Union Membership Way Up Among Illinois Employees

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Even as the governors of Wisconsin, Ohio and several other states go after employee unions, a new report says union membership among state employees is growing in Illinois.

In the past eight years, more than 10,000 Illinois state employees have unionized.

If all pending requests are approved, nearly 98 percent of state workers would be unionized. Of a total of about 50,000 state employees, only 1,700 who are in supervisory positions would be non-union.

The Associated Press reports the surge of state employee union membership in Illinois worries even Democratic lawmakers, because it might harm effective management of government.

Gov. Pat Quinn's office is pressuring a key union to give up several thousand new members. If that effort fails, Democrats will likely resurrect legislation that would limit union-eligible jobs and rescind union membership for several people.

Wisconsin drew national attention in recent months for going in the opposite direction, with Gov. Scott Walker's budget provision that stripped unionized state employees of nearly all collective bargaining rights.

Despite protests that went on for weeks and the 14 Democratic state senators hiding out in Illinois to forestall a vote, lawmakers passed the bill and Walker signed it into law. Republicans published the law over the weekend, despite a temporary restraining order by a judge following a lawsuit by Democrats.

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