By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network
CHAMPAIGN – A professor of labor law says Illinois taxpayers would be the ultimate losers if the AFSCME union were to strike.
Over the next three weeks, members of the state’s largest employees union are heading to the polls to vote on whether to authorize a strike.
University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations in the College of Law Professor Michael LeRoy said the length of time for the vote appears to be a tactic.
“I think this is part of the union’s larger strategy to elevate the pressure, to gain public opinion and put public opinion on their side,” he said.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked a circuit court to reevaluate whether state employees can be paid without a budget.
LeRoy said he doesn’t speak for the union, but having the two events happen within close proximity could be a tactic.
“If Lisa Madigan’s idea comes to fruition, these are folks who are not going to get paid in the middle of February, conceivably, and going out on strike,” LeRoy said, adding that the union probably believes the lack of paychecks would help them garner public sympathy.
However, LeRoy said taxpayers would be the losers if there were a strike because they wouldn’t get access to services they’re entitled to.
“Taxpayers are the losers in the whole deal,” he said. “There’s no question about it. If we have an interruption of work, it’s an awful situation for taxpayers.”
LeRoy said he’s hopeful there could be some resolution, but it’s hard telling what the outcome could be.
“A lot of time in the law we look at things that don’t have a direct precedent but that are analogous,” he said. “We don’t even have an analogous situation to look at here, but it’s a dynamic conflict, meaning it’s changing all the time.”
All the various factors, LeRoy said, would play into the outcome of the union’s appeal of the state labor board’s declaration of impasse — which also said the governor could implement his last, best and final offer.
That decision remains tied up in the courts.
AFSCME hasn’t had a contract with the state since the summer of 2015.
