Illinois Policy Institute: Anti-worker, pro-Rauner

State employees have opened their mail to find a form letter like this one from the Illinois Policy Institute, urging AFSCME members to drop out of the union.

The Illinois Policy Institute wants us to believe it spent all that money on a slick mailing because they're just so concerned about the well-being of state employees.

Really?

Here's the truth about the Illinois Policy Institute:

And more... the IPI:

• Called on the governor to "lay off the entire state workforce and close the pension system".
• Said state employees should take a 27% pay cut because "Illinois government workers are costing the state dearly" with "inflated pay" and "egregious perks" -- based on false statistics.
• Took more than half a million dollars in funding from Bruce Rauner's foundation.
• Pushed for huge hikes in health costs for state and university employees, and to raise health costs for retired state and university employees;
• Argued that “the Illinois Supreme Court can and should change its interpretation of the pension protection clause” or that voters should “end the pension protection clause through a constitutional amendment”;
• Said that “a government shutdown might be exactly what Illinois needs”;
• Issued skewed studies meant to create the impression that state workers are greatly overpaid;
• Supported privatization, calling Sandy Springs, Georgia, “an example of efficiency for Illinois and the rest of the country” because it has privatized all government services except police and fire; and
• Attacked state employees’ union contract because it provides for paid holidays and a fair disciplinary process.

In other words, the well-being of state workers is the very last thing the Illinois Policy Institute cares about.

Its real agenda, of course, is backing Bruce Rauner's attacks on all working people—stripping our rights, driving down our wages, and wiping out the labor movement in Illinois, starting with state government.