1O N T H E

Illinois Council 31—American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees—AFL-CIO

1 #133 • AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2010O N T H ENon-Profit Org

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Kane County employees battle Health Department cuts

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2 On the Move August-September 2010

BY HENRY BAYER

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

WHILE HOME ON SUMMER BREAK,KIRK COMMENTED ON A PENDING

PIECE OF LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE

state and local governments withcritical aid and prevent the lay-offs of an estimated 161,000teachers and 158,000 other pub-lic service workers, includingthousands right here in Illinois:“My view is we should not add tothe deficit. This legislation doesmake a number of cuts…thatmake it deficit neutral, and itwould keep teachers in the class-room.” Based on this assess-ment, he told a Chicago newspa-per that he “intended to vote forthe bill.”

The next day Kirk returnedto Washington and voted againstthe very same bill he hadpromised to support just the daybefore. He had concluded, so hesaid, that the bill would actuallyadd to the national debt.

It’s a particularly lameexcuse since the legislation hadpassed the Senate the previousweek. There had been plenty oftime to review it before his state-ment to the folks at home.

In addition, the Congres-sional Budget Office, whosenumbers are highly respected onboth side of the aisle, haddeclared the bill budget neutral.

Clearly, Rep. Kirk recog-nized the importance of the billto Illinoisans, where schoolboards, cities, counties and thestate are struggling to maintainservices and keep people work-ing. He knew what we needed.Thus his Monday declaration.

Yet when he returned to theCapitol he changed his mindand turned his back on us.

What could have caused therapid turnaround? Obviously, Ican’t prove his motive, but thereis some awfully strong circum-stantial evidence.

First is the fact that 158 ofhis 160 Republican colleaguesalso voted against the measure,under pressure from their partyleaders who, at every turn, aretrying to thwart the Obamaadministration’s efforts to rejuve-nate the U.S economy.

It takes some backbone tostand up to the head of a partycaucus, and on the economicrecovery act, on health care, onextending unemployment bene-fits, on reform of banks and WallStreet, or any other issue thatwould turn the economy aroundand help working families, Kirkhas not shown any.

Then there’s the U.S. Cham-ber of Commerce, the associa-tion of big businesses that’s pour-ing big bucks into Kirk’s Senaterace. On top of the Chamber’sgeneral antipathy to governmentspending, it was particularlyopposed to this piece of legisla-tion because, to help pay for theassistance to state and local gov-ernments, the bill closed a $10billion tax loophole for corpor-ations that ship jobs overseas,thus reducing the deficit.

Chamber lobbyists mighthave been waiting for Kirk toarrive at the D.C. airport todrive him to the Capitol in theirlimo, explaining the dangers tothe Republic presented by keep-ing teachers, caregivers and lawenforcers employed while end-ing tax breaks for job exporters.

But however he got to his

office, at some time between hisstatement on Monday and hisvote on Tuesday, it seems likelythe Chamber laid down the law:“You want our continuing sup-port on your Senate campaign,you’d better not vote for that taxincrease on us.”

Mark Kirk had a credibilityproblem even before this vote.There were the matters of exag-gerating his military record,embellishing his story about hisexperience after capsizing hisboat, and the question about histeaching credentials.

After careful examinationthe media found considerabledistance between Mark Kirk andthe truth, revealing a rather seri-ous flaw in his character.

If you think I’m picking onKirk, that he is really concernedabout the deficit and that’s whyhe voted against education,health care and public safety, Iwould ask these questions:

Why for eight years did hevote for every George Bush bud-get, resulting in a doubling ofthe national debt from the timeBush took office?

Why is Kirk opposed toPresident Obama’s proposal toend the Bush tax cuts for fami-lies making $250,000 or more ayear, thus reducing the deficitby $700 billion over 10 years?

No, it’s not fear of deficits.It gets back to character. He justwon’t stand up to the big guys inWashington. He didn’t stand upto Wall Street and the bankswhen he had a chance. He did-n’t stand up to the insuranceindustry when he could have.And he didn’t take on multi-national corporations whenpublic services were on the line.

Mark Kirk was right whenhe said he would vote to pre-serve public service jobs. He waswrong when he went to Wash-ington and voted the other way.

Let’s make him right again.Come November, let’s keep himhere in Illinois.

Mark Kirk, record-breaking flip-flopper

The U.S. Senate candidate flipped on jobs bill; and that’s a flop

THE MEDIA

FOUND

CONSIDERABLE

DISTANCE

BETWEEN

MARK KIRK

AND THE TRUTH

On the MoveAFSCME Illinois On the Move ispublished 8 times annually by Illinois Public Employees Council31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO. Send correspondence to:lcohen@afscmeillinois.orgor: AFSCME, On the Move, 205 N. Michigan Ave., 21st Floor,Chicago, IL 60601

Henry Bayer, Executive DirectorRoberta Lynch, Deputy DirectorLinc Cohen, EditorDolores Wilber, Designer

Council 31 Executive Board OfficersSTATE EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTLori Laidlaw, Dixon CCLocal 817CITY/COUNTY EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTCarmin Willis-Goodloe, Cook County Hospital, Local 1111PRIVATE SECTOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTYolanda Sims, Hope SchoolLocal 2481UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTDorinda Miller, U of I Clericals, Local 3700SECRETARYBarney Franklin, City of Chicago, Local 2946TREASURERSam Rossi, Departments of Revenueand Lottery, Local 2467

Board MembersSTATE CONFERENCE BOARD CO-CHAIRSGloria Arseneau, (RC-14), Northeastern Illinois State employees,Local 2794David Ford, (RC-63), Murray DC, Local 401Randy Hellman, (RC-6)Pinckneyville CC, Local 943

REGION I VICE-PRESIDENTS(COOK AND LAKE COUNTIES)Darlene Banks, Local 4008, Little CityPatricia Ousley, Department of Employment Security,Local 1006Ed Schwartz, Cook County DCFS,Local 2081Denise Slaughter, New Hope Center,Local 1232Eva Spencer-Chatman, Chicago ReadMHC, Local 1610Laverne Walker, City of Chicago,Local 505Kevin Johnson, city of Evanston, Local 1891

REGION II VICE-PRESIDENTS(NOTHERN ILLINOIS)Gary Ciaccio, Shapiro DC, Local 29Rob Fanti, Sheridan CC, Local 472Ralph Portwood, Stateville CC, Local 1866Pat Sanders, IYC Joliet, Local 1753Garry Cacciapaglia, city of Rockford,Local 1058

REGION III VICE- PRESIDENTS(CENTRAL ILLINOIS)Gary Kroeschel, Sangamon CountyState employees, Local 2224Richard Heitz, Canton CorrectionalCenter, Local 3585Matt Lukow, Springfield Area Stateemployees, Local 1964David Morris, Illinois State employees,Local 805Matt Pederson, Eastern Illinois Univer-sity, Local 981Cameron Watson, Jacksonville CC,Local 3549Trudy Williams, Fulton County SheriffsDept. & Courthouse, Local 3433

REGION IV VICE-PRESIDENTS(SOUTHERN ILLINOIS)

Larry Flynn, Vienna CC, Local 415Cary Quick, Choate MH/DC, Local 141Michael Hamil, SIU-Carbondale, Local 2887Barb Reardon, Southern Illinois StateEmployees, Local 1048

TrusteesKen Kleinlein, (RC-6) Western CC, Local 3567Kathy Lane, Northwestern Illinois StateEmployees, Local 448Tom Minick, Moline Schools, Local 672

Retiree Chapter 31 RepresentativeVirginia Yates

It’s not unusual to see politicians flip-flopon an issue, but the recent pivot by MarkKirk, the Illinois congressman from sub-

urban Chicago’s affluent North Shore, maymake it into the Guinness Book of Records.

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On the Move August-September 2010 3

The pain is real,the cuts aredeep, and

the list of overduepayments is long, butIllinois is nowherenear digging out ofthe deep budget holethat continues toplague state government.

THOUGH AFSCME-REPRESENT-ED STATE EMPLOYEES HAVE 10MORE MONTHS OF A NO-LAYOFFguarantee, the specter of jobloss grows larger as publicand private agencies that relyon grants from the state con-tinue to cut services and layoff staff.

Education is taking thebiggest hit, with schoolenployee layoffs even reach-ing well-heeled districts andclassrooms ballooning to sizes

that hamper learning. Col-leges and universities areincreasing tuition and cuttingstaff and programs.

“Local agencies that pro-vide human services are find-ing it increasingly difficult todeliver those services,” Coun-cil 31 public policy directorAnne Irving said.

Non-profit agencies thatserve the mentally ill anddevelopmentally disabled arelosing most of their fundingfor clients who do not qualifyfor Medicaid. This couldmean layoffs in those agen-cies, which rely on state fund-ing for nearly all of theiroperating budgets.

Local health departmentscould also see deep statefunding cuts, even as theywrestle with late payments offunds already owed them.New layoffs are possible in sev-eral county agencies (seepage 8-9).

The budget has no provi-sions to address the nearly $6billion payments backlog.

That’s putting a furthersqueeze on local governmentsand community non-profitagencies and leaving state anduniversity employees andretirees who use medical ser-vices under pressure fromdoctors, labs and hospitals topay fees out of their ownpockets.

Budget numbers don’tadd up

BUDGET DETAILS HAVE APPEARED

slowly as the administrationattempts to deal with a mathe-matically impossible situation:• The state needs $39 billionto meet its obligations, includ-ing $6 billion in unpaid bills,$4.6 billion due on past bor-rowing, $3.5 for the legallyrequired payment to statepension systems and nearly$25 billion in appropriationsfor the General RevenueFund (after the governor cut$1.4 billion from the legisla-ture’s appropriation).• Revenues are expected to be

close to $21.4 billion withanother $5.3 billion comingin from the federal govern-ment.• Raids on special funds, a taxamnesty program and borrow-ing against future incomefrom a settlement with tobac-co companies adds one-timerevenues of almost $2.5 bil-lion.• That leaves a deficit of near-ly $10 billion.

