Union Workers or scabs at the U. S. Open

Are there going to be scabs replacing union workers at the U. S. Open? A strike was authorized a while back but there doesn't seem to be much info online.

 

Hopefully, the Union workers are still on the job!

 

The State of Illinois has been trying to bust the Unions for quite some time, so far the Unions are banded together and are not letting it happen ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

I didn't know that the ATA was unionized.Does the trap help belong to a union?.What local do they belong to.Maybe it is time for us trapshooters to join the union.We could elect a president and also have a griever to handle our problems.It would be nice to be a Union shooter.What would be a fair price for our union dues.Monthly,yearly ,or by the target.
We could be known as (The Target Shooters of America).We would also only shoot at Union gun clubs.All registered shoots could only be held at Union gun clubs.

 

The president of my local said "as long as you show up for work, you'll have a job for life".

 

The park employees are union. They are responsible for the maintenance of just about everything I think. Pullers and scorers have also been employed by the IDNR.

No skin off my back. Just my 02.

 

The State of Illinois tried to strong arm the Unions more than once, there are so many Unions employees the State would come to a stand still if they ever forced the issue ... I have several friends who worked for the State in one capacity or another and they are all collecting big pensions ... They do more now that they are retired than they ever did when they were working, talk about sweet jobs ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

REPOSTED FROM ANOTHER THREAD ...

1. 
   
   
   • BUDGET + TAX / Article
     May 2, 2017
     Another Band-Aid budget deal won’t fix the financial problems that plague Illinois or stop the state’s credit rating from falling to junk.
     
     Illinois politicians are notorious for making deals in the middle of a crisis that end up being good for the political establishment but destructive for Illinois residents and taxpayers. It’s no coincidence that the author of the famous quote “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste” – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel – hails from Illinois.
     
     Now Illinois is in the midst of its worst fiscal crisis ever, and yet another bad deal is on the horizon. The Illinois Senate’s proposed “grand bargain” would hit Illinoisans with billions in higher taxes because it has no real reforms to address out-of-control spending drivers.
     
     Though politicians are facing pressure to pass any budget plan to avoid yet another credit downgrade, Illinoisans can’t afford another bad deal – and the state can’t afford to try another Band-Aid fix in hopes of staving off the day of reckoning. Bad deals are what got Illinois into its current mess. Instead, the state needs a plan that actually solves Illinois’ structural problems.
     
     ‘Grand bargain’ is more of the same
     
     The state’s past is littered with politicians’ “deals.” Those fixes only papered over the state’s problems, leaving them to fester and develop into worse crises a few years later. That’s been the case for issues such as pensions, workers’ compensation, property taxes and balanced budgets.
     
     Former Gov. Jim Edgar’s 1996 pension ramp was a disaster for taxpayers. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s $10 billion pension bonds let him avoid tackling reforms and left Illinois higher in debt. And former Gov. Pat Quinn’s $32 billion temporary tax hike allowed politicians to increase spending, leaving Illinois on a budgetary cliff when the tax hike expired.
     
     Every one of those deals had something in common – they all avoided fixing Illinois’ structural spending problems.
     
     The Senate’s proposed “grand bargain” is the most recent example. It’s been fueled by frantic calls to “do something” in the middle of the crisis.
     
     Illinois’ real problems run deep
     
     The two-year budget impasse isn’t the real problem in Illinois. The state’s budget gridlock is just the culmination of more than three decades of dysfunction, misplaced spending priorities and fake reforms.
     
     The current stalemate simply exposes the state’s deep structural problems, from the prioritization of state worker compensation and pensions over core services and other programs, to irresponsible borrowing and spending.
     
     Lawmakers cannot solve those problems by hitting Illinoisans with higher taxes.
     
     The truth is Illinois can no longer put off real spending reforms, and more tax hikes will only drive more residents to flee the state and punish those who can’t leave. Lawmakers have to pass a balanced budget that actually solves the state’s structural problems without tax hikes.
     
     Without reforms, Illinois won’t be able to shake off an eventual junk bond rating or get off the path to bankruptcy.
     
     A NOTE FOR OUR READERS:
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     Illinois will reap the fruits of decades of reckless spending and misguided priorities – either now or a few years down the road in the event politicians paper things over with a “grand bargain.” Here’s what Illinois is facing:
     1. A credit downgrade to junk. Credit rating agencies have warned they’ll downgrade the state’s credit – possibly down to junk status. A downgrade will cause all kinds of pain for Illinoisans, the most immediate being the diversion of more of the budget from core services to pay for much higher borrowing costs.But the bigger cost will be, notwithstanding Illinois’ already low reputation. No state has ever been rated junk before.Small businesses, entrepreneurs and families will have to contend with either coming to or staying in a state with a governance structure not unlike those of failed states in emerging markets – corrupt processes, massive deficits, sky-high taxes and out-migration. Families and businesses have 49 other options from which to choose, and all are rated better than Illinois.
     1. Unpaid bills will skyrocket. Illinois currently has nearly $12 billion in unpaid bills, which, under the current impasse, are expected to total nearly $25 billion by early 2019.
        With that staggering pile of unpaid bills, there will be very little choice for the General Assembly but to pay them off by borrowing money. The state’s total long-term debt could nearly double to $53 billion if that happens. That will drive up borrowing costs to unprecedented levels.
     1. Illinois’ borrowing costs will soar even higher. With dramatically more debt and a junk bond rating, Illinois’ borrowing rate would continue to rise compared with AAA-rated states. Neighboring Indiana, Iowa and Missouri are AAA-rated.Today, Illinois borrows money at a 5 percent rate, compared with just 3 percent for states with AAA ratings. That 2-percentage-point penalty already costs Illinois $20 million dollars extra each year for every billion dollars the state borrows – valuable resources that could go toward core government services.With more downgrades potentially on the way, expect that penalty rate to jump and Illinois to divert even more of its budget toward interest costs.
     1. More social programs and other services will be cut. The interest costs alone on $25 billion in new borrowing to pay down the state’s unpaid bills will total $1.25 billion, assuming today’s borrowing rates.That money won’t go to help Illinois’ most vulnerable residents or shore up struggling social services. Instead, that massive amount will go to Wall Street.To understand how big that annual interest payment would be, consider the fact that the Pay Now Illinois coalition of approximately 100 different social and human service groups is suing the state for payment on $161 million of its unpaid bills.That $161 million is just a fraction compared with what Illinois would pay on just the interest on its borrowing by 2019.
     1. Pension costs will continue to grow out of control. Illinois owes $130 billion in state pension debt, up nearly $100 billion from a decade ago. Without real reforms, that crisis will continue to grow.As Illinois’ pension debt rises, so will the cost necessary to keep pensions funded. Illinois already spends nearly $8 billion a year on pension costs – nearly 25 percent of its general fund budget.By 2019, Illinois will have to put another $1 billion annually into pensions instead of funding other core services.
     A bad budget solves nothing
     
