From AFSCME:
Rauner's political assault
defeats fair arbitration bill
By slim
margin, House fails to override veto after unprecedented threats to legislators
Following an intense barrage of false claims about the fair arbitration
bill by the Rauner Administration, naked threats of political retaliation by
the Republican leadership and paid attacks by right-wing super-PACs, the
Illinois House of Representatives today fell three votes shy of the 71 needed
to override the governor's veto and enact Senate Bill 1229.
Although the bill did nothing more than extend to child protection
workers, nurses, caregivers, emergency responders and other state employees the
same independent arbitration process provided to police, fire and other public
safety personnel in Illinois for more than 30 years, the Rauner Administration
justified its veto with an array of false claims about the bill's provisions,
constitutionality and potential cost, as well as unsubstantiated ad hominem
attacks on the independence and fair-mindedness of arbitration professionals.
Multi-million-dollar super PACs allied with the governor -- including
Turnaround Illinois and the Koch Brothers-funded Americans For Prosperity --
flooded legislative districts with robocalls and attack ads that repeated many
of the same false claims, confusing voters about the bill's true intent.
In reality, public service workers and their unions supported SB 1229 to
help avert the potential conflict, hardship and disruption of a statewide strike
or lockout by offering arbitration as an alternative means of resolving
contract disputes between state employees’ unions and the Rauner Administration
if ongoing negotiations fail to produce agreements.
Finally today, House Republican leadership publicly threatened
rank-and-file lawmakers with political retaliation if they voted to enact the
bill--a threat that longtime statehouse watchers called unprecedented in its
brazenness.
“The governor’s ferocious and false attacks on this moderate and responsible
bill clearly show he wants conflict, not compromise," Illinois AFL-CIO
President Michael Carrigan said. "The governor's assault on this bill may
have won the day but poisoned the well for legislators of both parties who want
to work together responsibly to solve problems and serve the people of
Illinois. It is clear that Governor Rauner will stop at nothing to carry out
his scorched-earth agenda against working people, their rights and
well-being."
“Day in and day out, public service workers in state government keep us
safe, care for veterans, protect kids and much more,” said Roberta Lynch,
executive director of the largest union of state employees, AFSCME Council 31.
“State employees don’t want to be forced out on strike, but we’re determined
not to let Governor Rauner undercut workers’ rights, jeopardize workplace
safety or threaten the economic security of working families.”
As a candidate, Governor Rauner repeatedly vowed to “take a strike and
shut down state government for a few weeks” in order to force workers to accept
his extreme demands. More recently, the governor has made stripping the rights
of workers to bargain collectively a precondition of enacting a state budget.
And in a possible signal that he is preparing to provoke a work stoppage, the
Rauner Administration has solicited retirees to serve as strike breakers and
reportedly considered mobilizing the National Guard.
The governor's assault on the arbitration provisions of SB 1229 has now
derailed the best hope of amicably settling union contracts that are fair to
all.
"The Illinois labor movement will remain united," Carrigan
said. "Even though today's outcome is deeply disappointing, we appreciate
that the vast majority of legislators stood with working people and did the
right thing. Our fight to protect the middle class from the governor's extreme
agenda is only just beginning."
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