Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Illinois Labor Relations Board denied Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s request to speed up the determination of whether negotiations with AFSCME Council 31 were at an impasse. Should it be decided that negotiations are truly at a standstill, the governor can take on drastic measures and unilaterally impose conditions of employment on nearly 40,000 workers while the union can decide to go on strike. The governor’s historically anti-union stance has made the Board skeptical of his reasons in requesting an accelerated ruling on the progress of the negotiations as this request is highly unusual and has little to no precedent. AFSCME spokespeople have announced their willingness to go back to the bargaining table while the governor’s general counsel has expressed disappointment with the Board’s decision.