State workers should embrace the 40-hour week
There it was again Thursday, in the second paragraph of Gov. Bruce Rauner's statement in response to the passage of a strike authorization vote by members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents nearly 40,000 state employees:
"AFSCME leaders would rather strike than work 40 hours a week before earning overtime," said the statement. "They want to earn overtime after working just 37.5 hours per week."
This echoed a complaint Rauner has raised seemingly every time the subject turns to his lengthy standoff with the union in his recent State of the State and budget addresses, for example, and during his recent appearance before the Tribune Editorial Board.
"What a shocking idea," he quipped to reporters last November. "Instead of a workweek of 37.5 hours, let's do what every taxpayer has, a 40-hour workweek. How about that?"
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-afscme-strike-work-hours-rauner-perspec-0224-20170223-column.html