ON THE
1
1
#147 • JUNE-JULY 2012
Chicago , IL
PAID
Permit No. 112
U.S. Postage
Non-Profit Org
Illinois Council 31—American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees—AFL-CIO
Protest
targets
Emanuel
health cuts
See page 4
2 On the Move June-July 2012
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
On the Move
Time to fight back —
We have to tell
our story
AFSCME Illinois On the Move is
published 8 times annually by
Illinois Public Employees Council
31 of the American Federation
of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO. Send
correspondence to:
lcohen@afscme31.org
or:
AFSCME, On the Move,
205 N. Michigan Ave., 21st Floor,
Chicago, IL 60601
Henry Bayer, Executive Director
Roberta Lynch, Deputy Director
Linc Cohen, Editor
Dolores Wilber, Designer
Public employees don’t deserve the attacks we’re getting
B
usiness leaders, editorial writers, antigovernment elected officials – all have
their sights set on us. They want our
wages cut, our pension slashed, even our
basic right to bargain eroded.
w
BY
H E N RY B AY E R
WE HAVE
THE TRUTH
ON
OUR SIDE.
Cover photo Illustration
by Linc Cohen
THERE ARE GUNS BLAZING AT PUBLIC
EMPLOYEES FROM EVERY DIRECTION.
And the arms suppliers – the
infamous Koch brothers, noted
backers of the nefarious Badger
State Gov. Walker; the corporatefunded ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council; and
others of their ilk – have the
deepest of pockets.
Here in Illinois the Civic Federation, the Commercial Club of
Chicago, Caterpillar CEO Douglas Oberhelman, and even the
owner of Jimmy John’s, whose
pockets are stuffed with as much
bread as his sandwiches, have all
provided firepower to bombard
public-sector workers. And politicians from both parties have
enlisted in their army.
Only four years ago, after
having brought the economy to
its knees, the bankers, hedge
fund managers and other magnates of the financial world were
in disrepute for the destruction
they wrought. But these honchos
didn’t slink off into the corner
and allow themselves to be exiled
for their misdeeds. Instead they
deftly pivoted to aim the guns,
which had been pointed in their
direction, at us.
All of a sudden the people
who destroyed millions of jobs
are calling themselves “job creators.” Suddenly, the sluggish
economy wasn’t the result of
reckless investments or an unsustainable housing bubble.
No, according to their narrative, the problem is the burden
imposed by public employees,
whose all-powerful unions had
achieved compensation levels the
public could no longer afford.
First, they went after the bargaining rights of teachers, then
pensions for new hires, then pensions for current employees; then
pensions and insurance benefits
for all retirees. And thanks to a
compliant legislature and a
supine governor, they are making
steady gains.
On the surface it may all
seem inevitable. It isn’t.
Despite the millions of dollars spent to attack teachers, and
Mayor 1% Rahm Emanuel’s use
of the bully pulpit, teachers
remain widely popular among
Chicago voters.
Similarly after spending millions of dollars trying convince
the public that our pensions need
to be slashed, polls show that,
while voters think we should pay
more for our retirement, there is
not broad support for cutting
benefits.
The problem for us is that
we haven’t yet been able to get
the real facts out to the public.
Illinois is indeed in a deep
financial hole, and that provides
the justification for cuts to
employee pay and benefits, as
well as to health, education and
public-safety programs.
Emanuel is trying to convince Chicago taxpayers that the
choice is cutting vital services or
raising property taxes to pay for
pensions. Gov. Quinn and legislative leaders are peddling the
same message: it’s either lower
benefits for employees or fewer
services for the public.
If those were the only alternatives we would be doomed.
They’re not.
Two-thirds of Illinois corporations pay not a dime in state
income tax; and even those who
do pay something get government handouts they don’t need.
Take one example: last year
the State of Illinois gave the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange an
$85 million tax break. If that
money, which now goes into
already-full pockets of a relative
handful of CME shareholders,
were appropriated into the pension funds, it would generate $98
billion.
The list of such giveaways
abounds, yet no one’s saying the
state can no longer afford these
handouts to folks who don’t need
them.
Our state’s tax system is
upside down. When you factor in
income, sales, property and other
taxes, low- and middle-income
folks are paying a higher percentage of their paychecks than people at the top. That needs to be
changed.
The corporate chieftains
who complain about Illinois taxes
and sing the praises of Indiana
fail to mention that, according to
a recent study, if the Land of Lincoln adopted its neighbor’s tax
structure Illinois would have $6
billion more each year to help
fund education, public safety and
other vital services.
Rich people aren’t paying
their fair share of taxes, and that’s
robbing Illinois citizens of the services they need.
We need to do as the corporate chieftans did after taking
some heavy body blows. We need
to come back swinging.
We don’t have their deep
pockets, which pay for a nonstop
media barrage and gain them
access to a lot of back rooms, but
we do have the truth on our side.
And we have a public with the
same interest as us in continuing
vital services and with a sense of
fairness that’s not part of the
other side’s calculations.
It’s going to be up to every
one of us, in whatever way we can,
to tell our story — to remind our
friends and neighbors of the vital
work we do, to stop being put on
the defensive and to take the
offensive against politicians who
are shielding the wealthy and
dumping on us. We’re not the
problem, we’re a very big part of
the solution.
Council 31 Executive Board Officers
STATE EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Lori Laidlaw, Dixon CC
Local 817
CITY/COUNTY EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Carmin Willis-Goodloe, Cook County
Hospital, Local 1111
PRIVATE SECTOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Yolanda Sims, Hope Institute
Local 2481
UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Dorinda Miller, U of I Clericals,
Local 3700
SECRETARY
Barney Franklin, City of Chicago,
Local 2946
TREASURER
Rob Fanti, Sheridan CC, Local 472
Board Members
S TATE C ONFERENCE B OARD CO-C HAIRS
Gloria Arseneau, (RC-14),
Northeastern Illinois State employees,
Local 2794
David Ford, (RC-63), Murray DC,
Local 401
Randy Hellman, (RC-6)
Pinckneyville CC, Local 943
REGION I V ICE -P RES IDENTS
(COOK AND L AKE COUNTIES )
Patricia Ousley, Department of
Employment Security, Local 1006
Ed Schwartz, Cook County DCFS,
Local 2081
Eva Spencer-Chatman, Chicago Read
MHC, Local 1610
Laverne Walker, City of Chicago,
Local 505
Kevin Johnson, city of Evanston,
Local 1891
REGION II V ICE -P RES IDENTS
(NOTHERN I LLINOIS )
Gary Ciaccio, Shapiro DC, Local 29
Ralph Portwood, Stateville CC,
Local 1866
Garry Cacciapaglia, city of Rockford,
Local 1058
REGION III V ICE - P R ES IDENTS
(CENTRAL I LLINOIS )
Gary Kroeschel, Sangamon County
State employees, Local 2224
Matt Lukow, Springfield Area State
employees, Local 1964
David Morris, Illinois State employees,
Local 805
Cameron Watson, Jacksonville CC,
Local 3549
Trudy Williams, Fulton County Sheriffs
Dept. & Courthouse, Local 3433
REGION IV V ICE -P RES IDENTS
(S OUTHERN I LLINOIS )
Cary Quick, Choate MH/DC, Local 141
Barb Reardon, Southern Illinois State
Employees, Local 1048
Trus tees
Ken Kleinlein, (RC-6) Western CC,
Local 3567
Kathy Lane, Northwestern Illinois State
Employees, Local 448
Tom Minick, Moline Schools, Local 672
Retiree Chapter 31 Repres entativ e
Virginia Yates
On the Move June-July 2012 3
STATE BUDGET
Fight continues
for state services and jobs
warned that the new setting
lacked sufficient staff to
ensure safe transfers in and
out of bed and a wheelchair.
Those concerns were ignored.
Critical services
could be lost
A
fierce battle by thousands of AFSCME
members rages on despite adoption
by the General Assembly of a FY 2013
budget with adequate funding to keep open
the 14 state facilities Gov. Pat Quinn had targeted for closure.
w
AS OTM WENT TO PRESS, THE
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE INSISTED
THAT HE WOULD MOVE FORWARD
with most of the closures,
despite the General Assembly’s efforts to prevent them.
The budget won’t take its
final shape until signed by the
governor, or even longer if he
uses his veto pen to make
changes.
But employees at a number of the facilities slated for
closure have already received
layoff notices, and plans to
shut down operations are proceeding without regard for
the consequences to affected
employees or the vital services
they provide.
AFSCME lobbyists and
thousands of members
worked intensively over the
past months to prevent the
damage that Quinn’s original
budget proposal would have
wrought. They won a huge
victory when the General
Assembly restructured the
budget to come up with the
funds to prevent the closures
and the loss of more than
2,000 jobs in communities
across Illinois.
Lives hanging
in the balance
NOW AFSCME MEMBERS AND
legislators alike are angry and
frustrated that Quinn seems
prepared to try to override
the will of the legislature.
A June 19 news conference in Carbondale included
Sen. Gary Forby, state Reps.
Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro,
and Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, and more than 100
AFSCME members. Speaking
out against the slated closure
of several downstate facilities,
Rep. Phelps expressed the
outrage that many feel: "I
think that's absolutely a slap
in the face for Southern Illinois and Downstate Illinois.…. he keeps saying he's
the 'jobs governor'. How can
you call yourself the 'jobs governor' when you want to cut
over 500 jobs in Southern Illinois?"
In the weeks after the legislature adjourned, operations
at the facilities slated for closure were in chaos, with no
clear plan of action and lives
hanging in the balance.
At Jacksonville Developmental Center, for example, a
private agency which has been
hired to find new placements
for the individuals who live
there was rushing into transitions at a dangerous and irresponsible pace.
