The state's largest public employee union has asked Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration to flatly state whether contract talks are at a legal standstill.
A letter obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees claims that at a session last Friday, the union made concessions on wages and health care, but Rauner's team declared the year-old talks at impasse.
Administration officials later denied they had mentioned impasse but no further talks are set.
Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly says the letter is full of ``falsehoods'' and that AFSCME needs to ``seriously bargain'' or more talks are useless.
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall says the union stands by the letter's description of events and wants Rauner's ``commitment to compromise.''
The last contract expired June 30.
