AFSCME, the union representing nearly 40 thousand state employees, is planning to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to take another swing at an opinion justices issued last Thursday.
The decision says unless lawmakers specifically appropriate funding, the state does not have to pay out raises employees had been guaranteed in their contracts. Workers are waiting on about 25-hundred-dollars each.
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall says the union will aim to show arguments that were overlooked or misapplied.
"We have the right to file what's known as a petition for re-hearing, and have three weeks from the date of the decision in which to do that. We intend to file that petition."
Lindall says last week's decision was narrow. The court specifically cited the workers' last contract.
But the ruling has raised questions about Illinois' current status --- in which government employees are receiving paychecks … even though there's no budget.
Lindall says AFSCME's attorneys are preparing in case there's court action on those grounds.
The Attorney General's office will only say that it's reviewing the decision.
