Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Illinois State Government began mailing out approximately one hundred layoff notices to state prison guards this Monday, in the first wave of a 1,000-employee cut in the state workforce that will have a major impact on prisons and Department of Health Services facilities. The firings follow through on an announcement by Governor George Ryan two weeks ago, that if the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees did not allow the terms of their current contract to be renegotiated, he would be forced to terminate public sector workers to reduce spending. The union is sticking to its position that with Governor Ryan already proposing a budget to take effect in July that will call for the elimination of over 3,500 state workers, it will not be pressured into making concessions on wages and benefits in return for 1,000 jobs that will be lost regardless of concessions.