Another set of unions have reached contract deals with Governor Bruce Rauner. A press release from Rauner's office proclaims he's agreed to terms on new collective bargaining agreements with electrical workers, boilermakers, bricklayers and painters. In all, 17 collective bargaining agreements have been ratified with Rauner at the helm.
It may give the impression that for all of his right-to-work bluster, Rauner can get along with labor. Rauner's release goes out of its way to make this point, saying these agreements "stand in stark contrast to the ongoing negotiations with AFSCME".
Anders Lindall, a spokesman for AFSCME, says: "It is baldly misleading. The issues on the table are totally different."
In all, Rauner's reached agreements with 5,000 workers; AFSCME says it and other unions still at odds with the administration represent more than 40,000.