AFSCME members report
that in one instance, an individual moved out by the contractor fell from a lift and suffered a broken femur that
required surgery and hospitalization. Staff at JDC had
OTHER BUDGET-RELATED
developments include:
• At Tinley Park Mental
Health Center, employees
have already been laid off,
with over half able to move
into positions at nearby facilities. The individuals Tinley
served will supposedly have
access to health care in the
private sector, but no sound
policies were put in place to
ensure that such care will be
available. A lawsuit by mental
health advocates seeking to
assure such services was rejected by the courts.
• Singer MHC is also targeted
for closure, but the administration has not begun the closure process.
Murray Center fate
uncertain
Adult Transition Center in
Carbondale.
• Dwight CC and ATCs in
Decatur and Chicago are also
slated for Aug. 31 closures.
• IYC Joliet is scheduled to
close Oct. 31.
State Treasurer Dan Rutherford said these moves are “not
good for public safety. When
you close down major facilities like that, what you are
doing is putting more people
into a system that's already
overcrowded. With that you
add … more danger to the
inmates themselves and to the
staff that work there."
• The Peoria and Fox Valley
ATC closures have been
indefinitely postponed and
are not part of any pending
layoff plan, according to statements from the governor’s
office.
State parks
and recreation areas
in limbo
Family Services than the governor’s original budget plan.
The $25 million staffing
reduction could result in
more than 375 layoffs seriously hinder the state’s ability to
safeguard children. The
union is reaching out to other
concerned groups to build
support for restoring these
funds.
“I urge you to direct
DCFS to refrain from making
the cuts that the budget as
enacted would entail and to
instead notify the General
Assembly that you intend to
request a supplemental
appropriation to allow DCFS
to retain its proposed headcount and remain legally
compliant,” Council 31 Director Henry Bayer said in a letter to the governor. “To do
otherwise puts the safety of
children at risk, as well as
jeopardizing the legal position of the state of Illinois.”
A long fight ahead
• LEGISLATION TO EXPAND THE
use of fees by the Department
of Natural Resources died in
the final days of the legislative
session, but the final budget
as approved will be sufficient
• THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S
Human Services budget allocates
money
that can
be used
either for
facility
operations or
transition
to the
commu- Champaign-area union members protest cuts
to the State Police telecommunications centers.
nity.
The closure
process at
Murray
DC, originally slated for 2014,
DHS facilities:
has not yet been started.
• The legislature’s budget
No clear plan of action
does include adequate fundand lives
ing for the Animal Disease
hanging
Laboratory in Carbondale.
in the balance.
The governor’s office refused
to confirm whether the lab
and Murray closures would go
forward, saying a final deterto maintain the agency’s curmination would be made
rent services and staffing.
shortly.
• Consolidation of State
• The Carbondale Forensic
Police telecommunications
Laboratory’s fate is uncertain, was modified, with the budget
but the budget for the forenfunding 15 sites, down from
sic division was cut.
the current 20 but more than
the governor’s proposed
Correctional, Juvenile
reduction to four sites.
Justice facilities
DCFS cutbacks puts
• THE ADMINISTRATION HAS
children at risk
indicated it is moving forward
with closure plans for MurLEGISLATORS CRAFTING THE
physboro Youth Center,
final budget decided to make
Tamms Correctional Center
much steeper cuts to the
and the Southern Illinois
Department of Children and
THE CLOSURES AND LAYOFFS ARE
part of a strategic thrust in an
ongoing war to wipe out Illinois’ long, proud history of
providing a wide range of critically needed,
high-quality
public services.
More battles
are on the horizon, with many
legislators,
much of the
major media
and Gov. Pat
Quinn all promoting deep
state spending
cuts, claiming
the state can no
longer afford to
provide a first-class education
to all its children, safe communities for working families
or social services for those in
need.
“It’s a trend that can only
be reversed by getting the
state’s wealthiest families and
biggest corporations to pay
their fair share of taxes,” said
John Cameron, Council 31
director of political and community affairs. (See FebruaryMarch On the Move, page 14:
“Fairer taxes needed to fix
state’s budget woes.”)
AFSCME will continue to
work with concerned legislators to “build the broadest
possible support to preserve
jobs and vital services and to
prevent budget cuts that
would harm dedicated
employees and the important
services they provide,” Bayer
vowed.
4 On the Move June-July 2012
CHICAGO
Laid off library workers recalled;
sad news in mental health
clinic fight
mobilize clients of the city’s
clinics, gained national attention when they marched
through city streets to Mayor
Rahm Emanuel’s front yard.
And a group led by STOP
was continuing to occupy a
vacant lot across from a shuttered city clinic in Chicago’s
Woodlawn neighborhood.
"Clients have reported
problems securing appointments
with new
Morley had predicted that she private
would die without the services providers
and many
she was getting at her neighare not
borhood clinic. Shortly after
the city went through with the getting
closures, her prediction came the
sevices
true. (See a clinic therapist’s
they
thoughts on this heart-rendneed,"
ing loss, at right).
according
But the clients, advocates
to the
and clinic workers haven’t
Mental
given up the fight to reverse
Health
the city’s retreat from providMoveing mental health services.
ment.
Meanwhile seven Chicago
A march on
Department
of Public Health
the mayor’s house
neighborhood clinics, which
provide primary medical care
SOME 800 SUPPORTERS, ORGAto
low-income and uninsured
nized
residents,
by the
were
Mental
turned
Health
over to
Moveprivate
ment
vendors
and
at the
STOP,
end
of
a South
June.
Side
The
comEmanuel
munity
adminisgroup
tration
that has AFSCME members spoke out at a mental Health
“wants to
Movement
news
conference
outside
of
City
Hall.
helped
H
elen Morley,
who said she
was fighting
for her life in the
battle to keep city
of Chicago mental
health clinics from
closing, lost her
battle.
w
A troubled soul,
an advocate, a role model
A
mental health clinic therapist writes about the late Helen Morley,
a woman who struggled with mental illness for years yet managed to become a powerful advocate for the city services that she
found life-saving.
Suddenly last week, Helen Morley died. Ms. Morley spoke
repeatedly and publicly about how she counted on CDPH
employees in general, and AFSCME members
in particular, to help sustain her modest quality of life.
Seemingly, she was pleased with their
efforts. For at least 14 years, she spoke at
dozens of community forums, budget hearings, town halls and aldermanic settings to
emphasize the difference CDPH mental
health services had made in her life. Just this
spring, she was arrested and jailed in her
efforts to bring attention to the need to sustain the city mental health clinics.
What she provided was a face and voice
for hundreds in the city and state who were
equally vulnerable, but less capable of expressing their considerable needs.
While there are numerous organizations
who nobly advocate for persons like her, what she provided was
an unfiltered, first-hand account of her plight, and the public services that helped her to cope with it. She had been advocating
for so many years, she was occasionally a role model for those
who otherwise would have never considered joining a similar
cause.
These persons can express the need for strong public services with more eloquence (and maybe sympathy) than we could
ever do on our own. Rarely has there been a greater need to
develop alliances with those we have historically served.
get out of the business of providing health services,” Local
505 President Laverne Walker
said.
Laid-off library workers
called back
WITH BOOKS PILING UP WAITING
to be shelved and overtime
costs mounting, the Chicago
Public Library has moved to
recall 80 employees who were
laid off last winter in the wake
of budget cutbacks.
The employees are library
pages, part-time workers
whose main job is reshelving
books. The move came after
the union, which has been
steadily pressing for recalls,
presented documentation
showing that overtime costs
have significantly increased,
with other, higher-paid library
employees being forced to
take over the work of shelving
books.
The union is continuing
to press for the recall of the
remaining laid-off pages.
Pressure from patrons
makes a difference
“PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY,
library patrons and union members have been putting pressure
on this administration,” Local
1215 President Carl Sorrell said.
“We have demonstrated that
pages are important to how the
library runs.”
The Emanuel administration had originally proposed
laying off more than 250
library employees and drastically reducing branch hours.
Public outcry eventually led to
the cutbacks being significantly scaled back.
Bringing back the pages
will result in significant benefits to library patrons, giving
them access to more of the
system's books and freeing up
other library staff, who will
have more time to answer
questions, provide guidance
and conduct popular programs.
“The branches are now
back up to 48 hours for the
summer,” Sorrell noted. “We
are hoping that will continue
in the fall.”
City bargaining team focuses
on privatization
I
f AFSCME members were hoping that
the end of the Daley era would mean
easier negotiations with the city of
Chicago, those hopes were dashed even
before voters had chosen his successor.
wFrom the very start of his
RAHM EMANUEL WAS THE PRESUMPTIVE WINNER FAR IN
ELECTION DAY, YET
he still saw the campaign as a
chance to launch attacks on
city employees, and he hasn’t
let up since.
ADVANCE OF
reign, Chicago’s new ruler
began delivering on his antipublic-worker promises – taking raises away from teachers
and demanding that they
work longer hours without
compensation; demanding
takeaways and furlough days
from city employees and signaling his intention to continue and accelerate the outflow
of city jobs into the private sector.
Now AFSCME members
who work for the city have
begun bargaining for a new
contract to replace the one
that was scheduled to expire
June 30 and is now temporarilly extended.
And one of their highest
priorities is to put strict limits
on the city’s ability to privatize
AFSCME jobs.
An outflow of taxpayer
dollars
“IN MY OPINION PRIVATIZATION is
out of hand,” said Local 2946
President Barney Franklin.
“The new mayor says privatization would be good for the
taxpayers of Chicago, but he’s
putting those very taxpayers
out of work.”
Franklin noted that city
employees are required to live
in Chicago, where they pay
taxes, shop at local stores and
contribute to their communities. But contractors can hire
workers who live anywhere in
the region, giving the work to
people who don’t have the
same commitment to the city.
