Secretary of State Annual Report

With Governor Blagojevich slashing 26 million dollars from the Secretary of State budget, members were facing the threat of layoffs, facility closings, and furlough days. The Union met with representatives from the Secretary of State to negotiate the effects of the devastating budget cuts. Through many discussions the Union was able to prevent any layoffs and facility closings as well as reduce the number of furlough days down from seven days to four days. It was also agreed to allow members to take the furlough days in half day increments and to spread the days out over two periods: two are to be used by January 01, 2009 and two are to be used by July 01, 2009. As part of the agreement, Secretary of State also agreed that there will not be any threat of layoffs during the rest of the fiscal year as long as the budget is not cut any further.  Although no one likes taking furlough days, the result of this agreement far outweighs the devastating effects that layoffs and/or facility closings would have had. 

The Union has also been actively pursuing the issue of Secretary of State eliminating the 4-day work week. SOS takes the position that they have the right to eliminate the schedules, while the Union contends that the 4-day work week is established in the contract and they can't eliminate the schedule. During contract negotiations, SOS never made any proposal to eliminate the language that established the 4-day work week even though the Union took the position that if they wanted to eliminate it, they had to negotiate it.  The case went to arbitration on November 19, 2008; the Union is still awaiting the arbitrator's decision.