Come Join Us with AFSCME Council 31

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Scott Walker is coming to Springfield! Yes, Wisconsin’s governor—the man who led the charge to demolish collective bargaining rights for public employees in that state—is coming to our state capitol.

Can you be there on Tuesday, April 17, to make sure Scott Walker knows he’s not welcome in Illinois? Walker will be speaking to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce's annual Lobby Day, with a key focus on cutting public employee pensions. Walker slashed pension benefits in Wisconsin—and now big Illinois corporations want his help to do it here.

Today, public employees in Wisconsin no longer have the right to bargain collectively over wages, benefits and conditions of employment. Their pension benefits are lower and their health insurance costs higher.

We have to make sure that Illinois politicians get the message loud and clear that Scott Walker and his extreme politics are not welcome in our state. We’ll be there at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17, in front of the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield, to make our voices heard. Please join us! Check with your local union about buses, vans or car pools that may be coming from your area.

Whether you can be there in Springfield or not, you can help to “unwelcome” Walker by taking a minute right now to send a message to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Click here to urge the Chamber's board of directors to rescind Walker's invitation.

Scott Walker is spearheading a nationwide movement—backed by the big bucks of the Koch Brothers—to wipe out public sector unions and lower the standard of living of all working families. We can’t let this attack on the middle class go unchallenged. You can help stand up against it in Springfield on Tuesday, April 17.

Sincerely,

Henry Bayer
Executive Director
AFSCME Council 31

Picket line in Peoria

CI News Now
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Statewide Day of Action

Pat Quinn’s Budget Plan is Bad News for Illinois

Here is your chance to tell Quinn what you think of his cuts!


Thursday, March 15

* Pat Quinn says he’s for creating jobs, but his budget would destroy thousands of good Illinois jobs.

* Pat Quinn says he cares about people, but his budget slashes mental health services, care for the disabled and other vital safety net programs.

* Pat Quinn says he’s for public safety, but his budget wreaks havoc on the Illinois prison system.

* Pat Quinn says he’s for tax fairness, but his budget gives tax breaks to big business, while slashing vital services.

On March 15

Join with AFSCME members, families, friends

and concerned citizens throughout Illinois.

2:00 PM - 5:30 PM in front of the Jacksonville Developmental Center on Morton Avenue in Jacksonville, IL

Governor Quinn’s budget plan is bad for Illinois.

It would undermine public safety, harm services for the vulnerable and wipe out thousands of jobs.

Cutting Jobs.
Pat Quinn says his top priority is creating jobs, but his plan would eliminate nearly 3,000 middle-class jobs in communities across the state. State employees who provide important public services would be laid off throughout Illinois, and the ripple effects would be felt by scores of local business and community institutions.

Hurting Health Care and Human Services.
Pat Quinn’s plan would force individuals with severe developmental disabilities out of state centers that provide intensive round-the-clock support and services -- ignoring the pleas of their families. He also wants to shutter two state psychiatric hospitals, which advocates say means mentally ill individuals in crisis will end up in emergency
rooms, on the streets, or in jail. Quinn is trying to close 24 human service offices that provide Food Stamps and Medicaid to people in need, and in the child-protection agency, DCFS, he is ignoring a statewide staffing crisis that puts kids at risk.

Threatening Public Safety.
If Pat Quinn gets his way, two adult prisons and two youth centers will be shuttered, making every other prison more crowded and dangerous. He also wants to close six Adult Transition Centers, letting 1,000 inmates out of prison early -- even as he lays off half the parole agents responsible for monitoring them! Meanwhile, Quinn is trying to close a state police crime lab and move 21 local state police call centers into just four regional hubs, slowing emergency response times acrosshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Illinois. Giving Tax Breaks to Big Corporations. Governor Quinn claims he's cutting public services and thousands of jobs because he can't afford to pay for them. But just two months ago he signed a bill giving hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax breaks to corporations like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Sears -- which turned around and laid off hundreds of Illinois workers.

You can help!

1. Sign our petition at www.NoQuinnCuts.com.
2. Call your state legislator at 888-912-5959.
Tell them Pat Quinn’s budget plan is wrong for Illinois.

Message from Henry Bayer

Brothers and Sisters,

We're fighting with everything we have to stop Governor Quinn's terrible budget plan that would close important state facilities and offices and lay off thousands of employees. All across Illinois, AFSCME Council 31 staff is working with local unions and members like you to build coalitions against threatened closures, reach out to legislators and spread the word through the news media about the harm Pat Quinn's cuts would cause. And we're making plans for our statewide Day of Action to oppose these cuts, set for March 15.

Today we launched a tough new radio ad called "Shared Sacrifice" that is airing statewide, as well as an online petition and a Facebook page dedicated to stopping Governor Quinn's damaging cuts.

I hope you will be among the first to hear the radio spot and sign the petition at NoQuinnCuts.com.

After you have listened to our radio message and signed the petition, please share them with your friends. We all have a stake in saving public services like public safety and care for the most vulnerable -- not to mention protecting good, middle-class, union jobs. And to do that, we all need to get involved and make our voices heard.

In solidarity,

Henry Bayer
Executive Director
AFSCME Council 31