Less than a year left onno-layoff agreement

SOONER OR LATER LEGISLATIVE

leaders and the governor willhave to deal with that deficit.And the problem will only getworse, with $2.5 billion of thisyear’s revenues coming fromsources that can’t be tappedagain. Eventually there won’tbe enough money coming into keep the state operating.

Already state agencies arebeing forced to implementdeep cuts that are hamperingoperations.

“The only thing stoppingmassive layoffs and facility clo-sures is the settlement wereached last year,” Irving said.“And that runs out nextJune.”

With the agreement inplace, several of the largeragencies – DHS, DOC, DCFSand others – will in all likeli-hood spend their allocatedfunds before the end of thefiscal year and be forced tocome to the legislature forsupplemental appropriations.

“We’ve said it before, andwe have to keep saying it,” Irv-ing said. “Raising taxes is theonly way out. If we don’t dothat, the state will fail its resi-dents, fail its employees andspread unemployment, hard-ship and misery. It really isthat simple.”

More cuts in the works for dead broke state

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Congress passes state aid bill, will save jobs

Returning toWashington inthe middle of

its August recess, theU.S. House has passeda bill that will give Illi-nois $1 billion in fed-eral funds to preservevital public servicesand save thousands ofjobs of public servantswho provide them —including teachers,police and firefighters,caregivers and more.

The bill was strongly backedby AFSCME members, whomade thousands of phonecalls and emails, attended ral-lies across the country, andmobilized their families andneighbors to do the same.

President Barack Obamasigned the bill on the sameday the House passed it.

Congress paid for thenew expenditures in part byclosing tax loopholes thatreward companies for send-ing American jobs overseas.Even though the bill thus didnot increase the federaldeficit, nearly every Republi-can in the House votedagainst it, including Rep.Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park,who had announced just aday before the vote that hewould likely support the bill.Kirk is the Republican candi-date for U.S. Senate in Illi-nois.

“Mark Kirk has a seriouscredibility problem,” Council31 Director Henry Bayer said.“This bill protects essentialpublic services, saves jobs andstrengthens the Illinois econ-omy. On top of being wrongon this critical issue, Kirk sim-ply can’t be trusted to keephis word.”

Raising taxes is the only way out.

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4 On the Move August-September 2010

Same struggle, many places

“THERE’S A WAR TAKING PLACE

IN THIS COUNTRY AGAINST PUB-LIC-SECTOR EMPLOYEES,” DONNABrazile, a political strategistwho managed Al Gore’s presi-dential campaign, told thedelegates. “They declared waron us and we’re going tofight.”

There was the usual con-vention business – policy res-olutions to debate, fieryspeeches to see and hear,educational workshops toattend. Special caucusesbrought together delegateswho do the same or similarwork. And, as is usually doneat the biennial conventions,delegates took time to rallyand march in support of astruggle going on in the host

community.“When we went through

the resolutions and otherbusiness, people got up andstated their case,” Local 2081Vice President Steph Mittonssaid. He was impressed by theopenness and democracy. “Igot to meet Bill Lucy andother union leaders. Theywere accessible. This is ahands-on union with a lot ofbright minds. And there was aforum to address disagree-ments.”

Rally echoes American history

MASSACHUSETTS COUNCIL 93members are fighting to pre-vent the planned closure of

four of the state’s six long-term residential hospitals forthe developmentally disabled,to keep all branches of thecity’s public libraries openand prevent layoffs of libraryemployees. The council alsorepresents higher educationworkers who are battling forfair contracts.

“It doesn’t matter whatstate you’re in, we’re all fight-ing the same battle,” Peoriaarea Local 51 President LoriGladson said.

The rally to back theMassachusetts members tookplace on the historic BostonCommon, site of rallies datingback to Revolutionary Wardays. And thousands ofAFSCME members were atthis one.

“Itwasinspiringto be at aplacewherethere wasso muchhistory,”Local3549PresidentCameronWatsonsaid. “Thepeopletherewereappreciative that so manyturned out to support them.”

Azure Newman, a first-time delegate who works atHeartland Human Services in

Effingham, said she knewfirst-hand how important arally like this can be.

“We’re a small local in ananti-union town, and when wewere on strike it seemed like avery lonely battle,” she said.“But when the union heldevents to support us, wefound out we were not aloneand it gave us the strength tokeep on fighting.”

Same problems, workplace by workplace

SPECIAL CAUCUSES ALLOW DELE-gates to meet with othersaround the country who dothe same kind of work.

Watson, a CO at Jack-sonvilleCorrec-tionalCenter,went tothe Cor-rectionscaucus.“Peopleare deal-ing withthe samethingswe are inIllinois,”he said,“short-staffing,furlough

days, mandatory overtime. Iwas surprised at how many arebeing forced to take furloughdays.”

In corrections, furloughs

seem a self-defeating idea, hesaid, because the missing staffmust be replaced with co-workers getting paid time-and-one-half.

“We got to bounce offeach other the different waysof dealing with the problemsin different states,” he said.“But we in Illinois are aheadof most states in what we’vebeen able to get done.”

At the Child Welfare cau-cus, Mittons said it was “a for-mat to exchange new ideasand figure out solutions toour problems.”

Internal election pointstoward union’s future

THIS YEAR DELEGATES WERE

also charged with a nearlyimpossible task: replacing Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy.A giant of the labor move-ment and a hero to AFSCMEmembers, he spent nearly 60years as an activist and leaderin the union.

Amid unprecedented challenges,AFSCME members from across thenation converged on Boston at the end

of June for the International union’s 39th con-vention. Attacks on pub-lic-service employees areincreasing, given impetusby a deep recession thathas put millions in theunemployment lines. Anational election loomingin November threatens tofurther impede PresidentObama’s agenda for change. And unions arestruggling to adapt to the stark realities of the21st century economic landscape.

AFSCME members around the country battling budget cuts, attacks on public-service workers

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Talking about the upcoming election, political strategistDonna Brazile told delegates not to “let people beg foryour vote when they need to get elected and then turntheir backs on you when you say what you want, like theEmployee Free Choice Act.”

Azure Newman, Local 3494 recordingsecretary — “It wasgood getting to hearthat we’re not the onlyones facing the crisis of

budget cuts.”

Continued on the facing page

On the Move August-September 2010 5

Lucy, who founded theCoalition of Black TradeUnionists, stressed the impor-tance of fighting for social jus-tice, a commitment that hascharacterized all his years inthe labor movement.

“We’ve always known that there’s a crisis,” he saidin his farewell speech to theconvention. “It may be moreintense now, but there’salways been a crisis for mil-lions of people not as lucky as we are in this room.There’s a daily crisis in theirlives, as they struggle to put

breadontheirtables,to putclothesontheirbacks,to havea roofontheirheads.

We have a responsibility tohelp them out.”

A spirited and at timescontroversial election tookplace to choose Lucy’s successor, with Council 31delegates strongly backingNew York’s Danny Donohue,president of AFSCME’s largestaffiliate, the 200,000-memberCSEA 1000. He was opposedby Lee Saunders, who hadspent most of his time in theunion working out of theWashington headquarters,most recently as a specialassistant to International Pres-ident Gerald McEntee.

Saunders gets narrowwin to replace Lucy

“WHAT GOES ON IN WASHING-TON is important,” Council 31Director Henry Bayer said, “butnothing is more importantthan the fights being fought bylocal unions in the trenches —

and Danny isthe candidatewho under-stands that.”

Lucyhimself sup-ported Dono-hue. “I haveknown andworked withDanny forover 25years,” hesaid. “Hiscommitmentto this unionand its mem-bers is secondto none andfor that hehas gainedmy totalrespect and

support.”Backed by McEntee, Saun-

ders edged out Donohue byless than 1 percent of the totalvote.

The election created anintensity that permeatedmuch of the convention. Inthe face of what many saw as

union leaders slanting therules to give Saunders anunfair advantage, Illinoismembers found themselvesengaged in an intense cam-paign to win delegates fromaround the country to a votefor Donohue and the cause ofchange.

“We may not have beenon the winning side,” Bayersaid, “but this election set thetone for two years from now,when delegates will elect boththe president and secretary-treasurer.”

Despite coming up on thelosing side, the contest ener-gized union activists whobelieve the Internationalunion must change with thetimes.

“I ran into people withpassion and devotion to theunion and a dedication towhat we’re doing,” Mittonssaid.

“The election was over-powering,” Gladson added.“We were there to start amovement, and I think weaccomplished that.”

“I was charged up when I left Boston,” said Stephen Ramsey, CookCounty Local 1767 president, pictured here with Danny Donohue. “Irealized in Council 31 we are part of something very special. Now wehave to walk in Bill Lucy’s footsteps and apply what we learned.”

Continued from the facing page

6 On the Move August-September 2010

DCFS and DJJ employees say merger will harm reform efforts

Employees from thedepartments

of Juvenile Justiceand Children andFamily Services areexpressing gravedoubts about theQuinn administra-tion’s ill-consideredplan to merge thetwo agencies.

WITH A NEWLY MINTED REPORT

IN HAND THAT WAS BASED ON A

SURVEY OF AFSCME membersfrom DJJ and authored byCouncil 31 staff, a group ledby a frontline worker fromeach department laid out theunion’s concerns to a July 28legislative oversight hearing.

