April 26--Lawyers for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the largest state employee union went head to head over the status of contract talks Monday, as the administration sought to convince a hearing officer that discussions have reached a dead end while the workers' group countered that the stalemate was by design to undermine organized labor.
The debate before an administrative law judge for the Illinois Labor Relations Board was the first exchange in what could be a weekslong hearing on whether negotiations should end on a new contract for nearly 38,000 state employees. At issue is Rauner's contention that the two sides have reached "impasse," a technical stage in negotiations that could put the union in the position of having to either accept Rauner's terms or strike.
The contract setting rules regarding everything from salary to subcontractors expired in July, but an agreement has remained elusive during nearly a year of negotiations. The two sides have agreed not to strike or have a lockout while talks are ongoing or the labor board is reviewing the matter.
Attorney Tom Bradley, who is representing the Rauner administration, called the difference between the parties "enormous." With major hang-ups centering on raises, health insurance costs and the state's ability to outsource work, Bradley put a $3.3 billion price tag on the gulf.
Bradley said the changes the administration is pushing are a direct result of the state's unprecedented budget crisis. He contended proposals were made in good faith to cut overall spending, not because of Rauner's general opposition to unions.
"They were not just trying to save money because there are people who believe in smaller government," Bradley said. "They did this because they were faced with a yawning debt, an enormous debt, a debt so large that no other state in the United States faces something like this."
In an attempt to demonstrate the lengths the administration went to during talks, Bradley detailed numerous meetings between state officials and union representatives that he said stretched over 24 bargaining sessions in 67 days. He noted both sides made concessions on a number of issues, but said talks ultimately broke down on the state's effort to freeze pay and charge employees more for health care.
Bradley pointed to existing case law, saying despite agreements on a wide variety of areas, division on even a single issue is enough for hearing officer Sarah Kerley to declare an impasse "if the issue is critical and led to a breakdown of negotiations."
But Steve Yokich, an attorney for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said the state was too quick to throw in the towel.
The lawyer accused the Rauner administration of purposely staking out extreme positions to force a lockout or strike. He ripped out pages of the current contract to demonstrate benefits and rights Rauner wanted to cut back or eliminate, including doing away with fees unions can charge nonmembers and abolishing so-called "bumping rights" that shield more senior employees from layoffs.
"We think the evidence will show that the parties were not at impasse the day the state walked away from the bargaining table," said Yokich, who added the union had questions on numerous proposals such as bonus pay that the administration never addressed.
"The employer never gave us specifics so it's very hard for us to make counterproposals to move the ball forward," Yokich said. "I think they came to the table with a predetermined resolve not to budge from their proposal."
Yokich also questioned the relevancy of the state's budget crisis in the administration's position, saying it amounts to a "self-inflicted wound" after the 2015 rollback of an income tax increase that blew a $4 billion hole in the state budget. Rauner campaigned on letting the tax start to expire, though he has said he is open to a tax increase if combined with his business-friendly, union-weakening political agenda.
The hearing is scheduled to continue almost daily through the end of May. Eventually, the hearing officer will issue a written decision. But either side can appeal the recommendation to the labor board, which has the ability to overturn it. Rauner appointed four of the board's five members.
Chicago Tribune's Kim Geiger contributed from Chicago.
mcgarcia@tribpub.com
