AFSCME, Mendoza turn up media heat on Rauner over steps
On Oct. 1, Governor Rauner tried to evade a deadline from the Illinois Labor Relations Board to end his illegal three-year freeze on step increases owed to more than 20,000 state employees. The next day AFSCME blasted Rauner in a news release sent to media outlets statewide, and Comptroller Susana Mendoza added a strong public statement of her own.
A raft of news stories followed, with the State Journal-Register, WICS-TV and WAND-TV providing local coverage in Springfield, Champaign, Decatur and elsewhere in central Illinois, while an Associated Press story was picked up by newspapers, TV and radio stations across the state.
In the union’s news release, AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said, “Bruce Rauner isn’t above the law. Our union is going to keep fighting for justice until everyone is paid what they are owed.”
“Governor Rauner cannot use his own ineptitude as an excuse to ignore court orders and trample basic worker rights,” Comptroller Mendoza said in her news release.
“Rauner asks for more time on step pay; AFSCME says governor is stalling” was the headline in the Journal-Register.
“Rauner seeks delay on plan to pay union step increases”, the AP story’s headline read.
“They’ve had plenty of time to prepare and make what is a straightforward calculation,” AFSCME Council 31 Director of Public Affairs Anders Lindall told the Journal-Register. “You could ask any state employee and they could tell you off the top of their head what step they’re supposed to be at.”
Watch the TV coverage:
