SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – With a contract deadline just one week away, state workers in Illinois are continuing to push for a fair labor agreement.

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) say they are not pleased with Governor Bruce Rauner's proposed cuts in pay and benefits, and his willingness to allow a government shutdown. Anders Lindall with AFSCME Council 31 says a strike is not in the public's best interest.

"We have never had a governor who has made such extreme demands as to give state employees no choice but to force them out on strike for fairness," he says. "That's not what the people want and certainly not what state employees or our union wants."

Contracts also expire on June 30 with several smaller unions representing about 5,000 nurses and police officers. While negotiations have been underway for six months, the governor has remained quiet about contract talks. A spokesperson for the governor recently said Rauner is committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a deal that is fair to both state employees and taxpayers.

If no agreement is reached before June 30, Lindall says the terms of the current contract should be extended while bargaining continues. He adds that state employees are committed to serving the people and providing vital services to communities.

"That includes protecting kids from abuse and neglect, taking care of people with profound disabilities, working in our state parks, and keeping us all safe by investigating crimes and responding to emergencies," he says. "We want to keep doing that work. It's not just a job, but a calling to serve."

There is no formal agreement to extend the contract, but Lindall says bargaining dates have been scheduled for July.



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Saturday is National Postal Workers Day, and new initiatives at the U.S. Postal Service over the last few years have brought changes to the job.

In 2021, the Postal Service announced a 10-year strategic plan titled "Delivering for America" to modernize and revitalize the agency. The plan calls for 95% on-time delivery of all mail types, and two years into the plan, the Postal Service reported on-time delivery has improved across the board. First-class delivery hit a 92% on-time rate for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. Over the last several years while letter volume has declined, package delivery has increased.

Charles Sexton, the National Association of Letter Carriers' administrative assistant for the St. Louis region national business agent's office, said COVID intensified the trend.

"In the pandemic, it emphasized e-commerce even more," he said. "People weren't going out in public, so they wanted everything brought to their door. So, it increased our packages significantly, and it really hasn't fallen off a whole bunch since then."

In fiscal year 2019, the Postal Service delivered what was then a record 6.5 billion packages, but as COVID took hold, that volume shot to 7.9 billion in 2021.

With package delivery now such a large part of Postal Service work, Sexton said the amount of time spent in an office sorting the mail is down sharply.

"Our workday has gone from four hours in an office and four hours on the street to one hour in the office and seven hours on the street, increasing the amount of time that you are subject to the weather and the elements, significantly," he said. "And above that, if they work overtime, they can be out there 9, 10, 11 hours on the street."

The Postal Service has installed 249 package sorting machines over the last two years, and upgraded daily package processing capacity to 60 million units.


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Saturday is National Postal Workers Day, a celebration of the effort it takes to deliver mail across the country.

One of the top concerns for workers in the field is understaffing. Joe Cogan, president of the Portland local of the American Postal Workers Union, said post office workers are struggling to keep up with fewer colleagues.

"Not a day goes by," he said, "where I don't get a phone call from an employee that we represent, one of our local members, saying that their office is understaffed."

There are about 33,000 post offices across the country. A recent report found that the Postal Service faces serious staff shortages because so many employees are quitting. The report said turnover at the agency jumped from 38.5% in 2019 to nearly 59% in 2022.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said short staffing hurts rural communities most.

"It affects the whole system," he said, "but it probably in some ways has even the deepest impact on smaller towns and smaller communities where postal workers are out serving everybody."

Despite the concerns about understaffing, Dimondstein said postal workers run an impressive operation.

"It's 600,000 or so people and it's still an amazing thing," he said. "You can put a 63 cent stamp on a letter and it can go from one side of the country to the other. And it takes a lot of people to make that happen and a lot of dedication to make that happen."

As workers wait for the full Pennsylvania House to vote on whether to increase the state minimum wage, one economist said the increase would be a step in the right direction, but should happen sooner.

This week, a House committee passed House Bill 1500, which would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2026.

Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center, pointed out it would increase the hourly wage more slowly than what has been proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro. He added states bordering Pennsylvania have already taken steps to increase workers' pay before 2026.

"New York and New Jersey are already scheduled to get to $15 an hour by January 1st of next year; they're already over $14 an hour," Herzenberg noted. "The fact that Pennsylvania workers would have to wait a couple more years is a modest increase."

However, Herzenberg thinks it is important for the bill to pass, despite opposition from some Republican lawmakers. He stressed it has been 14 years since the last minimum wage increase. If the bill becomes law, the minimum wage would increase to $11 per hour in January 2024, and $13 in 2025.

Herzenberg does not believe a higher minimum wage would have negative employment effects in the state. He reported new research found some Pennsylvania workers are already crossing into border states to get better-paying jobs. The research looks at a nine-year period from 2013 to 2022, and shows an uptick in employment in New York, in the broad low-wage sector including restaurants.

"You see 50% increase in wages, inflation-adjusted wages, in the leisure and hospitality industry in New York, only 10% in Pennsylvania," Herzenberg outlined. "But you also see the number of jobs in that industry growing faster in New York."

He is convinced raising the minimum wage would help boost jobs and earnings, and would allow workers to better support their families and spend more at local businesses.