Governor Bruce Rauner and Illinois’ biggest state-employee union have agreed to a two-month contract extension.
The union, known as AFSCME, represents 38,000 men and women — a significant share of the state workforce.
Its contract expired on June 30, but the latest "tolling agreement" will keep workers on the job through at least the end of September.
Nevertheless, AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall says both sides remain far apart on basic issues like wages and health care. "That distance is the result of the Rauner administration’s continued insistence on extreme demands," Lindall says.
Rauner denies that. He did, however, just veto union-backed legislation that would have sent contract disputes to binding arbitration. In his veto message, Rauner also denies that he wants to lock-out workers or prompt a strike.