The report, “Road toReform: Rebuilding Jvenile Jus-tice in Illinois,” provides con-crete recommendations forreducing recidivism, andimproving rehabilitation in thestate juvenile justice system.

“It seems like the morewe talk about change, the lessthat gets done,” TamelaSmith, a Youth and FamilySpecialist at WarrenvilleYouth Center, told the legisla-tive hearing. “Think of allthose kids we lost because wedidn’t just make the changeswe all know and under-stand need to happen.Focus on making thechanges first.”

‘Right back in Warrenville’

THE NEED FOR CHANGE IS CLEAR:The state has lost the ability tokeep juvenile offenders wholeave state youth centers fromending up on the wrong sideof the law again. Success inachieving that goal is mea-sured by the “recidivism rate,”and that number is way toohigh in Illinois.

Successive administrationshave bowed to the state’s bud-get crisis in gutting the system’sresources, allowing recidivismto skyrocket. It now stands at 50percent — double the 25 per-cent rate of the early 1990s,before the staffing and programcuts began. That means thathalf of all youths sent to a youthcenter now are reincarceratedwithin three years of theirrelease, either for new trans-gressions or for violations oftheir paroles.

“After four years of thenew department, we still

send girls out with no after-care resources,” said Smith,who has worked in youth facil-ities for 10 years. “And oncethey leave, I still can’t followup with them. I can’t call herteacher and see if she’s goingto school. I can’t call her upand talk to her even though Ibuilt a rapport with her whileshe was here. The next time Isee her, she’s right back inWarrenville. It’s a hurtfulthing, and it happens to somany of our kids.”

‘Losing our next generation’

BUT THE MERGER ISN’T THE

change that’s needed.“The merger appears like-

ly to merely replicate the mis-takes of the past,” theAFSCME report concludes,“offering only cosmeticchange when what is requiredis a serious commitment ofnew resources to revitalize theprograms essential to ensurethat youth have the opportu-nity to rebuild their lives and

to make the facilities safe.”The recent past includes

another bureaucratic effort tosolve programmatic changes:DJJ was removed from theDepartment of Correctionsfour years ago, with thepromise that the deep-seatedproblems could best beaddressed by a stand-aloneagency without any newresources. Now the adminis-tration is looking for anotherbureaucratic fix.

“Unless DCFS can tell ustoday what money they areputting on the table to turnthis around, then we are justsitting and talking about it,like we have been talkingabout it for the last fouryears,” Smith said. “And whilewe talk instead of doing some-thing about it, we are losingour next generation everyday.”

‘Making the situationworse’

DESPITE CLAIMS BY THE ADMINIS-tration that the merger will

bring in new resources,“Merger proponents show noevidence that their plan willreduce recidivism, ensureadequate staff levels, makefacilities safer, rebuild educa-tion and treatment programs,or obtain additional funds,”the AFSCME report said. “Infact, if efficiencies can beachieved through shared ser-vices between departments,this can and should be doneunder current statute withoutthe disruption that a massivedepartmental reorganizationwould produce.”

The merger wouldn’t begood for DCFS either, accord-ing to Joann Washington-Murry, a child welfare special-ist with DCFS in the Cook-South region.

“DCFS does not have suf-ficient staff to handle its coremission,” she told the legisla-tors. “And that makes us ques-tion whether we can also takeon the issues of the Depart-ment of Juvenile Justice with-out further weakening ourresponse to abused and

neglected children and theirfamilies.”

With staffing shortagesplaguing her agency, too, “I’mconcerned about the mergermaking that situation worse,”Washington-Murry said.

She noted that DCFSalready has some juvenileoffenders on its caseload, forwhom it “hasn’t done enough… I believe our first responsi-bility is to find more resourcesfor those kids before we takeon more youths.”

The report urges theQuinn Administration to “setaside its rush to yet anotherbureaucratic restructuringand instead work with front-line employees to make con-crete improvements now.Staffing cuts should bereversed, bringing down theyouth-to-staff ratio, improvingservices and cutting overtimecosts. Serious investmentshould be undertaken tostrengthen academic andvocational education pro-grams, mental health care,substance abuse treatmentand organized recreationalopportunities. A comprehen-sive assessment of each youthshould take place and be cou-pled with an aftercare planconnecting parolees toresources and services in theircommunities.”

A copy of “Road to Reform” can be downloaded from the AFSCME Council 31 website atwww.afscme31.org.

6

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Tamela SmithNorm Neely

Joann Washington-Murry

On the Move August-September 2010 7

AU.S. Senatecontestbetween

state Treasurer AlexiGiannoulias and U.S.Rep. Mark Kirk topsthe Illinois ballot inthe November elec-tion, when voters willalso pick the nextgovernor.

COUNCIL 31’S PEOPLE CON-FERENCE IS SLATED FOR SEPT. 11.THAT’S THE TIME FOR THE

union’s final decisions onwhether or not to makeendorsements in these andother key races around thestate.

In addition to the U.S.

Senate seat and the race forgovernor, voters will also pick19 U.S. Representatives, 21state senators and all 118 staterepresentatives, as well assome county offices.

With a critical need forstate government to raise newrevenues, AFSCME memberswill take General Assemblyraces very seriously, but statesenators and representativeswho have long enjoyedAFSCME backing won’t beable to take the union’s sup-port for granted.

Holding elected offi-cials accountable

“STATE GOVERNMENT HAS FAL-tered in recent years,” saidJohn Cameron, Council 31director of political affairs.“Illinois has backpedaled onthe commitment to deliver

high-quality public services,and our legislators must takesome of the responsibility forthat.”

State and local govern-ment employees have beenasked to bear an ever-heavierburden as lawmakers recoilfrom making the hard choicesit would take to raise rev-enues. But without thosechoices, it is becoming impos-sible to maintain good gov-ernment and provide the ser-vices citizens want and need.

“We’ve always emphasizedholding elected officialsaccountable for delivering ontheir commitments to us,”Cameron said, “and electionsare a time to do that account-ing.”

It all starts with regionalPEOPLE meetings, held inAugust. Local union presi-dents and PEOPLE chairs in

11 regions around the stateinterview state legislative andlocal candidates, weigh therecords of incumbents andmake recommendations onendorsements. The same duo from each local then serve as delegates to the statewide PEOPLE conference in September.

The main issue – astate tax increase

“OUR TOP PRIORITY IS PASSING A

tax increase,” Cameron said.“There is simply no other wayfor the state to meet its obliga-tions. We are going to focus ourpolitical action efforts in thiselection on making it more like-ly that the General Assemblypasses HB 174, or a similar billthat raises income taxes, makesour tax system more fair, pro-vides property tax credits and

broadens the sales tax to reflectthis century’s economic reali-ties.”

The way legislators votedon the bill that establishedlower pension benefits and anolder retirement age for newlyhired public employees isanother issue that will deter-mine who gets support fromCouncil 31. Among other keyissues is a wage increase fordirect-care workers in non-profit agencies and keepingup with payments required tostate pension systems.

Taken together, thatcould mean walking awayfrom longtime politicalalliances and building newones, Cameron said.

Issues matter morethan party

IN DECIDING WHO TO SUPPORT,union leaders will focus onwhich candidates will helpadvance the goals of taxreform on the state level.

On the federal level, themeasuring stick will be jobsand workers’ rights, includingthe Employee Free ChoiceAct or a similar bill thatmakes it easier for workers toform unions.

Retirement security willbe another important issue onboth the state and federal lev-els, with a near certainty thatallies of big corporations willrenew attacks on Social Secu-rity and on public-employeepensions.

“Party really doesn’t matter when it comes to whowe support as a union,”Cameron said. “What matters is how each candidate standson the issues and whether ornot we can trust them to staywith that stand when thegoing gets tough.”

Illinois SupremeCourt Justice TomKilbride is stand-

ing for retention inthe upcoming Novem-ber election and bigbusiness interests havetargeted him, attempt-ing to deny himanother term on thecourt.

THOSE CORPORATE INTERESTSCOULD SPEND MILLIONS IN MIS-LEADING TELEVISION AND RADIO

ads, at least in part because thejudge has a record of standingup for the rights of workers.

State Supreme Court jus-tices are elected by popularvotes from five districts. After10 years the justices must standfor retention, where votersdecide whether they will getanother term.

Kilbride was elected in2000 for the Third District seat,which stretches through 21counties, from the Indiana bor-der to the Mississippi River,including Peoria, Joliet, Pekin,Macomb, LaSalle, Ottawa, RockIsland and Kankakee.

The justice has a solidlabor background, includingseveral years as a full-time vol-unteer for the United FarmWorkers in the early 1970s.Later he worked his waythrough college and law

school, includingfactory jobs wherehe was a memberof the Machinistsand Laborersunions.

His first jobout of law schoolwas as a Legal Aidattorney in RockIsland, where hesettled, married and raisedthree daughters, becomingactive in his community.

On the Supreme Court,Kilbride has upheld publicemployees’ rights by requiringemployers to bargain abouttheir working conditions. Healso was in the majority whenDuPage County lost in itsattempt to weaken the law that

allows workers toform unions withless employerinterference.

He has votedon the side ofworkers in caseswhere the employ-er was trying totake away Work-ers’ Compensa-

tion benefits. In one case a pri-vate employer tried to takeaway benefits from a worker byfiring him. And a publicemployer lost a case where itfired an employee as retaliationfor filing a Workers’ Compen-sation claim.

Kilbride authored a deci-sion in favor of a worker whowas being denied compensa-

tion because the employer saidthat the heart attack he had atwork was not job-related. Hevoted in favor of a decision thatif job-related stress contributesto an injury, it is covered byWorkers’ Compensation.

