By Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – A professor of labor law said the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ (AFSCME) latest letter to the governor may be another indication it’s trying to hold out for a new governor.

Over 18 months have passed since the state’s largest public employees union, AFSCME, has had a contract with the state. Since then, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office has come to an agreement with 19 other unions, which includes wage freezes.

In a letter AFSCME sent to the governor this week, the union proposes what it called a “settlement framework.” According to the terms, employees would forgo any base wage increases and pay more for health insurance.

University of Illinois Labor Professor Michael LeRoy said the letter seems to play on the union’s strategy “to try to run out the clock during this term for the governor and hope, from their perspective, that they have different leadership in Springfield, at least in the governor’s mansion.”

The union appealed the state labor board’s impasse declaration to the appellate court.

LeRoy said the letter does little to address how far apart both sides are, something courts evaluate when ruling on labor dispute cases.

“Here the gap is immense, and where the gap is immense — even if one side is ceding ground — some courts do rule that the gap is so large that it is functionally an impasse,” LeRoy said. “So, I think there’s a game of rolling the dice here on the union’s part.”

Rauner’s office said AFSCME’s letter is superficial and does not bridge the more than $3 billion gap between the parties.

Instead, the governor’s office said AFSCME should “drop its litigation blocking the administration’s last, best and final offer and work with us on implementing common sense proposals like earning overtime for working over 40 hours in a week, using volunteers and creating workplace safety programs.”

LeRoy said the case ultimately could end up in front of the state Supreme Court — a process that could take months more to resolve.