State employees held a rally in the Quad Cities today, and several other Illinois cities, hoping to build support for their side of contract talks with Governor Bruce Rauner. Members of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union gathered at the Department of Human Services office in Rock Island.
Carlene Erno is the president of AFSCME Local 2615, which covers 7 counties, 15 agencies, and about 300 state employees. She hopes the state-wide protests this week will convince the governor to compromise, before the current contract expires June 30th.
AFSCME, the state's largest public employee union, has been negotiating with the administration for 6 months. Erno says she can't comment on specific proposals from Rauner, but they would cut budgets and put union jobs in jeopardy.
She hopes for a contract that protects union jobs and ensures fair working conditions.