By FarmWeekNow
SPRINGFIELD – Downtown Springfield had the pedestrian version of bumper to bumper traffic on Wednesday as thousands of union supporters marched past the Executive Mansion then rallied outside the State Capitol to protest Gov. Bruce Rauner’s push to change collective bargaining practices.
Anders Lindall of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said the status quo from the governors office isn’t working.
“Bruce Rauner is hurting Illinois,” Lindall said. “It’s time for him to let his hostages go and really join us in making Illinois work for all.”
The march comes on the heels of Rauner’s veto of an arbitration bill that would let an arbitrator set state wages and working conditions if talks between the governor’s office and union negotiators failed. Rauner maintains an arbitrator would be union friendly and would cost him his power to represent taxpayers.
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has responded with a statement: “To solve this problem, we need pro-growth reforms to bolster the Illinois economy, which will be good for workers, companies, state government, and the organizations that state government funds. Otherwise, we will be in an increasingly precarious situation with each coming year. Time is running out. Let’s solve this problem now.”