And when the courtreporters of the SupremeCourt attempted to form aunion, Kilbride backed recog-nizing them, though they even-tually did not get recognition.

“Because he has supportedworkers’ rights in these rulings,big business interest havepainted a target on JusticeTom Kilbride,” said MikeMatejka, a union leader fromBloomington who has knownKilbride since their collegedays. “By law, justices cannottalk about decisions or casesbefore the electorate. Theycan only offer themselves asthey are. When the mislead-ing TV and radio ads startrunning, remind your familyand fellow workers who ispaying for those ads and thebig money represented.

“Justice Tom Kilbrideknows what it’s like to work ina factory, labor on a construc-tion site and organize aunion.”

Justice Tom Kilbride targeted by big business

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Senate race tops ticket in November election

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PEOPLE conference kicks off election season

AFSCME members who work for the

Kane County Health Department found

themselves facing the dire combination

of delays in the state dollars that fund

some of their key programs and a man-

ager with no real concern for the people

the department serves.

Health Department Executive Direc-

tor Paul Kuehnert has exploited the very

real problem of payment delays to try to

wipe out programs that serve thousands

of low-income residents: Family Case

Management, which serves 6,000 preg-

nant women; Women, Infants and Chil-

dren, or WIC; Peer Breastfeeding Promo-

tion; Teen Parent Services; HealthWorks

for foster children; Dental Sealants;

vision and hearing screenings; and

immunization and pandemic flu response.

With 62 layoffs possible, Local

3966 has fought a battle that is more

complex than it first appeared when the

county announced that it was dropping

all programs not legally required of local

health departments.

The nexus of issues includes:

• The state’s huge payments backlog,

which is putting many community agen-

cies, state universities, health-care

providers and other state vendors in

jeopardy;

• The budget crisis that has created and

lengthened the backlog and is forcing

vital service cuts at every level;

• The trend of privatizing public ser-

vices;

• The conservative political ideology

whose aim is to just eliminate most pub-

lic services;

• The ongoing attacks on unions by

those who seek to lower wages and ben-

efits for all workers;

• The attacks on public employees; and

• The opportunistic use by conserva-

tives of the nation’s current economic

crisis to further many of these goals.

Kids will be the victims

The Health Department claimed it was

implementing the cuts because the

state was behind in sending $1.5 million

in grant money. Kuehnert says private

agencies in the area would take over the

programs, but AFSCME members are

skeptical.

“It took me nine years to get this

program where it is today,” said Jeannie

Walsh, a nurse in the HealthWorks pro-

gram. “We have more than 400 kids and

they’ll just fall through the cracks. They

use all the services that will be cut.”

When

AFSCME got

wind of the

county’s plan,

staff represen-

tative Carla

Williams found out that the Health

Department hadn’t even attempted to

speed up the recovery of funds the state

owed. With a push from the union the

state cut a $500,000 check overnight.

But that didn’t change the depart-

ment’s idea of privatizing the services.

And a number of County Board members

have supported the smaller-government

concept.

AFSCME fought back

Union members have worked on lobby-

ing the County Board, mobilizing support

from the area’s state legislators, grab-

bing the attention of local media, stag-

ing an informational picket and present-

ing testimony from public health workers

and clients.

“A lot of our members who are usu-

ally silent have stepped up to the plate

on this,” said Elena Lopez, a member of

the local’s executive board.

Walsh said she has been to County

Board meetings and has been heart-

ened to see some of her clients willing to

stand up and testify about the impor-

tance of the services they receive. She

works closely with physicians in the com-

munity, and has reached out to get

some of them involved as well.

“I’m not a political person,” she

said. “But I’m passionate about my

work. I’ve taken vacation time to attend

board meetings.

Private agencies ‘overwhelmed’

Despite the

fact that pri-

vate agen-

cies assert

that they’re

able to take

over the pro-

grams being

cut, union

members

believe the

consequences will be dire.

“Those agencies are already over-

whelmed,” Lopez said. “Our clients will

have long waits that they don’t have

time for. They’ll get lost in the shuffle.

Some of our clients are foster kids with

real problems that nobody wanted to

see.”

The result will be higher death rates

among the infants and children, predict-

ed Julie Okapal, a public health nurse.

“People will flood the emergency

rooms,” Okapal said. “They won’t get the

services, because the agencies won’t be

able to handle all the new cases. It’s sad

that we are doing this to our poor. And

the guy who’s doing it goes home and

has a nice income and a comfortable

life.”

Kane County local battles public health cuts

Fighting to save public health services in Kane

County, Local 3966 has waged a spiritedbattle that raises many of the key issues fac-ing AFSCME members around the state and

around the nation.

AFSCME members who work for the

Kane County Health Department found

themselves facing the dire combination

of delays in the state dollars that fund

some of their key programs and a man-

ager with no real concern for the people

the department serves.

Health Department Executive Direc-

tor Paul Kuehnert has exploited the very

real problem of payment delays to try to

wipe out programs that serve thousands

of low-income residents: Family Case

Management, which serves 6,000 preg-

nant women; Women, Infants and Chil-

dren, or WIC; Peer Breastfeeding Promo-

tion; Teen Parent Services; HealthWorks

for foster children; Dental Sealants;

vision and hearing screenings; and

immunization and pandemic flu response.

With 62 layoffs possible, Local

3966 has fought a battle that is more

complex than it first appeared when the

county announced that it was dropping

all programs not legally required of local

health departments.

The nexus of issues includes:

• The state’s huge payments backlog,

which is putting many community agen-

cies, state universities, health-care

providers and other state vendors in

jeopardy;

• The budget crisis that has created and

lengthened the backlog and is forcing

vital service cuts at every level;

• The trend of privatizing public ser-

vices;

• The conservative political ideology

whose aim is to just eliminate most pub-

lic services;

• The ongoing attacks on unions by

those who seek to lower wages and ben-

efits for all workers;

• The attacks on public employees; and

• The opportunistic use by conserva-

tives of the nation’s current economic

crisis to further many of these goals.

Kids will be the victims

The Health Department claimed it was

implementing the cuts because the

state was behind in sending $1.5 million

in grant money. Kuehnert says private

agencies in the area would take over the

programs, but AFSCME members are

skeptical.

“It took me nine years to get this

program where it is today,” said Jeannie

Walsh, a nurse in the HealthWorks pro-

gram. “We have more than 400 kids and

they’ll just fall through the cracks. They

use all the services that will be cut.”

When

AFSCME got

wind of the

county’s plan,

staff represen-

tative Carla

Williams found out that the Health

Department hadn’t even attempted to

speed up the recovery of funds the state

owed. With a push from the union the

state cut a $500,000 check overnight.

But that didn’t change the depart-

ment’s idea of privatizing the services.

And a number of County Board members

have supported the smaller-government

concept.

AFSCME fought back

Union members have worked on lobby-

ing the County Board, mobilizing support

from the area’s state legislators, grab-

bing the attention of local media, stag-

ing an informational picket and present-

ing testimony from public health workers

and clients.

“A lot of our members who are usu-

ally silent have stepped up to the plate

on this,” said Elena Lopez, a member of

the local’s executive board.

Walsh said she has been to County

Board meetings and has been heart-

ened to see some of her clients willing to

stand up and testify about the impor-

tance of the services they receive. She

works closely with physicians in the com-

munity, and has reached out to get

some of them involved as well.

“I’m not a political person,” she

said. “But I’m passionate about my

work. I’ve taken vacation time to attend

board meetings.

Private agencies ‘overwhelmed’

Despite the

fact that pri-

vate agen-

cies assert

that they’re

able to take

over the pro-

grams being

cut, union

members

believe the

consequences will be dire.

“Those agencies are already over-

whelmed,” Lopez said. “Our clients will

have long waits that they don’t have

time for. They’ll get lost in the shuffle.

Some of our clients are foster kids with

real problems that nobody wanted to

see.”

The result will be higher death rates

among the infants and children, predict-

ed Julie Okapal, a public health nurse.

“People will flood the emergency

rooms,” Okapal said. “They won’t get the

services, because the agencies won’t be

able to handle all the new cases. It’s sad

that we are doing this to our poor. And

the guy who’s doing it goes home and

has a nice income and a comfortable

life.”

Public health nurses save money, lives

Kane County local battles public health cuts

The concept of public health is that taxpayers can save money in the

long run and improve the quality of everyone’s lives by preventing

disease, especially among those who don’t have ready access to health

care.

Central to the delivery of these services is the public health nurse.

“Some of our work is hands-on care, some of it is statisti-

cal and some of it is teaching,” says Julie Okapal, a nurse who

works at the Kane County Health Department. “A lot of my

work is with high-risk infants. That’s hands on. When babies

are born with medical problems, I do home visits.”

There are head-to-toe assessments. There are screenings

to detect problems. Then there’s counseling of the parents

and referrals to get the children health care before things get

worse.

But there’s much more. For Okapal, a typical week goes

like this:

• On Monday she gives immunization shots – to infants,

adults, college students, school children;

• On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are the home visits; and

• On Wednesdays is teaching – a breastfeeding group; a class for mothers

with newborns; another for babies that are up to nine months old and nutri-

tion classes for pregnant moms.

“For my first 17 years in nursing, I worked in a hospital – in a neonatal

intensive care unit,” Okapal said. “I made a lot of money. But I saw a lot of

babies going home and the families didn’t know there was help available.”

Then she moved to the Health Department.

“I love to do the teaching,” she said “It’s a different type of nursing. But

I’m liking what I do and I like thinking I make a difference.”

PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES SAVE MONEY, LIVES

Julie Okapal

Jeanne Walsh, left, Diane Ritter andAmy Valle help high-risk moms and children in the Health Works Program.