“Our tax dollars are leaving the city at an accelerating
rate,” Franklin said. “We need
a stronger provision in the
contract to stop that.”
City services are suffering,
too, he said, as experienced
Continued on the facing page
On the Move June-July 2012 5
Judge sends state pay case / back
to arbitrator
A
FSCME’s legal
battle to get
contractually
mandated pay raises
into the pockets of
some 30,000 state
employees took
another turn on
Monday, July 2, in its
tortuous trip through
the state’s legal system.
COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
JUDGE RICHARD BILICK read his
ruling in court remanding the
case back to Arbitrator Benn for
a fact-finding proceeding as to
the state’s ability to pay the
increases.
Though he had not yet
issued a written ruling at press
time, Billick said, in essence,
that he was upholding the
union’s argument that the state
is contractually obligated to pay
the increases, and sent it back to
the arbitrator to determine the
w
Continued from the facing page
civil servants are replaced with
less qualified contractual
employees. “We used to have
civil engineers to oversee all
new sewer work. We lost
those. We lost a microbiologist, who worked on testing
drinking water. We’ve lost a
lot of support staff, clerical
and data entry operators.”
Health services
on the chopping block
ANOTHER AREA WHERE PRIVATIzation is a major concern is in
Public Health.
“Privatization has hit this
department hard,” Local 505
President Laverne Walker.
“The mayor and the commissioner are disrespecting our
clients and the employees
who have given years to providing services to these
clients.”
Walker said the adminis-
tration
“wants to
get out of
the business of providing
health services.”
To get
that done,
she said,
“They are
giving misinformation about
what the
private agencies can do to
pick up these services.”
Seeking a bar to
privatization
GIVEN THE ALL-OUT DRIVE FOR
privatization, the union will
push in the contract negotiations to put up a “Stop” sign
on privatization.
But getting agreement on
that proposal, as well as maintaining the economic security
that union members have
worked so hard to achieve,
will be a big challenge in the
present climate.
Negotiations got underway in early June and will
focus initially on strengthening job rights, before tackling
wages, benefits and other economic issues. Members of the
negotiating
committee
know they’ve
got a long
road ahead.
“I don’t
see negotiations going
very quickly,”
Franklin said.
“We think
there will be a
slew of things
they want us
to give back.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll get it.”
Walker sees the current
contract battle as “the hardest
fight we’ve ever had. This
mayor intends to take everything he can. Our members
will have to stand stronger
than they’ve ever stood
before. If we do, we may not
get everything we want, but we
can get more than he intends
to give us.”
extent of the state’s liability,
based on current appropriations
and the state constitution.
"State employees are understandably frustrated by the delay
in securing the pay they're entitled to," Council 31 Director
Henry Bayer said. "We are prepared to make our case before
the arbitrator and hopeful that
justice will prevail when we do.
State employees repeatedly
deferred pay to save the state
hundreds of millions of dollars,
and it's long past time Pat Quinn
kept his end of the bargain."
After turning in briefs on
March 26, attorneys for the
union and the state were in
Cook County Circuit Court for
a June 26 hearing on the case.
The case originated when
Gov. Pat Quinn announced in
early 2011 that he was withholding the contractually obligated
raises and step increases because
of inadequate appropriations by
the General Assembly.
Council 31 immediately
took the matter to arbitration,
where Benn ruled that the state
was in violation of the collective
bargaining agreement and
ordered that the raises be
paid. Rather than complying with the arbitrator's
order, the Quinn administration filed an appeal in
Cook County Circuit Court.
AFSCME filed a
counter-suit asking for a ruling to affirm the arbitrator’s
decision and order payment
of the raises. The suit and
counter-suit were combined
into a single case.
In a related action, a
Federal Court of Appeals
upheld a District Court decision
dismissing Council 31's lawsuit,
which alleged that the state of
Illinois' failure to pay a negotiated wage increase violated the
U.S. Constitution.
The Appellate Court, in
its May 17 decision, held that
the state was immune from suit
in federal court because the
union's lawsuit was seeking
monetary relief. The court also
held that the lawsuit did not present a federal constitutional
issue. It noted that AFSCME had
successfully pursued a grievance
to arbitration over the state's
breach of contract and that the
state's defense to enforcement
of the favorable arbitration
award was based upon a state
law that existed prior to the
contract.
“We knew this would be a
long and bumpy road,” Council
31 Director Henry Bayer said
about the legal efforts to enforce
the contract’s pay provisions.
“We will pursue justice as long
and as far as it takes.”
6 On the Move June-July 2012
Romney: ‘Cut back on government’
and take on unions
H
e comes
from the 1
percent. His
campaign is being
funded by the 1 percent. And the policies he’s backing will
surely serve the 1
percent.
w
MITT ROMNEY IS NO FRIEND OF
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. HE RECENTLY CRITICIZED PRESIDENT OBAMA
for supporting aid to state
and local governments, saying: “[Obama] says we need
more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. … It’s
time for us to cut back on government.”
And Romney has made it
clear that he’s no friend of
working families or the
unions that they rely on to
give them a voice on the job
and in the political arena.
Instead, he blames unions for
the nation's economic troubles.
• "Labor has asked for too
much and business people
have exceeded their demands
only to see the business ultimately fail," he told the Ames
Tribune's economic board
last December. "That's what
happened to GM and
Chrysler. The demands of
labor unions over time killed
those businesses and made
America become less competitive."
• “Labor unions reduce
investment and slow job
growth,” his website claims,
citing “non-partisan scholars.”
• “Too often, unions drive up
costs and introduce rigidities
that harm competitiveness
and frustrate innovation,”
according to the website’s
“Labor” section.
• “By guarding against coercion and intimidation in the
workplace, we can secure the
rights of employers and
employees alike and protect
our economy from harm.”
Labor policy designed to
secure the rights of employers?
wrong with education?
“I want there to be action
taken to get the teacher
unions out,” he has said.
On public employees,
Romney promises: “We will
stop the unfairness of government workers getting better
pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve."
give in to the UAW, and I sure
won’t.”
Yet the auto companies
have already paid back most
of what they owe the government. Union workers made
significant concessions to save
their jobs and the U.S. industry. And U.S. car sales are
booming.
No help for auto
Right to work – for less
HE OPPOSED THE PRESIDENT’S
plan to rescue the failing auto
industry, saying, “You can protect a great industry like automobiles without having to
Cut government
worker pay
ROMNEY’S ANALYSIS OF WHAT’S
50%
much lower in the 22 states
that have passed these antiunion measures: “Romney
believes that Right-to-Work
legislation is the appropriate
course for states, and he will
use the bully pulpit of the
presidency to encourage
more states to move in that
direction.”
Here are some of the
other points in his labor
policy:
HERE’S WHAT ROMNEY’S WEBsays about “right to work”
legislation, the laws that
unions call right-to-work-forless, because wages are so
• “Reverse executive orders
issued by President Obama
that tilt the playing field
toward organized labor,
including the one encouraging the use of union labor on
major government construction projects.
• “Prohibit the use for political purposes of funds automatically deducted from
worker paychecks,” thus
undermining labor’s political
voice by weakening its voluntary political action committees, like AFSCME’s PEOPLE
program.
SITE
Asunionmembershipgrew,
incomesbecamemoreequal;
thenunionscameunderattack
andincomeinequalityrose.
40%
30%
20%
10%
unionmembership
shareofincomegoingtothetop10percent
0%
1918
1928
1938
1948
ChartcourtesyofEconomicPolicyInstitute
1958
1968
1978
1988
1998
2008
On the Move June-July 2012 7
Legisative session:
One of the toughest in a long time
T
he spring legislative session ended on
May 31 with a state budget that
included funding for all currently
operating state facilities; passage of a bill
that paves the way to shift significant
health-care costs onto state and university
retirees; and a temporary standoff on
attempts to cut pension benefits.
Legislative
w
director Joanna Webb-Gauvin
IN ADDITION, THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY TOOK ACTION ON A
said.
NUMBER OF BILLS OF INTEREST
to AFSCME members, some
that the union opposed and
others that it supported. (See
page 3 for more on the state
budget and pages 8-9 and 14
for a look at the battle for
retirement security.)
Some notable successes
and some hard-to-take setbacks marked a session that
included participation by
thousands of members and
retirees in grassroots lobbying
efforts. In addition to the constant presence of Council 31’s
lobbying team inside the
Capitol, union activists were
engaged from early in the
year until the session closed
with phone calls, e-mails,
informational pickets, in-district visits to lawmakers and a
number of lobby days.
Cost shifting bill
threatens retirees’
healthcare
SB 1313 HAS BEEN SIGNED BY
the governor. It authorizes
the Department of Central
Management Services to
determine the amount
retirees must pay towards
their health-care insurance
premiums and presumably
deductibles and co-payments,
even if retirees have 20 years’
service and even if they have
already retired.
Council 31, strongly
opposed the bill, and
AFSCME retirees took the
lead in lobbying for its defeat.
Once it passed, the union
also took the position that
CMS is required to negotiate
premiums with the collective
bargaining representative. In
committee testimony and
again during the floor debate,
supporters of the legislation
stated their agreement with
this interpretation.
Still, “Passage of this legislation represents a disturbing
willingness by elected officials
to forgo our state’s longstanding commitment to a legal
guarantee of affordable
health care coverage in retirement,” Council 31 legislative
Bills
AFSCME
Opposed
Governor signs
Medicaid cuts
THE GOVERNOR HAS SIGNED SB
2840, a bill that AFSCME lobbied against because of its
potential to open the door to
privatization and its significant cuts that reduce pharmaceutical assistance for seniors,
while jeopardizing funding
for nursing homes, hospice
services and much more.
