A personal message about this election
With the vitally important and extremely close governor's race coming down to the wire, AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch sent this personal message to all AFSCME members and retirees. She wrote:
This election is about what happens to our union, our rights, and our jobs. It’s also about what happens to vital public services, to our schools, and to our communities for years to come.
In this final stretch, I just wanted to take a minute to remind you why it is so critical that you cast your ballot to stop Bruce Rauner:
- Rauner says he is determined to “take on” AFSCME. He says union members’ pay and benefits are “stunningly generous” and that he’ll shut down the government to force us to accept wage cuts.
- Rauner says he wants to eliminate unions in the public sector, just like Scott Walker in Wisconsin. That’s why AFSCME, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Associated Firefighters of Illinois, the Teamsters, the Laborers, and many other unions are all supporting Pat Quinn for governor.
- Rauner’s a venture capitalist whose firm bankrupted more than a dozen companies, shipped thousands of jobs overseas, cut employees out of Social Security and Medicare, and left a trail of ruined lives in his wake.
If Bruce Rauner wins this election, we could find ourselves without the basic protections of our union contract. We could find our families without the economic security we’ve fought so hard to achieve. We could find our kids and our grandkids facing a future in which the super-wealthy control our entire state.
Please make sure you cast your vote to elect Pat Quinn and to stop Bruce Rauner. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Just as we’ve won so many battles by standing together, we can win this election if we all vote together.
In unity,
Roberta Lynch
Here are some last-minute election resources:
PDF list of AFSCME-recommended candidates you can print and bring with you to the polls
Find your polling place: Click here or text ILVOTE to 228466.