More than 100 nurses at Illinois prisons have received layoff notices telling them their jobs are being privatized.
The Associated Press obtained a letter Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration sent to Alice Johnson, executive director for the Illinois Nurses Association. It says the state will hire contract nurses and that the unionized nurses will be laid off June 15.
Johnson told the AP the layoffs are an attempt to ``bully and intimidate'' the nurses in retaliation for rejecting a contract agreement last year.
A spokeswoman for Rauner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Johnson says the administration has no authority for the action. The union filed an unfair labor practices complaint with state regulators last week. It demands that Rauner keep negotiating with the union.