The measure requires the
hiring of two third-party vendors to verify Medicaid applicants information -- work currently performed by AFSCME
members. The sponsors of SB
2480 insist that privatization is
not the intent. At Council 31’s
behest, language clarifying
that state employees would
continue to do this work was
inserted into the bill.
Attack on union rights
blocked
SB 1556, WHICH WOULD TAKE
away the collective bargaining
rights of thousands of state
employees, passed the House
of Representatives in the 2011
legislative session with strong
bipartisan support.
Thus far AFSCME has
been able to hold off a vote
on the bill in the Senate, but
Gov. Quinn continues to push
hard for passage. Key senators
are pressing for a compromise
between all of the affected
unions and the Quinn administration.
Bill would violate
local government
employees’ privacy
HB 222 HAS PASSED BOTH
chambers and was sent to the
governor. Subject to appropriation, it expands inclusion of
city, county and other local
Update
government employees on the
state’s searchable website that
already allows anyone to learn
the salaries and titles of state
employees.
Fines for skipping
ethics training
HB 4065 DID NOT GET OUT OF
committee. It would have
allowed the Ethics Commission to fine any state employee who, intentional or not,
failed to complete the ethics
training required under the
State Officials and Employees
Ethics Act. The administrative fine could not be less
than $250.
Daycare oversight
to be studied
SB 3601, WHICH HAS PASSED
both chambers and gone to
the governor for action,
would require a study of the
possibility of transferring day
care licensing functions from
DCFS to DHS. AFSCME lobbying defeated the original
version of the bill which made
the transfer effective immediately.
Workers compensation
administration could be
privatized
SB 2958 HAS BEEN SENT TO THE
governor. It requires the state
to contract out administration
of the workers’ compensation
program for state employees
to a private entity. This work
is currently performed by
AFSCME members in CMS.
No action taken
OTHER AFSCME-OPPOSED BILLS
that ended the session bottled
up in committee include measures to: increase the state’s
ability to use temporary
employees; cap state agency
budgets from increasing
beyond the rate of inflation,
no matter how great the need
for its services; allow any citizen to use eavesdropping
devices to record public
employees in the performance of their duties; drastically reduce revenues available to state and local
governments—and further
enrich wealthy corporations—
by cutting the state tax rate
for big corporations; bar any
individual from voting unless
he or she could produce a
government-issued photo
identification card at the
polling place; deny unemployment benefits to any employee who is discharged for misconduct; require anyone
receiving unemployment benefits to perform “volunteer”
community service for at least
20 hours every week.
Pension amendment
would impact
all public employees
HJRCA 49 WOULD MAKE IT
harder to improve pension
benefits for public employees
by requiring a three-fifths
majority for passage.
In addition, it increases
the threshold to override a
gubernatorial veto from a 3/5
vote to a 2/3 vote. A benefit
increase is defined as any
change in law that would have
the impact of increasing the
amount of the pension that
an employee could receive
upon retirement or any
reduction in eligibility
requirements one must meet
before qualifying for a public
pension. The stricter voting
threshold would also apply to
legislation that would seek to
expand the class of employees
who qualify for a pension benefit. The proposed constitutional amendment would
impact local government,
state and university employees.
HJRCA 49 passed the
General Assembly and will
appear on the ballot during
the November election and
will become part of the Illinois Constitution if approved
by the voters.
Bills
AFSCME
Supported
Limit governor’s ability
to close state facilities
SB 3564 FELL ONE VOTE SHORT
in the full Senate. The measure would require the General Assembly to concur or
reject a COGFA finding on a
facility closure, limiting the
ability of a governor to unilaterally shut down a facility.
Blocking inmate access
to employee records
HB 4592 PASSED BOTH CHAMbers and is awaiting action by
the governor. The measure
would amend the Freedom of
Information Act to bar
inmates from obtaining access
to information in Department
of Corrections employee personnel files.
Measure would protect
state employees
SB 2537 HAS PASSED BOTH
chambers and is awaiting
action by the governor. It provides that it is a felony to
threaten harm to social workers, caseworkers and investigators employed by the departments of Children and Family
Services, Human Services and
Health and Family Services.
Senate fails to act on
revenues for DNR
SB 1566 WOULD INCREASE A
variety of fees, raising much
needed revenue to support
Department of Natural
Resources services. The House
amended and passed it, but the
Senate adjourned without taking action to concur.
8 On the Move June-July 2012
P
AFSCME ACTION HELPS SLOW T
ension battle a
A
s AFSCME and other unions in the We Are One Illinois coalition waged an all-out battle to stop devastating pension-benefit cuts, more than 2,500 AFSCME members
capped the spring legislative session with a week of grassroots lobbying in Springfield’s corridors of power.
The campaign goal: A plan for preserving retirement security for public employees that is
fair to employees and retirees.
“I’m willing to fight for my money,” said Steve Doris, president of Local 1563 at Manteno
Veterans Home. “It’s not just impacting me. I brought my family along. I saw that lobbying
does make a difference – to put a face with the voice they hear on the phone and the name
they see on the e-mails.”
Doris said he was beginning to learn what it takes to make a law. He sat in on a legislative
committee hearing while he was in Springfield along with talking to legislators.
“A lot more goes into it than I ever thought there was,” he said.
A clear path to real reform
he union coalition has made clear in discussions with legislative leaders and the governor
that any “reform” plan must:
• Include a guaranteed funding mechanism so the current crisis won’t recur;
• Be fair to employees who have faithfully made contributions for their entire careers; and
• Adhere to the state constitution, which bars diminishment of benefits.
“It’s my pension,” said Safiya Felters, president of Local 2854, which represents Human
Services workers in the Chicago area. “It’s important that workers go directly to the Capitol.
We can hold our elected officials accountable for not doing their jobs. I saw that once they
hear from everyday people, the voters, they pay attention.”
She said they talked to one representative who had received 4,000 phone calls that
week. “’I get it,’ he told us.”
T
On the Move June-July 2012 9
HE STEAMROLLER
a standoff for now
-
s
e
Evasive response
he union campaign got out the facts about pension benefits — that they are modest,
earned and constitutionally protected — through a TV and radio ad campaign all across
the state. And union members flooded legislators with phone calls and e-mails to make their
voices heard, before and after AFSCME’s big week at the Capitol.
“The response from legislators was very evasive,” said Algie Crivens, PEOPLE chair of Local
1006, which represents Employment Security workers. “It seems like the individuals with the
most money get the most influence.
“And power is not evenly distributed among the 118 state representatives. The House
speaker has most of the power.”
T
Legislative leaders plan steep cuts
he plan that emerged from the legislative leadership eliminated some of the negative provisions the governor had proposed proposed in April when he unveiled his “pension
reform” plan. But the new plan still would have made steep cuts to pension benefits of all participants in the SERS, SURS and TRS:
• The annual cost-of-living adjustment would be cut to half the rate of inflation or 3 percent,
whichever is less.
• The COLA calculation would be based on simple, not compounded interest, costing the typical retiree tens of thousands of dollars.
• This COLA cut would apply to all current retirees as well as actives, so no matter when the
employee retires, his or her COLA would still be drastically reduced.
• The retirement age would not be increased, but there would be no annual COLA until age
67 or after five years of retirement.
• If employees don’t “choose” these COLA reductions, they would lose pension credits on all
future pay increases as well as eligibility for retiree health insurance.
Neither this bill nor any other pension legislation got to the governor’s desk.
T
‘We’re ready to fix it’
“I
question whether they really want to fix this,” said Mark Mountain, president of Local 3567 at
Western Illinois Correctional Center. “Our rank-and-file members know we will have to pay
more, but legislative leadership isn’t talking to us. Nobody’s asked me, ‘Mark, How much more
are you willing to pay?’
“We know this has to be changed. Bring us to the table. We’re ready to fix it and they’re
playing games. It’s frustrating.”
Objections from Republican leaders Rep. Tom Cross and Sen. Christine Radogno also
slowed the so-called reform efforts. They and many from their side of the aisle opposed a provision in the House bill that shifted responsibility to pay the employers’ share of teacher pension contributions from the state to local school districts.
The Senate did pass, by a comfortable margin, a pension bill, HB 1447, that cut employee
and retiree benefits. But it focused only on SERS participants and so did not include the provision to shift teachers’ pension costs to local school districts. That bill was never called for a
vote in the House.
Heading for the courts?
s soon as the session ended, Gov. Pat Quinn announced that he would immediately convene a meeting with the four legislative leaders to forge an agreement on a pension bill,
to be followed by a special session of the legislature in the coming weeks. At press time
reports were that talks had stalled over the school funding issue.
The We Are One Illinois labor coalition has already retained legal counsel to challenge
the plan to cut COLA provisions, if it becomes law.
“We do not believe that the plans which focus on COLA cuts are constitutional,” Council
31 Director Henry Bayer said. “However, the path through the court system can be a lengthy
one, and the outcome uncertain. Your retirement security will be much more secure if we all
act now to defeat harmful pension bills and force the governor and the legislators to the bargaining table to hammer out an agreed bill.”
A
10 On the Move June-July 2012
AFSCME International Convention
elects new president
D
elegates to AFSCME’s 40th
International Convention, held in
Los Angeles June 17-22, elected new
national leaders for the coming four years,
took up resolutions on topics ranging from
child care to retirement security, heard from
prominent speakers and rallied in support of
California local unions.
w
McEntee, who stepped down
THE CONVENTION ALSO FEATURED
A TRIBUTE TO RETIRING INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, JERRY MCENTEE.
Some 4,600 delegates to
the convention, including 344
from Illinois local unions, participated in the leadership
elections and in the floor
debates over the various resolutions and amendments to
the union’s constitution.
In a hotly contested election, Lee Saunders, the
union’s secretary-treasurer,
won the race for International
president over Danny Donohue, president of AFSCME’s
largest affiliate,
CSEA/AFSCME in New York
State. Saunders will replace
after 31 years at the helm of
AFSCME.
