s contract offer included:

Free health insurance at retirement

• Most career AFSCME employees receive free health insurance at retirement, simply by working 20 or more years.

• This benefit alone costs taxpayers $200,000 to $500,000 in today’s dollars per employee over the course of an employee’s retirement.

More than 15 different leaves of absence – including leave to perform union work

• As many as 30 employees at a time could be granted leaves of absence – for up to two years each – to serve as AFSCME representatives or officers at the international, state or local level.

• The state would be required to keep available a job for a state worker elected to state office until the state official’s elected term is over.

• The contract offer included multiple leaves to pursue educational opportunities.

• In most cases – such as leave for union office and educational leave – state employees could continue to accumulate seniority. That’s significant because seniority is the main consideration in a number of employment decisions – from vacation and overtime preference to order of layoff.

Generous holiday pay

• Employees would receive time-and-a half pay for working on a standard holiday.

• AFSCME employees would still receive even more for “super holidays,” which include Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

• If an employee works on a super holiday, he or she would receive double time pay.

Lax disciplinary procedures for absent or late employees

• A state worker would have 10 unauthorized absences in a two-year period of time without any real repercussions.

• At the 11th unauthorized absence, the employee would receive a five-day suspension. It isn’t until an employee has 12 unauthorized absences in a two-year period of time that the state could discharge the employee.

• The contract specifically provided that “[t]here shall be no general policy of docking for late arrival.” An employee can be up to an hour late to work – without being docked pay – as long as it is not done “repeatedly.”

Each of these perks is practically unheard of in the private sector, and yet they still aren’t enough for AFSCME leadership. AFSCME wants taxpayers to pay for even more – even if it means going on strike.