Union Details State Contract, GOP Says Pact will Smash Budget Surplus
AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch speaks at a news conference in 2017.
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Since the Governor’s office and AFSCME Council 31 agreed on a new contract in the early morning hours of July 1, neither side has discussed the details of the contract publicly. But in a memo to union members from Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch, and obtained by The Illinoize, we’ve learned employees are due to receive 18% in raises over the next three years and a freeze in health care premiums for a year.
The six page document, found here, focuses on wage increases, automatic promotions, filling some of the 8,000 vacancies in state government, time off policies, remote work, and the removal of some COVID-19 vaccination requirements and the penalties that went along with them.
AFSCME represents some 35,000 state employees.
Neither AFSCME or the Governor’s office responded to our inquiries Thursday.
“All of us know well the challenges, risks and hardships that employees have faced over the past years,” Lynch wrote in the letter. “We had barely gotten past the unrelenting assaults on our rights and our paychecks during the Rauner years when we found ourselves confronted with a public health crisis of unpreceded scale and scope.”
The memo outlines a 4% pay raise for employees as of July 1, 2023 and another 2.5% increase on January 1, 2024. Another 4% increase is due July 1, 2024, a 3.95% increase on July 1, 2025, and a 3.5% increase on July 1, 2026. That’s a total rate increase of around 18%, and a compounded wage increase of 19.28%.
Current employees will also receive a $1,200 one-time stipend when the contract is ratified. If that impacts all 35,000 members, it would cost the state around $42 million.
Thirty-seven different job descriptions, totaling “thousands” of employees will receive a pay grade bump and pay increase immediately.
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savana) was critical Thursday night of the potential pressures on the state budget.
“What is clear is the budget plan, as passed by Democrats and published by [the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget], is only carrying a $45 million surplus and has little room for additional spending pressures,” McCombie said. “The $1,200 stipend per worker alone could wipe out any surplus and leaves taxpayers with the burden of funding additional costs associated with this contract.”
The plan also freezes health insurance premium costs in the current (FY24) fiscal year. Premium increases will rise by $10 per month beginning in FY25 and $8 per month in each FY26 and FY27. There will be no cost increases for retirees.
While immediate costs in the current fiscal year aren’t yet clear, leading Republicans to criticize the alleged lack of transparency.
“The administration has ensured the fiscal impact surrounding the generous AFSCME contract is as clear as mud,” McCombie said.
Another major potential point of contention from the two sides has led to a removal of some of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Department of Human Services (DHS) will no longer be required to receive the vaccine, and employees on a leave of absence or layoff for failure to receive the vaccine will be returned to their former jobs. The mandate is still in place in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, but will be reevaluated in three months.
Any employee who faced vaccine-related discipline will have it expunged from their record.
The state has also agreed to end random drug testing for marijuana, except where required by law.
Union ratification votes are expected within the next couple of weeks.
Lynch, in her letter, encouraged employees to ratify the agreement.
“It is an agreement that improves wages across-the-board and through various adjustments [keeps] health care affordable for all,” she wrote. “I encourage you to vote to ratify this new agreement so that we can all continue to move forward together.”