Laura Reyes, president of
United Domestic Workers, an
AFSCME affiliate of homecare
workers in California and
Saunders’ running mate, will
replace him as the International’s secretary-treasurer,
defeating Alice Goff, president of AFSCME Council 36
in Southern California.
Donohue and Goff, who
had the backing of virtually
the entire Illinois delegation,
waged an aggressive insurgent
campaign which focused on
the reducing the national
union’s heavy focus on parti-
san politics
and
instead
redirecting
resources
to the
frontline
struggles
of councils
and locals
around the
country.
The
convention
overwhelmingly adopted constitutional
amendments submitted by
Donohue to significantly
reduce the salaries of the
International president and
secretary-treasurer to levels
commensurate with the top
officers in other unions and
to postpone the deadline for
the establishment of progressive dues structures in all affiliates.
Elections were also held
by region for the other 35
positions on the International
executive board. Illinois delegates reelected Council 31
fights at the local
level, and if we
firmly uphold
democracy and
integrity at every
level of our
union.”
Vice President Joe Biden
spoke at the convention, where
delegates reafCouncil 31 delegates accept an award for ‘Outfirmed the
standing achievement’ in the PEOPLE program.
union’s commitment to helping
reelect President
Director Henry Bayer and
Obama. Referring to the WallDeputy Director Roberta
Street-led attacks on unions,
Lynch to their seats on the
Biden said, “They see an
board.
opportunity to try to scape“Now is the time for us to
goat labor for the problems
pull together to win victories
they created."
for working families and our
And he defended public
members all across this great
employees: “You provide the
country,” Saunders and Reyes
safe neighborhoods, you prosaid in a victory statement.
vide the good schools, you
Conceding the election,
provide the school lunches,
Donahue and Goff said, “The
you provide the day care cenenemies of working families
ters, you provide the hospiare unrelenting… We can
tals, you provide the roads,
only combat them if we build
our power from the grassroots you provide the ability of people to live a decent middleup, if we strengthen councils
and locals to make the critical class life. We owe you.”
The union difference – first hand
W
hile working as an office associate,
first at the University of Illinois in
Springfield and then for the Illinois’ Department of Revenue where she
served as a union steward, Shelley Robbins
Pethy hadn’t really thought about the advantages the union brought to her working life.
w
THEN SHE MOVED TO COL-
ORADO AND WENT TO WORK FOR
THE STATE’S DEPARTMENT OF
Revenue, Driver's License
Office.
“Colorado is a ‘Right to
Work’ state,’ she wrote in a
letter to one of her friends
from AFSCME, “which actually means they have a right to
treat you like s**t and fire you
whenever they want with no
reason.
“It was the strangest thing
working with no contract and
no representation, because
pretty much management can
do whatever they want and
you don't even have a con-
tract to look up and see if it's
even part of the deal, or if
they are just making it up as
they go along.
“Even though I was a
union steward in Illinois, and
believed fully in union protection, I had no idea how much
we took for granted.”
Sending a message
back home
THINKING BACK TO HER DAYS IN
Illinois, she wanted to give
some advice to her friends back
home “In Colorado I encountered this new term – ‘right to
work’ – which sounds like it
came from ‘1984’” (a book
about government mind control in which slogans like ‘War
is Peace,’ ‘Freedom is Slavery,’
and ‘Ignorance is Strength’
were used).
“What it really means,”
Pethy said, “is they have the
right to dismiss you. You have
no rights.”
She gave some examples:
“My shift was eight hours a
day, and I got no federally mandated breaks. The story was that
since we had a one-hour
unpaid lunch and we were only
required to get a
half-hour unpaid
lunch, the other
half hour was our
two 15 min
breaks?!
“I was told I
needed to be at
work at least five
minutes early since
the doors opened
at 8:00 and I needed to be at my station and have my
computer up and running. The
problem was, they rounded to
the 15 minutes, so they didn't
pay me for that. … And believe
me when I tell you, if you
clocked in a minute late it was
not rounded in your favor. The
first and only time I was ever
late I had to have a sit down
with my supervisor before I
could even start my computer.”
Four years
without a raise
THOSE WERE JUST THE LITTLE
things. As for the big things,
state workers hadn’t had a
raise in four years.
“I made a whopping
$13.10 an hour and the benefits SUCKED!” she said. “No
education reimbursement
either. And no advancement
opportunities.”
Her conclusion: “This is
what happens when you don’t
have a union. Whatever rules
they want to make up, they
can make up. I gave it six
weeks and turned in my resignation.”
And this is the
message she wanted
to send to her old
friends and colleagues: “Do not let
these benefits that
the Illinois unions
have worked so hard
for get eroded! This
is where it could
end up if nobody is
paying attention.
Please tell everyone
what I've said.”
On the Move June-July 2012 11
STATE BARGAINING
Union bargaining team
holding fast against push for
huge givebacks
A
fter months of
negotiations,
the AFSCME
state of Illinois bargaining team continues to hold fast against
the Quinn administration’s push to drastically curtail the job
rights and economic
security of state
employees.
w
THE UNION BARGAINING COMMITTEE HAS FORCED MANAGEMENT TO
WITHDRAW MANY OF its most
onerous proposals that would
have gutted seniority rights,
weakened the grievance procedure and increased mandatory
overtime.
But big differences remain
on critical economic issues —
with management pressing for
drastic cuts in wages and benefits, including a huge healthcare-cost shift onto current and
future retirees – at least $353
million per year.
Other extreme proposals
for takeaways include:
• A total economic package
that contains $4 billion in givebacks;
• Of that amount, $1 billion
would come from moving every
employee down two pay grades
– a 10 percent pay cut for most
employees;
• Sharp increases in the
employees’ cost for health care,
with hikes in premiums, co-payments, deductibles and the percentage of hospital bills the
employee pays;
• A proposal to cut vacation
time; and
• A proposal to end tuition
assistance through the Upward
Mobility Program.
“Showing steadfast resolve,
our bargaining committee has
made clear it will continue to
stand firm against all these
attempts to set back union
rights and a middle-class standard of living for employees in
state government and their
families,” Council 31 Director
Henry Bayer said.
Retiree health-care costs
at issue
WHILE THE PARTIES HAVE ALWAYS
negotiated the terms of retiree
health care costs as part of state
bargaining, those negotiations
began with a solid legal framework that assured that existing
premiums would remain in
place.
But with passage of SB
1313, the Illinois General
Assembly, removed the legal
guarantee of affordable health
coverage for state retirees, eliminating the current premium
structure and opening the door
for the draconian cost-shift proposal management brought to
the bargaining table.
The state’s proposal would
establish a sliding scale that
would set the retiree payment
at anywhere from 25 percent to
65 percent of the cost of cover-
age for themselves. If they carry
coverage for dependents,
they’d pay 45 percent to 95 percent of those costs, depending
on their income.
Future retirees could pay
up to 85 percent of the costs to
cover themselves and 100 percent for their dependents.
The sliding scale is determined by a complicated formuContiued on page 15
Whata$15,000ayearpension
fora publicemployeewhoretiredin1987would
beworthtoday:
$33,000
WithcurrentCOLA
formula
$30,492
WithTier2COLA
$29,687
Amountneededtokeep
upwithinflation
$27,000
$20,235
$21,000
$15,000
1987
1990
1993
1996
1999
2002
2005
AcompoundedCOLAiscritical
toprotectingretireesfrominflation
2008
2011
12 On the Move June-July 2012
ON THE LOCAL LEVEL
First contract
in Harwood Heights
ONCE UPON A TIME, ALL VILLAGE
of Harwood Heights employees got the same raises, no
matter where they worked -until the police officers
formed a union.
“Then we didn’t get what
they got,” said Maria Rafalzic,
president of Local 2949. “We
realized we needed a union
for us.”
AFSCME was that union.
“It’s good to have the job
security,” she said. “We don’t
have to listen anymore to
someone spouting off how
they can get rid of us anytime
they want. We are no longer
at-will employees. They were
surprised that we were able to
organize ourselves and do
something about it. Everybody feels more at ease now.”
The contract settled this
year, reaches back to May
2010. It raises wages 12 percent over the four-year term.
Rafalzic said getting an
agreement “took a couple of
years because the village wasn’t very cooperative. There
are a lot of different jobs, and
the mayor really didn’t know
what everybody did.”
Having a system of due
process for discipline and
seniority for layoffs was another major gain, she said.
Rafalzic, Dennis Hunt,
Brigette Baggetto, Tom
Wolfe, George Assimakopoulos, Mike Katradis and Carmen Lamela served on the
negotiating team, which was
led by staff representative
Matt La Pierre.
Will County groups
protect health insurance
A TWO-YEAR CONTRACT THAT
expires this year in December
covers Local 1028 members in
Will County’s circuit court
clerk’s and executive branch
offices and the states attorney’s office. It freezes wages
but provides for 2.5 percent
step increases. Those at the
top of the step plan got a 1.5
percent lump-sum payment
and a $100 per month
longevity increase.
Employees will continue
to pay 1 percent of wages
towards health insurance premiums or 2 percent for family
coverage.
“It was difficult,” said
David Delrose, the local
union president. “Management came with a large number of language take backs
that we got them to get off of.
But they want radical changes
in medical insurance in the
negotiations about to get
underway. We’re looking for a
tough battle.”
