Union workers take aim at Rauner in rally

Union members from across the metro-east joined American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees members in Collinsville Thursday to rally against Gov. Bruce Rauner, blaming him for the state’s lack of a budget and for pushing his Turnaround Agenda.

The crowd that packed the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 309 hall on Bluff Road held signs and cheered as speakers blasted “Governor Ruiner” over proposed reforms they believe will weaken labor unions.

“Governor Rauner is refusing to sign a fair budget for the services we provide unless lawmakers roll over to his agenda,” AFSCME regional director Eddie Caumiant said. “There’s a lot of lawmakers from this part of the world who are not ready to roll over.”

C. J. Baracevic, a Belleville attorney who is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House seat currently occupied by Republican Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro, told the crowd he was moved at the support shown during the rally.

“What an unbelievably moving position to be in here at a podium in front of a room packed with people who appreciate what it takes to raise a family, what it takes to put food on the table and what it takes to stand up for people whose main desire life is to work for a living,” Baracevic said. “We have seen now what happens when Republican leadership takes over. It is failed leadership at a fundamental level. Their party wants to break the back of working people.”

But according to Rauner’s administration, the very middle class workers who cheered and shouted in support of organized labor Thursday suffer at the hands of the Democrats who rely heavily on them for votes.

Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly wrote in a statement Thursday that “families in the metro-east and across the state are hurting under the 12 years of one-party rule, which has led to a $5 billion structural deficit and the worst credit rating of any state in the country. The status quo cannot continue, and Governor Rauner has proposed a number of reforms to help the next generation, which will free up resources to help balance the budget and protect our most vulnerable. However, the super majority in the legislature continues to block our reforms at the expense of middle-class families.”

Kelly added that the profound fiscal crisis the state is in means “every layer of state government must be evaluated, which includes the employment contracts with state employees.”

Rauner and AFSCME remain in negotiations over a new labor contract. Agreements have been reached between the administration and the state’s other labor groups, but, according to Kelly, “we have seen very little progress and few concessions from AFSCME.”

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Union workers take aim at Rauner in rally."