Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday referred a contract dispute with the largest state employee union to a state labor panel whose members he appoints.

If the Illinois Labor Relations Board determines the two sides have reached impasse, that sets up the possibility of a worker strike.

Rauner and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 31 have been at odds over a new contract to replace the one that expired June 30. The two sides had been negotiating for months under an agreement that neither would initiate a work stoppage without first taking the matter to the labor board.

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Rauner took that step Friday when he asked the board to decide whether or not the state and union are at impasse — a legal term that, if reached, would allow Rauner to try to impose his own terms without a contract deal in place. The union could resist those changes by going on strike.

Both sides contend that the other has refused to continue to negotiate.

The administration said in a news release that the union had “refused to seriously negotiate for the 24th bargaining session in a row on any of the core contract proposals presented” by the governor’s negotiators.

The labor board is a panel of people appointed by the governor. AFSCME has indicated that it might turn to the courts in order to force Rauner back to the negotiating table.