The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

"It is also ignoring its duty under the law to bargain with our union before implementing any layoff or closure plan," Bayer said. "We will defend the rights of AFSCME members and have asked the court to stop the state from going forward with any layoffs or inmate transfers."

Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said she could not comment on pending litigation, but she did say the state will provide help for prison workers and the community as part of the closure process.

"The administration has assembled a task force consisting of social, family, economic, educational and employment services agencies to assist the families, business and the town of Pontiac," Smith said. "We are also in daily communication with representatives in the collective bargaining units."

A court date has yet to be set.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced in May his intention to close the 137-year-old, 1,600-bed, maximum-security prison and transfer about half of the inmates to the new but largely unused prison in Thomson. The state argues the closure will save the state millions of dollars, but local officials fear the loss of nearly 600 jobs at the prison will devastate the area's economy.

In the latest lawsuit, the union alleges the state began the closure process without the required bargaining that would define workers' rights in the process. The union also complains that the state moved the closure date from early 2009 to Dec. 31.

"We've demanded several times over recent months that they make their intentions clear, and they delayed and didn't provide notice of intent to close until very late in the game," said AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall. "And when they finally did so, they moved up the date of closure to Dec. 31 and never told lawmakers."

While Pontiac prison workers have an option to transfer, the open jobs could be all over the state. Relocation would "place terrible strains on AFSCME members and their families, especially given the recent severe slump in the housing and job markets," the lawsuit said.

Employees will hear in meetings Monday about job transfer opportunities, but AFSCME said those meetings are coming before the terms for job transfers have been agreed to.

This is AFSCME's second lawsuit aiming to stop the closure. In September the union, joined by local leaders and some prison workers, sued, alleging the state could not close the prison because the fiscal 2009 budget already had funding for Pontiac prison in it.

That lawsuit is still pending.

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