The bargaining teams
were led by staff representative Joe Pluger, with Delrose,
Nancy Peet, Alex Koko, Becky
Gilliam, Brook Brewer, Christine Mandecki, Dyona
Tramel, Eric Washington,
Jenny Lacasto, Joanne Crowder, John Cairnes, Kathy Henderson, Kim Kress, Ken Swanson, Mike Harkins, Mike
Vanover, Nancy Camera,
Nancy Peete, Nikole McGuire,
Rick Breen, Tawana Reed,
Mark Colwell, Amanda Monczynski, Leslie Kranz, Sara
Dankowski, Dant Foulk, Chris
Regis and Rita DucheneHughes.
Macoupin County raises
tied to inflation rate
A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT BETWEEN
Local 3176 and Macoupin
County raised wages 2.3 percent in the first year with
another 3.4 percent coming
Sept. 1. The third year raises
will also reflect the rate of
inflation as measured by the
Consumer Price Index, as the
first two did.
Employees will pay 10
percent of their health-insurance premiums, up from 5
percent.
The longevity plan was
changed to top out at 35
years, instead of 20. Employees with more than 25 years
got an added week vacation
time. The union will have a
representative on the county’s
health-care cost containment
committee.
“It stretched out a lot
longer compared to last
time,” said Mary Scheiter, a
bargaining committee member. “It seemed like the other
side didn’t want to give anything.”
But then the County
Board chair, who is running
for a state Senate seat, got
involved.
“I think he wanted to get
it done,” Scheiter said.
The bargaining committee was led by staff representative Roger Griffith, with
Scheiter, Trish Baum,
Michelle Novack, Diane
Hillig, Jamie Gardner and
Donna Fritz.
Wages, language
improved
at Peoria Sanitary
A FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT BETWEEN
Local 2519 and the Peoria
Sanitary District raises wages
2.75 percent in each of the
first four years and 3 percent
in the final year.
Language making seniority determinant for layoff and
recall was added to the contract and seniority was
defined. The number of
employer-provided uniforms
was increased.
“Overall management
worked with us well and listened to our bargaining committee,” said Bill Moore, the
local union president. “The
wage package was the main
issue and we got the seniority
language for the first time.”
Moore, Jerry Gioviannia,
Scott Strauch and Richard
King served on the negotiating committee, which was led
by staff representative Tim
Lavelle.
Peoria Parks:
Wage increases cover
insurance costs
WAGES GO UP 3.5 PERCENT THE
first year and 3 percent in the
next two years of a three-year
contract between Local 3774
and the Peoria Park District.
The lowest-paid workers also
got an equity increase.
Employees will pay more
of their health-insurance premiums, from 4.85 percent of
the premium in the previous
contract to 7 percent in the
first year of the new one, 7.5
percent in the second year
and 8 percent in the third.
“The Park District made a
major change in the healthinsurance cost sharing,” said
Roger Halleen, the local
union president. “But the raises more than covered the
increase. In their original proposal, we would have had a
number of our people making less at the end of the
three years than they are making now. We didn’t think that
was right. Now everybody will
be taking home at least a little
more.”
Staff representative Tim
Lavelle led the bargaining,
with Halleen, Jesse Carter,
Erich Zimmerman, Roger
Slama and Elona Mason.
Raises on tap
in Burbank Public
Works
A CONTRACT BETWEEN LOCAL
1310 and the city of Burbank
raises wages 15 percent over
the five-year contract term.
“We did well given the
environment and what’s
going on around us,” said
Dan Andrews, the local union
president. “Most important –
Direct action moves Champaign Co.
toward settlement
WAGES GO UP 2 PERCENT IN EACH YEAR OF A THREE-YEAR AGREEment between Local 900 and Champaign County. Employee premium payments for health insurance will increase in phases to $10
a month, but the county will raise its monthly contribution toward
family coverage by $30.
“They finally saw that they weren’t going to split us up and we
weren’t going to take any stuff this time,” said Nora Stewart, the
local union president. “Our members turned out for informational pickets and attended County Board meetings. It showed them
we meant business.”
She said the local had taken wage freezes in the last contract,
and then the county gave management raises.
“We understood that the economy is difficult,” she said. “But
this time we put in the contract that if management gives their
people a bigger raise, we get the same.”
Negotiations were led by staff representative Tara McCauley,
with Stewart, John Farney, Amy Foster, Bob Waggle, Marc Jeray,
Angela Lusk, Vicky Wurl, Janae Wisehart, Dana Craig, Bob
Burkhalter, Peggy Mills, Paula Clark and Chantall Jones.
everyone is still working.
Everyone cooperated and we
were happy with the results.”
The union negotiating
committee was led by staff
representative Mike Ross, with
Andrews, James Maguire, Ken
Sanders and Anup Darji.
No layoffs
for city of Ottawa
WITH CITY REVENUES DOWN, THE
mayor sent out letters to the
unions representing Ottawa
city employees, urging a pay
freeze for the coming year.
“Three years ago we took
a pay freeze and a year later
got a wonderful contract,”
said Local 2819 President Tim
Wielgopolan. “We know times
are tough. If you can hold
your own on benefits and no
takeaways, that’s huge.”
The local agreed to the
wage freeze but retained contractual longevity and promotional increases. The city
agreed to a no-layoff clause
for the term of the contract. If
police officers or fightfighters
get a raise, city employees will,
too.
Wielgopolan, Joe Ter-
rones, Terry Bell, Dave Erwin
and Eddie Wielgopolan
served on the bargaining
team, which was led by staff
representative Randy
Dominic.
Strike authorization
vote makes
‘big impression’
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CITY
of Rock Island were “long and
tedious with not much good
faith on the city’s behalf,”
Local 988 President Rick
Hitchcock said. “Calls to an
alderman made a huge difference.”
As did a vote to authorize
a strike, if the bargaining
committee decided it was
needed.
“After that they saw that
we were serious,” said staff
representative Dino Leone,
who led the union’s committee.
After a one-year wage
freeze, wages go up 2 percent
in the second year, 2.75 percent in the third and 3 percent in the final year.
“We didn’t give up anyContinued on the facing page
On the Move June-July 2012 13
SHORT REPORTS
Walker recall falls
short, but Wisconsin
unions unbowed
VOWING TO CONTINUE THE
fight against Gov. Scott Walker and his corporate backers
to restore collective bargaining rights, the We Are Wisconsin coalition and the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO is not
backing down.
Walker’s campaign outspent his opponent eight to
one in the June 5 recall election, winning despite an overwhelming union vote against
him. In a Racine-area state
Senate recall race, the incumbent Republican was beaten,
giving Democrats a majority
in that chamber, and putting
a check on Walker’s antiworker program.
“The coalitions, networks
and grassroots tactics we have
forged over the last 16
months will continue to provide the foundation for fighting back against corporate
greed and power,” said a statement from the Wisconsin
State AFL-CIO.
Exit polling showed 75
percent of union members
who voted cast their ballots
for Walker’s opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
In analyzing the disappointing results, Wisconsin
activists drew some positives
from the 16-month effort to
Continued from the facing page
thing,” Hitchcock said. “We
saw how important it is that
members come to meetings.
The city always knew how
many people were there. If 30
percent of our members were
there, the city assumed that’s
how many were interested.”
Russell Thomas, Quincey
Steele, Don Leatherman,
Mike Brown, Steve Hinrichs
and Rod Versluys were on the
union committee with Hitchcock and Leone.
Sycamore:
Better communications
a key goal
WAGES WILL GO UP 1 PERCENT IN
the first year of a two-year
contract between Local 3957
and the city of Sycamore, with
two more 1 percent raises in
the second year.
“We have a new city manager,” said Brad Dewey, the
local union president. “We
didn’t go in there to beat him
up. We understand what the
city is going through because
of the economy. It was nonconfrontational.”
reverse the loss of collective
bargaining rights for public
employees at the hand of
Walker and his allies.
“Tuesday’s recall election
will be a spring board for a
national discussion on Citizens United and the corporate takeover of American
democracy,” according to the
Wisconsin AFL-CIO.
Citizens United was the
Supreme Court decision that
unleashed corporate power
and money in the electoral
arena. The high court ruled,
in essence, that corporations
are people and thus have free
speech rights. In order to
allow pursuit of those rights,
the government can’t limit
the money they spend on
advocating their politics.
“What we did together
matters,” said a We Are Wisconsin blog entry. “You took a
stand for Wisconsin’s working
families and you changed the
course of history. And
because of your hard work we
now have a Senate Majority
that will prevent further disastrous policies. We now have a
foundation on which to continue electing pro-working
family candidates as soon as
this fall.”
“What happened in Wisconsin during the past 16
months is about more than
one politician and one state,”
wrote Kristen Crowell, execu-
tive director of We Are Wisconsin. “It is about what kind
of nation we believe the United States of America needs to
be — it is about what kind of
nation we create for our
grandchildren. It is about
every single state where we
are the last line of defense for
the American worker and the
American Dream.”
He said AFSCME members got the same raises as the
police and management, and
health insurance stayed the
same, with no premium payments for employee coverage
and a modest percentage for
dependents.
The parties agreed to
seek training from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service on how to improve
the labor-management
process.
“We are trying to concentrate on opening up communications between union and
management,” Dewey said.
“We had contract language
about labor-management
meetings, but we hadn’t been
meeting.”
The negotiating committee was led by staff representative Kathy Steichen, with
Dewey and Ryan Cardinali.
wages tied to the Consumer
Price Index – a statistic that
measures the cost of living.
No language changes
were needed, explained staff
representative Dick Crofter,
who led the union bargaining
team. There had only been
one grievance in four years.
“We have a good working
relationship with the village,”
said Tim Plys, the local union
president. “The village proposed keeping the COLA and
we agreed. Given the economy, it was realistic.”
Maurice Ellis, Vonnell
Coleman-Nichols and Jarrell
Jackson served on the bargaining team with Plys and
Crofter.