     Illinois’ continuing crisis will build pressure for a bad “compromise” deal such as the Senate’s “grand bargain,” which proposes tax hikes as a Band-Aid substitute for necessary reforms.
     
     Illinoisans have already seen that a tax hike won’t solve the state’s problems.
     
     Illinois’ economy, its credit rating and its job market suffered during the 2011-2014 period when Illinois tapped taxpayers for nearly $32 billion during the state’s temporary income tax hike. New money flowing merely relieved Illinois lawmakers from pressure to enact needed reforms to unsustainable cost drivers. Politicians simply spent the funds. And Illinois suffered several credit downgrades during the hike.
     
     
     
     Illinoisans don’t need more painful, counterproductive tax hikes. They need real spending reforms that fix the state’s structural problems.
     
     Only a reform plan that balances the budget without tax hikes can do that.
     
     That’s why the Illinois Policy Institute has provided a reform road map for Illinois government. The plan provides tax relief to struggling homeowners through a comprehensive property tax reform package, implements reforms that begin an end to the pension crisis, and enacts major reforms to spending on health care and government worker compensation.
     WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Wow..I thought we were talking about union scabs working the shooting complex..We went from union pullers and scorers to a financial crisis..Almost like a CPA version ofhe history of Illinois spending and financial problems.When I buy gas for my car I don't care about the financial problems of the refining company that made the gas.I just use the gas..I don't care about the problems of Illinois I just want to shoot the targets.Are gas station employees unionized?? The people of Illinois love their politicians .. because they vote them in every term.Most of these unions support the democrats.And the cycle continues..

 

When I decide whether or not to buy targets and travel to a state to spend money shooting my gun I damn sure care whether the state is a gun hate state. And Illinois is a gun hate state.

 

The point being "DO NOT" expect the State of Illinois to spend (invest) any more money to entertain shooters which are not the favored people in the State of Illinois any way ... If you were in debt clear to here would you be looking forward to going shooting, I think not most of the shooters I know are far more responsible than that ... The last thing the State of Illinois can afford to do is put gas in your car so you can be one of very few who show up for the biggest little show on earth ... If the expenses are not covered by someone, anyone there won't be a shoot because the State cannot afford top open the gates ... State Parks nationwide depend on dollars to stay in existence, no money, (any bodies money) no shoot honey ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

wpt, I believe your statement sums up the issue since it relates to the Original Post.

In a story on January 13, 2017 (updated Jan. 16, 2017), by John O'Connor of the Associated Press (AP) it was reported that the AFSCME Union members were to vote (Jan.30-Feb. 19) to authorize a strike. This, on account the State Labor Board ruled an impasse in negotiations, "allowing the governor to implement his plan and the union to accept it or strike."

The headlines of Les Winkeler's report in The Southern newspaper, dated January 13, 2017 (updated Jan. 18), was entitled "World Shooting and Recreational Complex employees affected by AFSCME layoffs."

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Surprisingly, Mr. Winkeler offers some straight talk in his article of January 19, 2017 of which he called, "Winkeler: State shoots itself in foot again."

Here's the article :

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Few ATA members seem to care about the problems, especially our Delegates, who should have asked for details about the agreement to manage the US Open tournament for the IDNR. Though the ATA accepted this responsibility in August 2016, the written agreement was not available to the public as it was still being finalized as of March 2, 2017 according to the IDNR.

It would be my guess that the ATA will provide the workforce for the US Open and there will be no Union workers involved.

HB

 

The State of Illinois has added to their deficit even though the ATA has made a profit over the years of operation ... I do not recall the numbers (Gross/Net) from last year being posted but I might of missed them being as I have several others things on my mind ... " IF" the State of Illinois stays involved rest assured they will have Union labor on the grounds, if not they will probably operate without organized labor if those displaced are moved to other positions that are Organized while still being employed by the State of Illinois ... I cannot find if they was ever an agreement between the State of Illinois and the Union with regards to employees at the facility (WSRC) , though I cannot imagine one does not exist ... You never know, you know ..? Illinois is about as backasswards as they can get when it comes to spending and their answer is always (always has been) raise the taxes .... They feel they do not spend to much, they just do not charge enough to cover it ... The State lost approx. 40,000 residents in the past year because of increased taxation so the generated income (taxes) to the State has decreased significantly ... WPT ... (YAC) ...