Elena Lopez

County Boardbacks cuts

Just before On the Movewent to press the Kane County Board voted 18-8 toproceed with the HealthDepartment director’s plan tocut services and lay off 62employees.

It could have beenworse, much worse.That was the con-

clusion reached by twonoted economists wholooked at what mighthave happened if Con-gress had failed to passPresident Obama’sAmerican Recoveryand Reinvestment Act.

ARRA, AS IT IS KNOWN, HASLATELY COME UNDER ATTACK

BASED ON ALLEGATIONS THAT IT

increased the federal deficit.

The economists come fromdifferent sides of the politicaldivide. Alan Blinder of Prince-ton University was in the Clin-ton administration and MarkZandi of Moody’s Analyticsadvised John McCain’s presi-dential campaign.

Their conclusion accordingto an Los Angeles Times article:“The country would have beensignificantly worse off withoutthe stimulus measures passed byCongress in the past two years,and it would have been in trulydesperate straits today had Con-gress and the (Federal ReserveBank) not taken extraordinarysteps to save the financial mar-kets as well.”

The economists say that

without ARRA and the bankbailout, or Troubled AssetRelief Program, unemploymentwould have reached 16.5 per-cent, compared to the actualpeak of 10.1 percent.

In fact the much-reviledfederal deficit would have beenbigger without the stimulusspending. There would havebeen 8.5 million fewer jobs andeconomic output would be $1.5trillion lower.

“When all is said anddone,” Blinder and Zandi con-clude, “the financial and fiscalpolicies will have cost taxpayersa substantial sum, but not near-ly as much as most had fearedand not nearly as much as ifpolicymakers had not acted at

all. If the comprehensive policyresponses saved the economyfrom another depression, as weestimate, they were well worththeir cost.”

Recent congressional bat-tles have been over extendingsome provisions of the ARRA,including extension of unem-ployment compensation eligi-bility for those whose benefitshave run out; extension of the

enhanced federal medical assis-tance percentage, or FMAP;and a provision for federalfunds to retain teachers whomight otherwise lose jobsbecause of state and local bud-get crunches.

The unemployment bene-fit extension passed in July areduced version of the aid tostates and local schools wassigned into law as On the Movewent to press.

Republicans have foughtthese provisions tooth and nail,as they did the original ARRA,saying that it would add to thefederal deficit, an objectionmost economists, includingBlinder and Zandi, dismiss asbad economics.

This from Josh Bivens, ofthe Economic Policy Institute, aWashington think tank: “Forthe next year or two at least, thebiggest threat regarding deficitsis that they will not be largeenough to support the publicrelief and investments neededto pull the economy into a sus-tained recovery and provide the10 million-plus jobs necessary torestore the U.S. labor market toits pre-recession strength.”

10 On the Move August-September 2010

Recovery Act generatedeconomic activity and jobs

Without TARP andARRA, the country

would have 8.5 millionfewer jobs and eco-nomic output wouldbe $1.5 trillion lower

w

Local union picnics are a staple of AFSCMEsummers, with families gathering for barbe-cued treats and kids romping in open fields.

This year Local 3348 at Pinnacle Opportunitiesin the Kankakee area held the first of what is plannedto be an annual event.

“Morale is pretty low in our workplace,” saidDiane Hendricks, the local union president. “Wehaven’t had raises in three years. We thought we’d

bring family and friends together and have a goodtime and give people who want to participate achance to do it.”

It’s about solidarity, she said. “We wanted toremind people that ‘You’re still a part of the unionand we’re still here.”

Staff representative Karmen Ortloff, who also didthe face painting, and Donna Richardson, the localunion secretary, took the photos.

Pinnacle local holds first annual picnic

On the Move August-September 2010 11

THOUGH HE’S BEEN IN THE GEN-ERAL ASSEMBLY SINCE 1993, THEREPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR

governor is not well knownamong AFSCME members outside his Senate district. On theother hand, Gov. Pat Quinn,Brady’s better-known Democraticopponent, has made himself well-known, if not widely popular,to the voters in general andAFSCME members in particular.

Quinn put distancebetween himself and publicemployees by signing a bill,which Brady voted for, that cutpension benefits and raised theretirement age for newly hiredstate and local governmentworkers.

That makes a closer look atBrady important for unionmembers, as they wrestle withthe decision on who to vote forcome November.

Leading the attacks onpensions

BRADY BEGAN HIS GENERAL

Assembly career as a state repre-sentative from Bloomington,with a background in business.Among his business interests,he owns a home building busi-ness, a real estate agency and amotel.

Although Brady voted forQuinn-backed pension cuts fornew hires, he didn’t think the governor went far enough.This year Brady introduced leg-islation that would have takenaway traditional, securedefined-benefit pensions fromall newly hired state employeesand saddled them with a riskydefined-contribution plan. Healso wanted to undermine the pension plan for currentemployees, with a “voluntary”defined-contribution alterna-tive.

He didn’t vote on a bill,passed by the Senate with noopposing votes, that allows stateemployees who take furloughdays to buy pension credits forthe time they miss.

And in a campaign speech

this summer, he told the CityClub of Chicago that he favorsending all government contri-butions to public-employeepension systems, putting theonus entirely on employees toprovide for their own retire-ment.

Privatization planscould include prisons

BRADY HAS A NUMBER OF VOTES

showing himself to be a fan ofprivatization. As a state repre-sentative he voted to overturnthe state’s ban on the construc-tion and operation of privateprisons.

He voted against restric-tions on contracting out stateservices.

He voted against a bill torequire state contractors to payan hourly wage no lower thanthe federal poverty level for afamily of four.

He opposed restricting pri-vatization of educational sup-port services like janitorial,dietary, clerical and transporta-tion.

And he opposed a bill thatwould have limited privatizationof state services by setting stan-dards for contractors.

Taking a business view on workers’ rights

BRADY CONSISTENTLY VOTED

against bills that would restoreor expand rights of workers tobargain collectively and have avoice on the job.

He opposed a bill to pro-hibit public employers from hiring permanent replacementsfor striking workers and prohib-it the state from entering into contracts with businessesthat hired permanent replace-ments.

He voted for a bill thattook away important bargain-ing rights from AFSCMEmembers at City Colleges ofChicago. He opposed bills torestore those rights. Heopposed on several occasionsbills to restore the collective-bargaining rights of public-sec-tor attorneys, who lost thoserights in a court decision.

He voted “no” severaltimes on legislation to prohibithuman service providers fromusing tax dollars to block theunion organizing efforts oftheir employees.

He voted against a billthat has made it easier forthousands of state merit-compensation and other public employees in local gov-ernment to gain union repre-sentation.

Opposes new revenues

FOR AFSCME MEMBERS THENo. 1 legislative priority is

putting the state on soundfinancial footing so it can payits bills, catch up on its pen-sion obligations and maintainvital services.

But Brady has other ideas. He’s consistentlyopposed measures to raiserevenues, by voting againstclosing tax loopholes that are only available to corpora-tions, voting for passing onBush’s tax breaks for thewealthy to rich state taxpay-ers, and voting against the all-important bill to raise statetaxes.

As a candidate for gover-nor he is promising to:• Veto every tax increase thatcomes across his desk.• Eliminate secure employeepensions by creating “employ-ee-owned retirement pro-grams for state workers, tobegin to confront the publicpension funding monster.”• Cut state operations andfunds for universities andlocal governments by 10 per-cent.

That devastating $2.6 bil-lion cut would cause pain fornearly every Illinois citizen.Yet it wouldn’t come close tosolving the problem. Thestate budget deficit is $10 bil-lion or more.

Brady’s plan is not onlybad for Illinois residents andpublic-service employees, itjust doesn’t add up.

With votes in favor of privatizationand in opposition to workers’rights and a decent minimum

wage, as well as attempts to eliminate securepension benefits for public employees, stateSen. Bill Brady’s 36 percent AFSCME votingrecord makes clear which side he’s on.

w

As legislator, Bill Brady’s record ispoor

Nearly 1,000 people joined the fun and games at the Local 1866

picnic on Aug. 7. The Stateville Correctional Center local held

its annual picnic at Leisure Lake resort in Will County.

CHECK OUT COUNCIL 31’S NEWLY RE-DESIGNED WEB-SITE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS ON YOUR UNION.

www.afscme31.org

12 On the Move August-September 2010

SHORT REPORTS

Macon County unionactivist loses son in Afghanistan

LOCAL 612 MEMBER AND LONG-time leader in the union JulieTilton Magana has lost a sonwho was serving his country inAfghanistan. Sgt. JesseRichard Tilton, 23, a medic inthe Army, died a hero. He wastending to a fellow soldierduring a battle and was fatallyinjured. The soldier he washelping survived.

His awards and decora-tions include the Bronze StarMedal, Purple Heart, theArmy Commendation Medal,

the ArmyAchievementMedal, the ArmyGood ConductMedal, theNational DefenseService Medal,the AfghanistanCampaign Medalwith CampaignStar, the GlobalWar on Terror-ism ServiceMedal, the ArmyService Ribbon,the Overseas Ser-vice Ribbon, theNATO Medaland the CombatMedic Badge.

A huge crowd of area resi-dents lined the processionalroute from the airport to thefuneral home to honor Sgt.Tilton’s service and sacrifice.

Upward Mobility students hurt by deadbeat state

WITH THE STATE’S PAYMENTSbacklog long and lengthen-ing, some colleges and univer-sities where state UpwardMobility Program participantsare pursuing career-relateddegrees are losing patience.These schools are no longerwilling to wait on the state to

pay the students’ tuition andare beginning to demand thatstate workers make up-frontpayments themselves or seekother financial assistance.Some students’ accounts havebeen sent to collection agen-cies.

