Union leaders say Governor Bruce Rauner's move to end negotiations with Illinois' largest state employees union is frustrating and capricious.
On Friday ... Rauner announced that he was seeking an impasse in talks with AFSCME after roughly a year of talks.
Public school teachers aren't directly affected.
But Dan Montgomery -- who heads the Illinois Federation of Teachers -- says some of its members do work for the state.
Mongtomery says it was a knock to labor, especially given that it happened heading into Martin Luther King weekend.
"Martin Luther King was killed going down to Memphis, Tennessee to do what? To stand with public employees - garbage, sanitation workers -- who were striking in Memphis ... You know 40 years later or so ... we're in an environment where the governor of Illinois is just using public employees, casting such disrespect on public employees, and you just shake your head."
But Republican leaders are sticking with Rauner. The top Republican in the Senate -- Christine Radogno -- points out that the administration has succeeded in reaching agreements with 17 other unions. She says that shows the governor can compromise with labor.
