Governor Quinn, AFSCME Announce Tentative Contract Agreement

SPRINGFIELD - The Quinn Administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 have reached a tentative agreement on a new union contract covering some 35,000 state employees. Negotiations have been ongoing for more than 15 months.

"At a time when the state is facing unprecedented financial challenges, this agreement is fair to both hard-working state employees and all taxpayers of Illinois," Governor Pat Quinn said. "I want to thank the women and men who have stayed at the table for more than a year for their commitment to reaching an agreement."

"AFSCME is very pleased that we were able to reach an agreement that protects our members' standard of living, and is fair to them and all Illinois citizens, even in these very challenging economic times," AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer said.

AFSCME members must ratify any contract negotiated by their elected bargaining representatives. The ratification process will get under way at worksites statewide during the week of March 4.

Details of the tentative agreement will be released after the union's membership has had the opportunity to review it.