South Holland:
‘realistic’ wage
package
LOCAL 3991 AND THE VILLAGE
South Holland agreed to
extend the existing contract
for another four years, with
OF
Head Start workers in
Springfield fight back
The last straw was broken
when management at Springfield Urban League, which
operates the city’s Head Start
program, tried to take away
contractually mandated vacation days from the early education workers.
Local 2217 held an informational picket on May 30 to
“raise public awareness of
management’s continuous
disregard for Head Start
employees, their contract and
a settlement negotiated with
the National Labor Relations
Board,” Council 31 staff representative Erik Hostetter
said.
He said employees wanted the “respect and fair treatment long denied them by
Urban League management.”
Alberta Daniels is the
chief steward for the Head
Start workers, which include
classroom staff, bus drivers,
home advocates, cooks and
data clerks.
“I think the picketing is
making them understand this
is serious,” Daniels said. “We
want to work with them, not
against them, for the good of
the children and to make this
a better program. But they
won’t do it if it benefits the
workers.”
For example, workers
complained about mold in
one of the centers – a serious
concern for both employees
and the children.
“They would never do
anything until we took it to
the newspapers,” Daniels said.
“Then I had a target on my
back.”
Subsequently she was sent
home from work to change
clothes because she was wearing a union shirt. When she
didn’t return that day, a
three-day discipline was
imposed on her.
Thanks to the union’s
grievance procedure, “I got
paid and it was taken off my
record,” she said.
The picketing took place
just after the school year had
ended.
“We’ll see how they do in
September,” Daniels said. “We
want to be treated with
respect.”
Continued on page 15
Thornton High School:
Wages up,
health costs steady
WAGES WILL GO UP 2 PERCENT
in each year of a four-year
contract between Local 3335
and the Thornton High
School District. Employees
will pay slightly less for individual health-insurance coverage and slightly more for family coverage, with small
increases in deductibles and
co-payments.
The bargaining was
“extremely smooth,” said
Karen Osterman, the local
union president. “Teachers
took two years to get a contract and ours was done
before the previous one
expired. We locked in good
health care and small raises.
“Small raises is a big win
in this economy. We also
increased vacation time. We
are trying to strengthen our
language, little by little.”
The union bargaining
team was led by staff representative Karmen Ortloff, with
Osterman, Nancy Ahlstedt,
Pam Horton, Anniece Mason,
La’Vonne Fisher, and Kathy
Stockwell.
State prosecutors focus
on quality
WAGES WERE FROZEN FOR THE
first year of a three-year contract between Local 3608 and
the state Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, but everyone
moved up in the step plan – a
2.4 percent increase.
Subsequent negotiations
will determine wages for the
next two years.
The employer was looking to impose what staff representative Erik Hostetter called
“radical work-load standards.”
The attorneys felt this
would undermine quality.
“Both sides had their
opinions and everything was
aired – concerns, expectations, considerations,” said
Gary Gnidovec, the local
union president. “Both sides
tried to accommodate those.
We think the contract fairly
addresses the employer concerns and adequately meets
employee issues. I think it
strengthened our agency
from the perspective of both
sides. We want the agency to
be the best it can be.”
The contract also
requires the employer to lay
off law students before it can
cut bargaining unit staff. Layoffs are now limited to lack of
funding or lack of work.
Hostetter led the negotiating committee, with
Gnidovec, David Bernhard,
Shirley Bagby, Patrick Daly
and Thomas Arado.
14 On the Move June-July 2012
Fairer tax system
needed
RETIREE NOTES
General Assembly
targets retiree health care and COLA
PUBLIC SECTOR RETIREES WHO MADE THEIR “GOLDEN YEARS” PLANS
based on what were presumed to be rock-solid guarantees for
pension and health care benefits saw their world upended by
recent actions of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Pat
Quinn.
With little forewarning and even less legislative dissent,
Democratic and Republican legislative leaders joined forces to
jam through SB 1313, legislation that removes the legal guarantee of affordable health care for state and state university
retirees.
Then legislative leaders followed up with a so-called “pension reform” scheme that would also take a big bite out of the
pocketbooks of state and university retirees. A version of the
bill passed the Senate, but had not yet been acted on by the
House when the General Assembly adjourned its spring session on May 31.
“I don’t believe that legislators understand how devastating for retirees their attacks on retirement benefits will be,”
Sub-chapter 84 member Lynne Elliott said. “I receive a pension of $450 per month and have had two bouts with breast
cancer. I could not afford a cut to my cost-of-living adjustment
or a premium on my health insurance.”
Under the provisions of SB 1313, CMS will still be
required to negotiate health plan costs with the union as has
historically been the case. In fact the sponsors of the bill
repeated many times in debate that they agreed retiree health
insurance is subject to negotiations.
COLA at risk
NEARLY ALL OF THE PENSION
legislation that was under
conideration would have
made significant reductions
to the pensions of current
retirees by reducing the annual cost of living adjustment.
Retirees would be forced to
choose between keeping the
compounded 3 percent
COLA but losing their health
care support, or accepting a
significant reduction to their
COLA in order to keep access
to health care.
A retiree who chooses to
keep his or her health care,
would receive a COLA of half
the CPI or 3 percent, whichever is LESS. The COLA would
be further reduced because it
would be based on simple
interest, rather than compounded interest as it is now.
Thus each year’s increase
would not be calculated on
the previous year’s pension
amount, but on the amount
received on the date of retirement.
Fortunately, none of
these proposals passed,
though legislative leaders
have stated that they do
intend to try again.
“We will pursue every
avenue to make sure that
retires have access to affordable health care and no cuts
to their COLA,” Council 31
Director Henry Bayer said,
when he spoke at the Chapter
31 Executive Board Meeting
in June.
IARA fights to save
Illinois Cares Rx
GOV. PAT QUINN SIGNED A BILL
on June 14 that cuts $1.6 billion from state Medicaid programs for low-income families, seniors and people with
disabilities, including eliminating Illinois Cares Rx.
Illinois Cares Rx helps
more than 160,000 seniors
and people with disabilities
afford their prescription
drugs. This fail-safe program
ensured that seniors just
above the poverty level and
low-income people with disabilities could continue to get
necessary medications and
not get sicker as they spent
down to get on Medicaid.
Nearly 400 seniors were
in Springfield on May 16 and
22 for a rally and lobby day in
an attempt to save Illinois
Cares Rx and other programs
that affect retirees.
The event was organized
by the Illinois Alliance for
Retired Americans, a coalition
including AFSCME Retirees
Chapter 31 and senior groups
from the Illinois Federation
of Teachers, SEIU, UAW and
others.
Barbara Franklin, IARA
president and Champaign
Sub-chapter 88 president, also
spoke at the press conference.
“Eliminating Illinois Cares Rx
will disrupt seniors’ already
tight budgets and make them
candidates for emergency
rooms and nursing homes.
Seniors should never have to
choose between a meal, paying their rent or taking their
prescription medication.”
Unfortunately, Governor
Quinn recently signed SB
2840, a comphrehensive Medicaid “reform” bill that included the cuts to Illinois Cares
Rx. The Illinois Alliance and
other concerned parties have
vowed to fight to restore the
program.
Attacks on
retirement security
a nationwide problem
THE ATTACKS ON RETIREMENT
security are happening in
nearly every state, and AFSCME
retirees are fighting back.
Reports from chapters
across the country by retiree
leaders at the June 16-17
AFSCME Retiree Council meeting in Los Angeles revealed a
pattern of both Democratic and
Republican legislatures targeting retirement benefits.
From the complete elimination of cost-of-living adjustments
in Rhode Island and New Jersey
to measures employed to cripple retiree organizations – such
as not giving them permission
to utilize retirement system lists
to send out mailings to recruit
members – it has become clear
that public-sector retirees have
been made into scapegoats by
their states and local governments and big business groups.
Retiree leaders described
their battles to get the correct
information into the media and
to educate the broader public.
When retiree leaders in Illinois spoke at the meeting, they
also reported that groups
including the Civic Committee
of the Commercial Club of
Chicago have used millions of
dollars in a campaign to blame
retirees for the worst-funded
pension systems in the country.
“Contrary to popular
belief,” Chapter 31 President
Virginia Yates said, “the reason
for the state’s deteriorating fiscal condition has had nothing
to do with runaway pensions.
Rather it’s the fact that the state
underfunded the pensions for
years, was hit by negative earnings during the recession and
has an unfair tax system.”
Cutting retirement benefits
is not the solution, according to
the Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability. Rather Illinois
must enact comprehensive,
meaningful and permanent tax
reform that modernizes tax policy, brings it more in line with
the principles of a sound tax system and raises adequate revenue to fund core services into
the future.
DEEP-POCKETED BUSINESS
groups have been successful in
attempting to move public
opinion against public-sector
retirees, thus diverting attention
from any efforts to increase
taxes for those in the highest
tax brackets.
“The trend is to go after
retirement security to fix the
financial shortfalls, and they
have been convincing the public that they must either cut
pensions or cut services like the
police departments and
libraries,” reported Steve Kreisberg, the Associate Director for
the AFSCME Department of
Research and Collective Bargaining Services at the national
Retiree Council meeting in
June. “The fact is that there are
more options to address the
budget crisis. While there is the
same amount of money in this
country as before, now fewer
people have it.”
Chuck Loveless, director of
AFSCME’s Department of Federal Government Affairs
expanded on this point.
“Congress and the president have to decide, whether to
cut spending even more,
including massive cuts to Social
Security and Medicare, which
will likely bring our economy to
a grinding halt like Europe, or
allow the Bush tax cuts to
expire for the households
making over $200,000.
Freeport Sub-chapter 71 established
AFSCME RETIREES IN STEPHENSON, JO DAVIESS AND CARROLL
counties have been working since the beginning of the year to
organize a sub-chapter in their area. On June 1 they officially
became chartered as Sub-chapter 71.
