Workers Across Illinois Picket for Collective Bargaining Rights

Thousands of Illinois state workers in AFSCME set up picket lines across the state to protest Governor Quinn’s breaking of their union collective bargaining agreement. Governor Quinn refuses to pay state employees the wages agreed to and signed under contract by both parties.

Illinois AFSCME Council 31 compares recent attacks upon their collective bargaining agreement to attacks against worker rights in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere. A flyer available at the picket lines reads, “Governors [in Wisconsin and Ohio] changed the law to rob workers of their right to bargain collectively. Pat Quinn criticized those governors – but now Quinn himself is trampling on collective bargaining.”

Workers picketed in numerous locations around the state, including in many cities and towns surrounding Bloomington-Normal. They included Springfield, Peoria, Lincoln, Urbana, and Decatur.

Just BloNo traveled to both Springfield and Lincoln to support and document the pickets. Below is video of one of the Springfield rallies.