In the past, UMP studentshave been able to sign up forcollege courses they need,using vouchers issued by theprogram to pay their tuition.The state then makes good onthe vouchers.

But because of the slowpayment, some schools havedecided to quit acceptingvouchers from UMP studentsfor this fiscal year. And othershave yet to renew their agree-ments with the state.

If they want to stay atschools no longer acceptingstate vouchers, UMP studentswill be required to pay theirown tuition, then wait forreimbursement from theUpward Mobility Program.

Those who can’t afford topay the tuition should consid-er selecting a different UMP-approved school listed atwww.cms.il.gov/cms/down-load/pdfs/umpschool.pdf.Those who have questionsrelated to a specific schoolshould contact their UMPcounselor, or call Chris Good-man, AFSCME UMP coordi-nator, at the Council 31 officein Springfield (217-788-2800)to discuss the options avail-able.

Member’s son winsUnion Plus scholarship

RUDI BREDEMEIER, SON OF

Local 698 member Hyon Kim,has won $1,000 in the UnionPlus Education FoundationScholarship Program.

“The union has beenresponsible for helping tomaintain the wages and thenumber of jobs within (mymother’s) department andbeing able to support a familyand maintain a home isdirectly influenced by this,”Bredemeier said in the essayhe wrote for the scholarship.He concluded, “In the longrun, if I am not able to createsomething that helps tochange the world for the bet-ter, then I have failed myselfand everyone around me.”

Applications for the 2011scholarships, ranging from$500 to $4,000, are availableat www.unionplus.org. Unionmembers, spouses and theirdependent children asdefined under IRS regula-tions are eligible.

Ray Graham Association employees win bonuses

DESPITE THE SQUEEZE ON STATE-FUNDED NON-PROFIT AGENCIES

that provide developmental disability services, Ray GrahamAssociation has always seemed to find some cash to give man-agement a raise.

But “other employees got nothing,” said Tim Olaose-bikan, president of Local 3492. “The last time I got a raise wasthree years ago. I got 21 cents. They always say there’s a bud-get crisis and there is no money, but they give themselves ahuge raise.”

The union decided to hold them accountable, he said.“We gave members information on how much managementgot last year, and they went crazy.”

Management was embarassed and came to the local withan amount of money they were offering to pay out in bonuses.

“We went to the bargaining table to decide how the bonuswould be distributed,” he said. Workers with three years ormore got 5 percent of their salaries, down to 1 percent forthose with less than a year. New hires got $25 gift cards.

“It was a victory for the union,” staff representative Kar-men Ortloff said. “The local just kept putting pressure on thebosses, and it paid off. Literally.”

EPA employee doing his bit for cleaner air

AFTER WORKING HIS NORMAL 40-hour-a-week job, Kevin Smith, aLocal 1019 member and former steward who works for theIllinois Environmental Protection Agency, would meet withhis team of seven in the Illuminati Motor Works workshop tospend unpaidnights, week-ends and holi-days workingto build asuper-fuel-efficient car.

In June2010, at theMichiganInternationalSpeedway,their home-made, four-seat, 3,155-pound,battery-elec-tric vehicle –called “Seven”— achieved amileage rateequivalent to182 miles pergallon of gason a 134-milerun. Seven’sspeed has topped 100 miles an hour, according to the group’swebsite, www.illuminmotorworks.com.

Congress Hotel strike in seventh year

COUNCIL 31 WAS ON HAND AS CHICAGO’S LABOR MOVEMENT

demonstrated continuing support for Unite HERE Local 1’sseven-year strike at the Congress Plaza Hotel.

The workers went on strike in 2003 after the hotel decid-ed to freeze wages until 2010 and slash benefits. If the work-ers had accepted that offer, housekeepers would be making$8.83 an hour today, compared to the $14.60 an hour that isnow the industry average.

There are about 60 active remaining strikers, who bothpicket the Congress hotel and have led a campaign statewideto bring an end to the strike. Since negotiations began, theCongress hotel has never offered a proposal with increases inwages or the company’s share of health care costs from therates listed in the contract that expired in 2002.

“The Congress strikers continue a powerful American tra-dition of immigrants, generation after generation, who havecome to this country and fought to make jobs in the UnitedStates better,” the union’s website says.

Continued on page 15

On the Move August-September 2010 13

Contract campaignworks at Hope Institute

LOCAL 2481 KNEW THE UPCOMING

negotiations would be tough.So the local began early tobring all the members into thebattle.

They started with memberaction teams, so that every workgroup had a contact person.

“We had a spirit week,” saidYolanda Sims, the local unionpresident. “Our theme was‘Don’t leave negotiations up tochance.’ We wanted to let man-agement know that all ourmembers knew we were at thetable, were watching and werein support of the union.”

That was back in March. Asnegotiations began, memberswore black on every day thatbargaining meetings were held.There were sticker days andother demonstrations of solidar-ity and regular bargainingupdates.

Still there was little progressbeing made.

“They came to the tableriding the bandwagon of thestate budget and they had nomoney,” Sims said. “But weknew they had somethingbecause they have alternativesources of funding.”

Then the local organized ademonstration – workers ontheir lunch breaks and thosewith the day off massed in thehallway by the room where abargaining session was about tobegin. They carried signs say-ing, “Make me a priority.”

“Management literally ranaway,” said staff representativeErik Hostetter, who led theunion bargaining team.

“That demonstrationturned the tide,” Sims said.“Within a couple of sessions, wehad an agreement.”

Raises in the first year ofthe contract averaged 2.35 per-cent, but those members withthe most seniority got thebiggest raises.

“That was our major goal,”Sims said. “We wanted to honorlongevity, because turnover issuch a big problem.”

Health insurance premi-ums increased, but not nearlyso much as management wasdemanding.

Wages for the upcomingtwo years of the three-year con-tract will be negotiated later.Other contract-language gainswere made.

Serving on the bargainingcommittee with Sims andHostetter were Rodney Davis,Teresa Garrett-Brown-Buckley,Daralyn McFall, Diane Galvin,Tasha Haney, Ashley Jones, GailForrester, Laura Sandrolini,Rodney Miles, Richard Carterand Shatriya Smith.

Health insurance main focus for Champaign Co. local

WAGES ARE FROZEN FOR THE FIRST

year of a two-year contractbetween Local 900 and Cham-paign County, with reopenednegotiations for wages in thesecond year.

“We got our health insur-ance to stay basically the same,”said Nora Stewart, the localunion president. “That was amajor concern for most of ourmembers.”

She said the premium for amember whose family is cov-ered will rise $30. But under thecounty’s original proposal, “Itwould have been an entire pay-check.”

The local didn’t makegains without a fight.

“They weren’t willing togive us anything,” Stewart said.“We weren’t asking for an armand a leg, just a little recogni-tion. We are dedicated employ-ees.”

To get that recognition, thelocal staged informational pick-eting and other demonstrationsof solidarity.

The final agreementincluded an extra paid day off,temporary assignment pay, dou-ble time for maintenance work-ers who are called in fromhome, paid uniforms for main-tenance, shift pick by seniorityfor sheriff’s employees at thejail, two years of recall rights forany laid off employee, up from12 months, and a no-layoffagreement through November.

Staff representative TaraMcCauley led the bargaining,with Stewart, J.J. Farney, BobWaggle, Terry Green, Amy Fos-

ter, Vicky Wurl, Shari Miller,Brent Frye, Melanie Watson,Faith Monroe-Kopmann, PennyPrice, Janae Harper, WendyWileaver, Marc Jeray, AngelaLusk and Sarah Anderson.

Evanston city workersget raises

WAGES WILL GO UP 3 PERCENTover the course of a two-yearcontract between Local 1891and the city of Evanston. Therewas no raise in the first year,and employees will take fourfurlough days.

Insurance premiums willgo up 10 percent and then befrozen for the rest of the con-tract.

“When we went into negoti-ations, we were lookingat a list of 30 layoffs,”said Kevin Johnson, thelocal union president.“We ended up with only12. It’s the first time Ican remember the cityhaving such hugedeficits. They wantedconcessions from all theunions to balance thebudget.”

The city’s proposalwas for employees totake unpaid holidaysinstead of furloughdays, but “We didn’twant to go backward on

something we’d had for yearsand fought for,” Johnson said.

The agreement givesemployees the right to specifywhen they will take the unpaiddays.

The contract provides thatthe city must notify the union ifthere are layoffs anticipated andengage in discussions aboutways to avoid them. New layofflanguage increases seniorityrights.

The union negotiatingcommittee was led by staff rep-resentative Flo Estes, with John-son, John Jaminski, GeneroJackson, Sarah Jones, DaveMatusek and Shawn Pestka.

Four-year contract for Galesburg Sanitary District

WAGES GO UP 3.5 PERCENT THEfirst year and 3 percent in eachsucceeding year of a four-yearagreement between Local 3698and the Galesburg Sanitary Dis-trict.

Shift differential goes up 15cents an hour, and standby paygoes to $160 per week, from$140. The clothing allowancegoes to $250, from $150. Therewere language improvementson vacation scheduling, fillingof vacancies and overtime.

“The big deal was a four-year contract,” the local’s presi-dent, Derald Springer, said.“The members were wantingstability and that gives it to us.The raises were fair and wewere happy they didn’t messwith our health care.”

Staff representative RandyLynch led the bargaining com-mittee with Springer, ClayHenry and Mark John.

‘No controversy’ in Jackson County

WAGES WENT UP $1 AN HOUR ON

July 1 for Jackson County Cir-cuit Court Clerk employees,who will get another 1 percenton December 1 and thenanother 9 percent spread outover the life of a four-year con-tract.

