The tentative new contract for state workers includes a big incentive for lawmakers to fully fund pay raises.
Under the language of the agreement… posted on Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax Blog website… the contract states that if lawmakers do not appropriate money to pay for wage increases, then workers will not have to pay the higher health insurance premiums also spelled out in the contract.
The deal also calls for workers to receive “step increases” based on years of service, and to pay those increases retroactively. So far, neither the union nor Governor Pat Quinn has put a price tag on the various salary and step increases contained in the three-year deal.