“Retirees are very afraid and angry about the attacks on
their benefits,” sub-chapter President Jack Graves said. “And
we need to be fully educated and involved in the efforts to
protect the benefits we earned.”
The group holds meetings at noon on the second
Wednesday of the month at the Hampton Inn, 109 S. Galena
Ave, Freeport.
“These have been very uncertain times for seniors, with
many of us fearing cuts to our cost-of-living adjustment and
threats of significant increases to our health insurance,”
Graves said. “These have been made much worse by a great
deal of misinformation being circulated to both retirees and
the general public. Therefore, the establishment of Sub-chapter 71 will aid our members in getting accurate information
and getting it out to our local community. We also hope to
form a relationship with our local legislators to help remind
them that public sector retirees dedicated themselves to providing needed public services and were promised a decent
pension and health care. Those promises must be kept.”
On the Move June-July 2012 15
Three win Council 31 scholarships
follow in their footsteps.”
J
elissa Jackson,
daughter of
Jessica Jackson,
Local 1038;
Rachel Sheley,
daughter of Teresa
Sheley, Local 2224;
and Emma O’ConnorBrooks, daughter of
Donna O’Connor,
Local 1006, have
been awarded a
Larry Marquardt
Scholarship.
w
THE $2,000 SCHOLARSHIPS ARE
GIVEN TO AFSCME MEMBERS OR
THEIR CHILDREN WHO WILL BE
full-time students in the coming school year at a recognized institution of higher
learning. Students must submit an application that
includes recent high school
and college transcripts, test
scores, work experience, outside activities and a 300-word
essay on “Why the labor movement today is relevant and
Emma O’ConnorBrooks: A voice
for working families
Emma O’Connor Brooks
needed more than ever.”
Jelissa Jackson:
Mom’s job saved
JACKSON, WHO IS HEADED TO
Howard University, is aiming
for medical school, “to help
and serve those who are
underserved.”
In her essay she talked
about her family’s personal
experience:
“A facility, where my
mother worked for over 20
years as a teacher serving
developmentally disabled
individuals, closed. She was
very fortunate that her job was
Jelissa Jackson
saved. It was another testament to her union’s long
effort in fighting to keep jobs
in the midst of a facility closure. Basic rights of hardworking employees are being challenged every day.”
Rachel Sheley:
Inspiration from
labor battles
SHELEY WILL BE A SOPHOMORE
at Illinois State University
where she plans to prepare
for a career in clinical psychology.
In her essay she wrote
about the recent massive bat-
Rachel Sheley
tles for collective bargaining
rights.
“In my opinion every
worker should have some say
over working conditions,
hours, health benefits and
wages so that they can provide
a better life for themselves
and their families,” she wrote.
“The labor movement in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio will
inspire people from all over
the United States to fight for
their basic rights and will provide them with a broader
vision of unity. … I’m proud
my parents are both part of a
union and hope that someday
I will have an opportunity to
O’CONNOR-BROOKS IS A SENIOR
at the University of Illinois in
Urbana-Champaign, majoring
in architecture.
In her essay she wrote
about the past accomplishments of unions and their
importance now to her own
family.
“The labor movement
gives working individuals and
their families a voice,” she
wrote. “A collective voice that
results in real differences, in
real protections, real gains
and improved public policy.
“Thanks to the labor
movement and AFSCME I was
able to grow up in a household where my single Mom
could take care of us because
she earned a living wage.”
After a bout with cancer,
her mother “could take a
medical leave… and had a job
to come back to. … The labor
movement is the backbone of
the middle class.”
Short Reports Master contract
CONTINUED
Continued from page 13
Nobel Prize winner
criticizes
prison privatization
THE NEW YORK TIMES RECENTLY
ran a story about what happened in New Jersey’s privatized system of halfway houses
for convicts about to be
released at the end of their
prison terms.
Commenting on the
expose, Nobel Prize winning
economist and Times columnist Paul Krugman said, “The
horrors described are part of a
broader pattern in which
essential functions of government are being both privatized
and degraded.”
About the so-called advantages of privatization, he said:
“So let’s see: Privatized prisons
save money by employing
fewer guards and other workers, and by paying them badly.
And then we get horror stories
about how these prisons are
run. What a surprise!”
He said, “privatization can
serve as a stealth form of government borrowing, in which
governments avoid recording
upfront expenses (or even
raise money by selling existing
facilities) while raising their
long-run costs in ways taxpayers can’t see.”
In that light, the privatization of Chicago’s parking
meters comes to mind. The
city has not only lost the revenues from on-street parking,
it has apparently also taken on
the liability of having to pay
the meter company anytime
parking is banned in a zone
where they have installed pay
boxes.
Krugman concluded that
there is “a pervasive and growing reality, of a corrupt nexus
of privatization and patronage
that is undermining government across much of our
nation.”
Continued from page 11
la that weighs years of service,
age at retirement and amount
of pension. The older you are
when you retire, the more service you have and the lower
your pension benefit, the less
you would pay for health care.
Those retirees who are
Medicare eligible would pay less
than those who are not.
Would take away
half a pension benefit
COUNCIL 31 WORKED OUT AN
example to illustrate the state’s
proposal. An employee with 25
years’ service retires at age 60
with a $25,000 annual pension.
To participate in the state’s
Quality Care Health Plan using
the state’s formula would cost
$414 per month for the retiree’s
coverage and another $640.58
to add a dependent. The
couple would be out another
$12,654.96 per year, or
slightly more than half the
pension.
An employee who retired
five years ago at the same age,
service and pension amount,
who has now reached 65 and
who wants to use QCHP as a
Medicare supplemental plan,
would pay $128.14 for his or her
own coverage and $229.82 to
add one dependent. That would
be a $4,295.52 hit for the retired
couple.
The state has estimated this
would shift $353 million a year
to state and university retirees.
But as Council 31 benefits
expert Hank Scheff has pointed
out, it would save the state even
more.
“This proposal would make
state of Illinois retiree health
coverage unaffordable for tens
of thousands of retirees,” he
said, “driving them into the private health insurance market,
where the state wouldn’t be
picking up any of the cost.”
The effect would be especially disastrous for retirees who
are not yet Medicare eligible
and can’t find affordable individual coverage in the privateinsurance market.
Contract extended
THE CURRENT UNION CONTRACT
expired on June 30. On June
27, the AFSCME bargaining
committee reached agreement
with the state to call in an
outside mediator and to extend
the terms of the current
contract while mediation is
ongoing.
That extension keeps all
provisions of the current contract in effect. (See page 5 for
an update on the legal battle to
get AFSCME members paid the
contractual pay raises that the
governor blocked last year.)
L
ooking for a voice that could speak up
for the interrelated goals of better patient
care and more respect for the work they
do, nurses at Loretto Hospital on
Chicago’s West Side decided they wanted
union representation and turned to AFSCME.
“I was very disgusted with the way I was
being treated at work,” said Evangeline Jackson,
who helped bring the organizing drive to a successful conclusion. “I got a call from a co-worker
about forming a union, and I was interested.”
Other employees at the hospital were
already unionized, but the nurses wanted their
own local and their research showed AFSCME
would be a good fit, explained Council 31
organizer Abbey Davis.
“They want to be treated as the professionals
they are and be better advocates for their
patients,” she said. “They thought a union would
give them that opportunity.”
16 On the Move June-July 2012
Nurses in Chicago hospital say
‘Yes!’
t o
A F S C M E
‘Finally our voices will be heard’
L
oretto is a community hospital, with most of the
patients living in the neighborhood and many
of the workers also living close by.
But with hospitals nationwide undergoing
increasing pressure to corporatize, Loretto
brought in a new management team.
Those bosses began making decisions without
any effort to consult the employees who do the
work – changing policies and reorganizing in ways
that affected patient care as well as the caregivers.
For example, nurses in some units were put
on 12-hour shifts, in some cases decreasing their
take-home pay and disrupting home-life routines
like childcare arrangements.
“Maybe finally our voices will be heard and
things will change between management and
nursing staff,” said Kora Fields, another union
supporter. “We are looking forward to being positive members of Loretto, to work together to
make Loretto better.”
Already, AFSCME has had to swing into
action. After serious problems were discovered in
the hospital’s psychiatric unit, Loretto management
decided to address these problems by drastically
reducing the number of psychiatric beds while
working to fix the physical problems of the unit.
AFSCME is fighting to ensure that nurses’
voices are heard and rights are respected during
this process, and that the West Side community’s
need for these beds continues to be served.
Patient care a chief concern
O
ne of the main problems the nurses see is
understaffing.
“We have too many jobs to be effective,”
Jackson said. “The union will help us have a
fairer workload.”
That will improve patient care, too, Fields said.
“A better nurse-to-patient ratio will give
us more time at the bedside,” she said. “The
more patients each nurse has, the higher the
mortality rate.”
A heavy-handed anti-union campaign
B
ut management didn’t see things that
way.
“There was a fierce anti-union campaign,”
Davis said. “They forced people to attend antiunion meetings; they had an anti-union newsletter;
they lied about dues; they lied about what would
happen to vacation time; they enlisted doctors to
work against the union. Management did not
want to share one bit of power with the nurses.”
None of it worked.
“My supervisor asked why I was for the
union,” Jackson said. “I was shaking, intimidated.
But I thought I needed the nerve to tell her what I
thought. I told her that I wanted to make sure my
assignments were fair and if she was in my place,
she’d want a union, too. She said, ‘No comment.’”
Jackson recalled talking to her brothers, who
are both union members. “They talked about
how the union had protected their jobs and
defended their jobs.”
Now the nurses are looking forward to sitting
down with management and negotiating a contract.
Among other things, Fields said she’d like to
see more public health services like blood pressure testing for the community, “And we want
more education classes for nurses. Our goal is
top-quality care.”