“We have a good relation-ship with the employer,” saidstaff representative JeremyNoelle, who led the unionnegotiations. “We had support-ed her in the last election.”

The contract also establish-es a retiree health-insuranceplan.

“There was no controver-sy,” said Local 2464 memberRene Rolewald, who did thebargaining with Noelle. “Wekept the insurance premiumsfully paid by the employer. Thatwas important.”

‘Long, frustrating’ negotiations in Galesburg

Wages went up 3.75 percent inthe first year of a three-year con-tract with the city of Galesburgand 3.25 percent in each of thenext two years.

Employees will get fourpersonal days, up from 3.Employees who agree to well-ness screening will get one day’spay. Employees will take fivefurlough days in 2010 and getfive additional personal days.The employer must meet withthe local and consider cost-sav-ing ideas before implementinga layoff.

“Negotiations wereextremely long and drawn out,”Local 1173 President Ric Field-er said. “It was frustrating thatthe city did not want to workwith us on the concerns we had,yet the union is saving themtons of money on insurancecosts.”

The local agreed that newhires will be switched from aguaranteed retiree health-insur-ance plan into a plan wherethey can contribute tax-exemptmoney to a health savings plan.The city will also contribute.Current employees will get thehealth benefits when they retireor can opt for the new savingsplan.

“There were things weasked for that they wouldn’tconsider,” Fielder said. “Weended up with the short end ofthe stick.”

Staff representative RandyLynch led the union negotiat-ing committee, with Fielder,Lynn Hayes, J.R. Knaack andMarc McMahon.

Wages up for KankakeeCounty workers

A FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT BETWEENLocal 1874 and KankakeeCounty raises wages 13.5 per-cent. Employees will still pay 25percent of their insurance pre-miums, but the dollar amountwent down for the current year.

“We’re still the lowest-paidunion workers for the county,”

said Jane Brais, the local unionpresident. “We’re still under-paid. But in good faith we tookless than we otherwise wouldhave because of the hardtimes.”

The contract now protectsemployees from being disci-plined for legitimate use of sicktime. And the county will builda lunchroom-breakroom facilityfor employees.

The bargaining committeewas led by staff representativeJerry Brown, with Brais, JalandaTaylor, Katie Cantrell, GailHampton and Katie Voss.

Wage increase comeswith furloughsin Waukegan

A WAGES-ONLY NEGOTIATIONS FORthe third year of a three-yearcontract yielded two 1.5 percentincreases, six months apart forWaukegan city employees. Theywill also have to take eight fur-lough days between now andMarch 31, 2011.

Edgar Rivera, who was pres-ident of Local 2837 during thenegotiations, said that, in thelong run the local decided hav-ing a wage increase was the bestcourse, even if it meant fur-lough days. The local pushedfor a no-layoff provision, butmanagement wouldn’t agree.

The negotiating committeewas Rivera, David Bethke, RoselGuzman and Willie Jauhiainen,and was led by staff representa-tive Matt LaPierre.

Layoffs avoided in Burbank

WAGES WILL GO UP 2 PERCENT INeach of the first two years of athree-year contract, with negoti-ations reopened for wages onlyin the third year. Health insur-ance provisions remainunchanged. Managementbacked off on threatened lay-offs.

“When times are tough,we’ve got to work together,”Local 1310 President DanAndrews said. “We work with abunch of guys that understandthe situation. Maybe next time,we’ll be able to do better.”

The negotiating team wasled by staff representative MikeRoss, with Andrews, JimMaguire and Ken Sanders.

Raise ‘locked in’ forthree years

JOLIET HOUSING AUTHORITYemployees will get 3 percentwage increases in each year of athree-year contract.

Employees can now takesick leave in 30-minute incre-ments, instead of one hour.

“We didn’t have a lot oflanguage changes,” Local 2373president Sue Roos said. “Wereally have a good contract. Wewere happy to get a decent raiseand get it locked in for threeyears.”

The union bargaining com-mittee was led by staff represen-tative Joe Pluger with Roos,Donna Kovachik and KathyPisoni.Continued on page 15

ON THE LOCALLEVEL

14 On the Move August-September 2010

RETIREE NOTES

AFSCME retirees prepare for battle onretirement security

THE FIGHT IS ON TO COUNTER A

well-funded media campaignthat makes retirees the scape-goats for the recession and toexpose those responsible forthe persistent underfundingof public-employee pensionsystems.

That was one of the mainmessages coming from theJune 25-27 AFSCME Interna-tional Retiree Council meet-ing.

Illinois retirees went tothe Boston meeting withgood news and bad to sharewith retiree groups fromother states. The good news:Chapter 31 has grown intothe second-largest AFSCMEretiree organization. The badnews: Attacks in this state onpublic-sector benefits haveincreased.

The meeting occurs everyyear, but is held in conjunc-tion with the AFSCME Inter-national Convention in evenyears. This year the focus wason the increasing number ofattacks on public-sectorretiree benefits nationwide.

“We found that AFSCMEaffiliates have an immensejob in front of them as theytry to prevent the avalancheof cuts and attacks,” Council31 retiree coordinator MariaBritton said. “There are atleast 24 states taking a knifeto public-employee pensionbenefits.”

Benefit levels in the pub-lic sector are following pri-vate-sector pensions in adownward spiral.

With the rate of uniondensity in the private sectordropping to 7.2 percent ofthe workforce in 2009, it is oflittle surprise that the benefitlevels have dropped, Brittonnoted.

“The surprise is that orga-nizations like the Civic Com-mittee of the CommercialClub of Chicago, led by indi-viduals with six and seven fig-ure pension packages, aresuccessful in their efforts topersuade the public that faultfor irresponsible state bud-gets lies with public-sectorretirees,” she said.

As a result of thoseefforts, legislatures across thecountry are trying to cut cost-of-living adjustments, elimi-nate health-care benefits,convert defined-benefit pen-sion plans to defined-contri-bution plans and tax public-sector retiree pensions.

In Colorado the state leg-

islature cut the COLA for cur-rent retirees from a fixed 3.5percent a year to a maximumof 2 percent, with no increasethis year. Minnesota cut itsCOLA for retirees to 1 per-cent from 2.5 percent. Otherstates may be tempted to fol-low Colorado and Minneso-ta’s lead if lawsuits contestingthese moves are unsuccessful.

IARA celebratesMedicare’s birthday

U.S. REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKYjoined leaders and membersof the Illinois Alliance forRetired Americans on Aug. 2in Chicago for a celebrationof one of America’s most suc-cessful government programs– Medicare.

Medicare, which had its45th birthday this summer,has even more to celebrateafter the passage of thePatient Protection andAffordable Care Act. Thehealth-care reform bill phasesout the Medicare Part D“doughnut hole” and allowsseniors in Medicare to receivefree annual check-ups. It alsoeliminates co-payments orcost sharing for mammo-grams, colonoscopies andother preventive screenings.Additionally, cost-contain-ment measures in the acthelped preserve the Medicaretrust fund for many years intothe future.

“This is a truly happybirthday for Medicare,” saidBarbara Franklin, who is thepresident of IARA as well asof Champaign Sub-Chapter88. “There are a lot of mythsand confusion about thePatient Protection andAffordable Care Act, but the

truth is this new law will helpseniors in Illinois and acrossthe nation better afford tosee a doctor and fill a pre-scription.”

Surveys show that amajority of seniors are unin-formed about the impact ofhealth care reform. In orderto combat the misinforma-tion, IARA plans to continueeducating retirees across thestate about the benefits of thenew health care law.

“Medicare was designedto help America’s seniors, notAmerica’s insurance compa-nies,” Franklin added. “Thebest way we can celebrateMedicare’s birthday is to tellour friends and neighborsabout how this new healthlaw can benefit them.”

Bill should improvenursing home conditions

GOV. PAT QUINN HAS SIGNED

into law an AFSCME-backedbill that strengthens the over-sight of nursing homes in Illi-nois and mandates the hiringof additional state inspectorsto enforce new and existingregulations.

The Nursing Homes Safe-ty Act was passed by the Gen-eral Assembly with the aim ofimproving conditions in for-profit nursing homes.

“This is good news fornursing home residents whowill see better care and safetyas a result,” Chapter 31 Presi-dent Virginia Yates said.

Illinois’ for-profit nursinghomes currently have the low-est staffing ratios in thenation.

The new law amends theOlder Americans Act torequire development by Sept.30 of a plan to define how thestate will protect the right toservices for all Illinois seniors.

The decision on wherethey receive their care mustbe based on their health cir-cumstances and functioninglevel.

The state must:• Establish staffing ratios toensure that residents get stafftime adequate to meet theirneeds;• Create meaningful regula-tions, including disincentivesand penalties for providingbad care;• Mandate that enough sur-veyors be available to providereal accountability for nurs-ing homes that do not meetminimum standards.

“Seniors should be enti-tled to good care,” Yates con-cluded. “We all hope this new

law will assure that theyreceive it.”

Trustees: ‘Outlook for Medicarehas improved’

THE ANNUAL TRUSTEES REPORTof the Social Security andMedicare Trust funds hasgood news for seniors andthose who plan on reachingsenior citizen status: Programchanges made by the PatientProtection and AffordableCare Act have substantiallyimproved the outlook forMedicare.

“The ACA establishes abroad program of researchon innovative new deliveryand payment models toimprove the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care,”

the trustees said. That isexpected to improve produc-tivity in the health-care indus-try and lead to substantial sav-ings.

