Governor Bruce Rauner has reached deals with SOME state worker unions ... but by no means ALL of them. Rauner's office trumpeted collective bargaining agreements with unions representing 500 workers. But there are still no agreements with a handful of other unions that collectively represent more than 40-thousand state workers. In a press release ... the administration blasts AFSCME, the state's largest public employee union, for its unwillingness to accept similar terms. AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall says trade unions have independent health care plans ... and pay that's often set by the prevailing wage -- whereas for AFSCME, insurance and salaries are priorities.
Rauner has had a rocky relationship with unions since his campaign. Labor sees his policies as an attempt to wipe them out.