Illinois labor unions ‘on the defensive’

By Kevin Beese For Chronicle Media
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and labor have been at odds throughout his nearly eight months in office. Rauner targeted unions in his inaugural speech in January.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and labor have been at odds throughout his nearly eight months in office. Rauner targeted unions in his inaugural speech in January.

Most Illinois residents will mark the upcoming Labor Day holiday as the unofficial end of summer and a day of rest, a tribute to labor associations’ strengths and contributions to the U.S. economy. Gov. Bruce Rauner will likely simply refer to the day as “Monday.”

Rauner and labor have been at odds throughout his nearly eight months in office. In his inaugural address, the governor fired the first salvo, stating Illinois residents “see government union bosses negotiating sweetheart deals across the table from governors they’ve spent tens of millions of dollars to help elect.” He has had labor in the crosshairs of his agenda ever since.

The ongoing state budget stalemate hinges on Rauner getting pro-business reforms through that would lessen unions’ hold on employment regulations.

“Historically, labor unions have ruled the roost,” said Kristina Rasmussen, executive vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute, a research organization supporting free market principles and economic liberty. “That is beginning to change. Labor costs are weighing too heavily on the private sector to provide compensation.

“For the first time in a long time, government unions are on the defensive. This state is in flux. Taxpayers are pushing back. They are working to pay for government workers’ salaries.”

Rasmussen said it is not accurate to say right-to-work states — where all workers who receive the benefit of a collective bargaining agreement are not required to pay their share of the cost of representation – hurt unions. Illinois is not a right-to-work state, although Rauner would like it be one.

“It is a misconception that unions don’t exist in right-to-work states. In Iowa, the UAW signs are there. It is just that in that state workers cannot be fired for not paying union dues,” Rasmussen said. “Since 2005, union membership is up 1.3 percent in right-to-work states. In states (like Illinois) where employees are forced to pay union dues, union membership has dropped 8.9 percent. The jobs are going from those states.”

The Policy Institute spokesperson said that in right-to-work states unions have to prove their value because they do not have a captive audience. Rasmussen said Indiana has 53,000 new union members as a result of being a right-to-work state while Illinois union membership has dropped 10 percent in the past decade.

She said workers want to be able to choice whether or not they join a union and not be forced to pay for an organization with which they may not agree. Moving Illinois to a right-to-work state will be a tough fight, she noted, but the status quo is not working.

“If union membership was nirvana, why are we are the bottom of manufacturing jobs?” Rasmussen asked. “Since Michigan went right-to-work, it has added 40,000 manufacturing jobs. We have lost jobs.”

Representatives from four of Illinois’ biggest public unions – Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 – were unavailable for comment regarding the state of labor in Illinois.

AFSCME has issued a call to action for members, urging them to contact their local lawmakers to override Rauner’s veto of Senate Bill 1229, which is designed to ensure all unions currently negotiating with the governor continue to represent state employees and remain able to achieve a fair settlement.

AFSCME contends, “Rauner has said that if we don’t agree to his terms, he’ll force a strike and shut down the state government until we do. Those kinds of threats don’t serve the bargaining process or the citizens of the state well. The services we provide are essential to Illinois citizens. And there’s no way that replacement workers could perform the complex and challenging jobs that we do. That’s why our union is doing everything possible to reach a fair settlement at the bargaining table.”

Rasmussen said a new direction is needed in the state’s labor relations.

“In Illinois, if what we have in place was working, we would not be hemorrhaging people through migration,” Rasmussen said. “We are losing people in every tax bracket and every income level and every age group … It is not just retirees who are heading south. It is working people, families.

“It is really scary and a damning indictment of the current system.”

 

 

 

 

 

— Illinois labor unions ‘on the defensive’ —