That means the HospitalInsurance Trust Fund is nowprojected to last until 2029, atwhich time Medicare wouldstill be able to pay 85 percentof the fund’s costs, withoutany additional changes.

The trustees’ news wasn’tall good, however. About 25percent of participants will besubject to unusually large pre-mium increases for supple-mentary insurance (Part B)policies. The other 75 per-cent are expected to have nopremium increase, becausethe Social Security cost-of-liv-ing allowance is expected tobe zero in December 2010.

Sub-chapters enjoy some summer fun activities

CHAPTER 31 SUB-CHAPTERS around the state are taking advan-tage of welcome summer warmth to sponsor barbecues, pic-nics or outings to build their organizations and allow hard-working activists to relax and have some fun.

“Participants play bingo, draw for door prizes and enjoythe free food,” Joyce Brown, president of Rock Island Sub-chapter 74, says about the group’s annual picnic in the park.

“This year has been especially overwhelming for our folks.They have stayed active writing letters and emails and makingcalls to ensure that attacks on the benefits we earned weredefeated.”

City of Chicago Sub-chapter 60 set up two outings, toursof Shipshewana, Indiana and Galena, Illinois, where partici-pants enjoyed flea markets, historic buildings and dinner atlocal restaurants.

Chester Sub-chapter 56 held a barbecue, with presidentLarry Brown doing much of the grilling.

“We like to remind our members that while we work hardtogether, we can also play together and enjoy the fruits of ourlabor,” Brown said.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky

joined seniors at the Illinois

Alliance for Retired Ameri-

cans meeting to celebrate

Medicare’s 45th anniversary.

Gary and Deb Howe at the Sub-chapter 74 picnic.

On the Move August-September 2010 15

An AFSCME-initiated billmeant to

protect the confiden-tiality of publicemployees will goback to the legisla-ture after Gov. PatQuinn used hisamendatory veto toremove the protec-tions for mostAFSCME members inthe public sector.

H B 5154WAS AIMED AT REVERS-ING LAST YEAR’S LEGISLATIONTHAT REVISED THE FREEDOM OF

Information Act to makeavailable to any citizen whorequests it the performanceevaluation of any publicemployee working for anyjurisdiction in the state of Illi-nois, except for teachers andschool officials.

If the General Assemblyvotes to override the veto, H B5154 would bar public accessto public-employee perfor-mance evaluations. If the vetois sustained, only peace offi-cers, a term that does notinclude correctional employ-ees, will be added to theexception list. All other publicemployees will have their per-sonnel files exposed to publicscrutiny.

Many AFSCME membersfeel this is unfair.

“If there’s something badin my record, the publiccould blow it out of propor-tion,” said Nora Stewart, whoworks for Champaign County.“My boss might not like me,even if I do a good job. So hecan put anything he wants inthere and there’s nothing Ican do to change it.”

Community disability workers

The governor has signed SB3291, which allows for statefunding to be appropriatedfor negotiated wage increasesin agencies providing servicesto individuals with develop-mental disabilities.

The bill doesn’t appropri-ate any money for this pur-pose, but it opens the doorfor union locals when theircontracts are being negotiat-ed.

“We have a terribleturnover problem,” saidYolanda Sims, who works forHope Institute in Springfield.

“Better wages will make amore stable work force. Rightnow, we are being paid aboutthe same as workers in fastfood restaurants. But we aredealing with people’s lives.”

Pension bills will helpstate employees

THE GOVERNOR HAS SIGNED H B4644, a bill backed byAFSCME. It gives stateemployees the opportunity topurchase pension credit forup to 24 furlough days over atwo-year period.

Quinn also signed HB5262 into law. It would pro-vide a window for stateemployees who have been laidoff to purchase pension creditfor the time during whichthey were not working.

No veto on AFSCME-opposed bill

AFSCME WAS UNABLE TO CON-vince the governor to veto abill that is not in the interestof AFSCME members or thecommunities where they live.The governor signed SB 2093,which provides a massive statetax subsidy for developersseeking to build an entertain-ment complex in the Marionarea through “STAR bonds.”

It sets a bad precedent byallowing the state treasury tobe tapped for local develop-ment incentives, which havepreviously always dependedonly on local property taxbreaks. And it does so at atime when the state of Illinoisis desperately short of rev-enues.

Governor acts onlegislation affectingAFSCME members

SHORT REPORTS

Stateville local helps kids

HARD TIMES CAN MAKE IT HARD FOR KIDS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL.Local 1866, whose members work at Stateville CorrectionalCenter, decided to reach out to some of them in the Jolietarea.

Members donated book bags and school supplies, and dis-tributed them to kids at three shelters that serve batteredwomen and the homeless, to make sure they’re well-suppliedwhen the school bell rings in a few weeks.

“One of our members, Suzette Jacob, also works as a sub-stitute teacher,” said Ralph Portwood, the local’s president.“She has seen the troubles these kids are having and spear-headed the project. It took off from there.”

He said the local gave away more than 230 book bags,many filled with school supplies. The kids came from Morn-ingstar Mission, Guardian Angel Home and Daybreak Shelter.

New UAW president calls for more community outreach

THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED AUTOWORKERSunion, Bob King, thinks that unions have to change to survive.

“My view of the labor movement today,” he said, “is thatwe got too focused on our contracts and our own membershipand forgot that the only way, ultimately, that we protect ourmembers and workers in general is by fighting for justice foreverybody.”

The fundamental issue is that “every human beingdeserves dignity and a decent standard of living,” he said, “andthe whole point of the labor movement is to help make thathappen.”

Union summer comes to Chicago

A DOZEN COLLEGE STUDENTS WERE IN THE CHICAGO AREA THIS SUM-mer as part of the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer program. The students got a chance to see what the labor movement isall about and lend a hand in organizing drives and otherunion activities. Pictured here are Paul Drake and CarlosRamirez, who were doing research for Council 31’s organizingdepartment.

Continued from page 12

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Legislative

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Veto hits privacy of performance evaluations

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16 August-September 2010 On the Move

TERESA GARRETT-BROWN-BUCKLEY, LOCAL 2481 –

“I KNOW THE POSITIVE

INFLUENCE THE UNION HAS

HAD ON MY LIFE. IT’SPERSONALLY SATISFYING TO

STAND UP TO SOMEONE IN

AUTHORITY AND SAY, ‘YOUCAN’T DO THIS TO ME,’

AND I WANT OTHERS TO

EXPERIENCE THAT.”

DEBBY GERDES, LOCAL 981 – “I’VE BEEN AT EASTERN36 YEARS AND I’VE SEEN THE OTHER SIDE, BEFORE THE

UNION. I JUST WANTED TO HELP, AND THIS IS A CHANCE

TO DO IT. GETTING INVOLVED HAS BEEN A LEARNING

EXPERIENCE.”

“Being a janitor is notreal glamorous,” said PattyFowler-Rouse, president ofLocal 417 at Western IllinoisUniversity. “But I wouldn’tgive it up. With the union wehave rights, security anddecent wages.”

Already part of AFSCME,and in most cases helping torun their local unions, somemembers like Rouse are takingan extra step by spreading the word to potential newmembers.

They are called VolunteerMember Organizers. VMOsoften work side-by-side withfull-time Council 31 organizershelping bring to fruition thedesire of workers to join forcesin a union of their own.

“I found that a lot ofpeople were more receptive tome because I’m a lot likethem,” said Teresa Garrett-Brown-Buckley, recording sec-retary of Local 2481.

She works for HopeInstitute in Springfield, a pri-vate, non-profit agency thatserves developmentally dis-abled individuals. She was

helping out in an organizingdrive for Head Start employeesin the Springfield area.

“In my personal struggle,I found my voice and I foundmy place when I came to HopeSchool and became part ofAFSCME,” Buckley said. “Youcan say to management,‘That’s not right,’ and theyhave to listen to you. Respectwas a big point when we weretalking to the Head Start peo-ple.”

At WIU the janitors havebeen part of AFSCME for morethan half a century, but cleri-cal workers haven’t.

Now, “They think theyneed a change,” Rouse said.“Some of them felt now wasthe time to become part ofAFSCME. With the economicsituation, the union is a col-lective force to protect mem-bers. As a group you have alouder voice. Otherwise it’sjust a hope and a prayer.”

Debby Gerdes, a clericalworker at Eastern Illinois Uni-versity and secretary treasurerof Local 981 made the tripacross the state to Macomb to

help the Western clericals withtheir campaign. Speaking to agroup of them, she told herstory:

“I was at Eastern beforethe union. I never thoughtwhen it came, it would bebeneficial,” she said. “Then Igot into it with a facultymember, and at the time, Iwasn’t a union member. Butthe union backed me up. Ilearned that you need to valueyourself, because managementdoesn’t.”

The benefits of being avolunteer organizer don’t justaccrue to the people who areworking to form a new union.

“I’m one who just doesn’tlike to get in front of people,”Gerdes said. “But I did it andthere’s been personal growthfor me.”

Being a VMO builds theunion, making it stronger andmore able to achieve the goalsof every member, and of everyworking family.

But it’s also fun, Buckleysaid: “I loved it. I can’t waituntil the next experience.”

She’s a janitor. She’s president of her local union. She wants a better workplace for herselfand for those who come behind her.

PATTY FOWLER-ROUSE, LOCAL 417 – “THIS IS A CHANCE TO MAKE

WESTERN A GREAT PLACE TO WORK, TO BE PART OF SOMETHING

THAT WILL BE PART OF HISTORY. THE SECRETARIES HAVE FANNED

THE FLAME. THEY ARE ON THE EDGE OF SOMETHING GREAT. WITH A

UNITED VOICE, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.”

MEMBERS BOOST

ORGANIZING EFFORTS