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l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Illinois’ new GOP governor throws down gauntlet in union, spending fight
While Bruce Rauner campaigned for governor of Illinois, he repeatedly
promised change. Opponents, supporters and undecided voters alike complained
he never defined what that change meant.
Now they know.
In his first budget address to the Illinois General Assembly, the new
Republican governor promised deep cuts, to the tune of $6.7 billion. Higher
education, local governments and other state departments are all subject to
the cleaver wielded by the new governor -- and the chronically underfunded
pension system is due for an overhaul.
But Rauner also picked a big fight with the state employee unions, ahead of
his address.
One of his first moves upon taking office was to issue an executive order
blocking “fair share fees.” This is money unions get from the paychecks of
state employees who elect not to be in a union.
“The structure that is currently in place, inside government, forcing
government employees to pay union dues, even if they don’t want to be in a
union -- that is fundamentally unconstitutional and it is against the
American system of freedom of choice,” Rauner told Fox News.
Unions responded by calling the executive order “illegal” and a “scheme”
to strip state workers of their rights.
Roberta Lynch, the director of Illinois’ largest state employee union
AFSCME Council 31, said, “It is crystal clear by this action that the
governor’s supposed concern for balancing the state budget is a paper-thin
excuse that can’t hide his real agenda: Silencing working people and their
unions who stand up for the middle class.”
Professor Martin Malin, a labor law expert at Chicago’s Kent College of Law
, believes the first impact of the governor’s executive order will be the
unification of all organized labor groups around the state and nationwide.
He predicted legal challenges and, since collective-bargaining agreements
expire at the end of June, a statewide strike. “I would not plan on
vacationing in a state park [in Illinois] this summer,” Malin said.
The going has been tough for organized labor in the Midwest. State employees
lost the great battle with Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin. Big
manufacturing states, Michigan and Indiana, adopted right-to-work policies
barring forced union dues. Earlier this month, the Missouri House also
passed a right-to-work bill.
Arguably, the battle in Illinois becomes a fight for survival.
“No question, in the short-term, [Rauner’s] going to lose,” Malin
predicted, speaking to both the legal merits of his executive order and the
passion the new governor is igniting.
Even conservatives are surprised how aggressively Rauner jumped into the
ring. John Tillman, CEO of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute, said
the financier turned governor started more boldly than Walker.
That does not mean conservatives are unhappy. “For the first time in many
years, this budget places the interest of family budgets on an equal footing
with those who directly benefit from state spending,” Tillman said. | a*********a
发帖数: 3656 | 2 yes， follow the success of Scott Walker.
complained
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【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Illinois’ new GOP governor throws down gauntlet in union, spending fight
: While Bruce Rauner campaigned for governor of Illinois, he repeatedly
: promised change. Opponents, supporters and undecided voters alike complained
: he never defined what that change meant.
: Now they know.
: In his first budget address to the Illinois General Assembly, the new
: Republican governor promised deep cuts, to the tune of $6.7 billion. Higher
: education, local governments and other state departments are all subject to
: the cleaver wielded by the new governor -- and the chronically underfunded
: pension system is due for an overhaul.
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