ON THE - AFSCME 31 · works for United Cerebral Palsy of Will County, said the low pay in direct care has led to staff shortages and incredi-bly long work weeks for those who remain

11#153 • APRIL-MAY 2013 O N T H E

Non-Pro

fit Org

U.S. P

ostag

e

PAID

Perm

it N

o. 1

12

Chicag

o , IL

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

School bus drivers put the brakes on privatization

See page 6

2 On the Move April-May 2013

BY HENRY BAYER

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Worth the investment

Those obsessed with cutting government spending are ignoring both history and the needs of the middle class.

THOSE OF US WHO

CARE ABOUT OUR

KIDS AND OUR

GRANDCHILDREN

SHOULD MAKE SURE

THAT EDUCATION AT

ALL LEVELS REMAINS A

NATIONAL PRIORITY

AND THAT

MEDICARE AND

SOCIAL SECURITY ARE

LEFT INTACT NOT JUST

FOR US, BUT FOR

THEM AS WELL.

On the MoveAFSCME Illinois On the Move ispublished 6 times annually by Illinois Public Employees Council31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO. Send correspondence to:[email protected]: AFSCME, On the Move, 205 N. Michigan Ave., 21st Floor,Chicago, IL 60601

Henry Bayer, Executive DirectorRoberta Lynch, Deputy DirectorDavid Miller, 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 Woods, Hope InstituteLocal 2481UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTDorinda Miller, U of I Clericals, Local 3700SECRETARYBarney Franklin, City of Chicago, Local 2946TREASURERRob Fanti, Sheridan CC, Local 472

Board MembersSTATE CONFERENCE BOARD CO-CHAIRS

Gloria Arseneau, (RC-14), Northeastern Illinois State employees,Local 2794Randy Hellman, (RC-6)Pinckneyville CC, Local 943

REGION I VICE-PRESIDENTS

(COOK AND LAKE COUNTIES)

Patricia Ousley, Department ofEmployment Security, Local 1006Edward Schwartz, Cook County DCFS,Local 2081Eva Spencer-Chatman, Chicago ReadMHC, Local 1610

REGION II VICE-PRESIDENTS

(NOTHERN ILLINOIS)Gary Ciaccio, Shapiro DC, Local 29Ralph Portwood, Stateville CC, Local 1866Garry Cacciapaglia, city of Rockford,Local 1058

REGION III VICE- PRESIDENTS

(CENTRAL ILLINOIS)

Gary Kroeschel, Sangamon CountyState employees, Local 2224Matt Lukow, Springfield Area Stateemployees, Local 1964David Morris, Illinois State employees,Local 805Cameron Watson, Jacksonville CC,Local 3549Trudy Williams, Fulton County SheriffsDept. & Courthouse, Local 3433

REGION IV VICE-PRESIDENTS

(SOUTHERN ILLINOIS)Cary Quick, Choate MH/DC, Local 141Barb Reardon, Southern Illinois StateEmployees, Local 1048

TrusteesKathy Lane, Northwestern Illinois StateEmployees, Local 448Tom Minick, Moline Schools, Local 672

Retiree Chapter 31 RepresentativeVirginia Yates

ACCORDING TO THEIR SCRIPT,INCREASED GOVERNMENT SPENDING

WILL BURY OUR KIDS AND GRAND-kids under a mountain of debtfrom which they’ll never digthemselves out.

Their warnings ignore thefact that our national debt as apercentage of national income ison a downward trajectory andthat just as families with largerincomes can handle more debt(e.g. mortgage, car and studentloans), the government can takeon proportionately more debt,too, as the economy expands.

Borrowing itself isn’t neces-sarily bad for us or our kids.

Our parents and grandpar-ents, who survived the Depres-sion of the 1930s, went on tofight a successful war against fas-cism, vastly expand educationalopportunity through a massiveexpansion of higher education –allowing many of us to becomethe first in our families to go tocollege – and build an interstatehighway system that brought thenation closer together and creat-ed economic efficiency at thesame time.

I don’t know what our coun-try would be like if our forebearshad refused to make those invest-ments, but I doubt that we’dhave the same quality of life thatwe do today.

Of course, had they sim-ply borrowed and not paid thebills, we would have drowned indebt.

But they weren’t afraid to tax themselves to pay for a war or build schools. And they par-ticularly were not afraid to taxthe rich among them, the samepeople whose tax rates have plummeted since the Reagan era, even as their share of wealthhas increased exponentially.

Contrast that with the warsin Iraq and Afghanistan, whichwere put on the national creditcard at the same time PresidentBush and Congress enacted a

massive tax cut whose bene-fits went mostly to the rich.

They weren’t thinkingabout our kids’ future whenthey engineered that plan.

Not only was the GreatestGeneration willing to pay theirbills, they were willing to estab-lish and strengthen what were, atthe time, bold social programswhich would benefit themselvesand future generations.

I don’t think my own expe-rience is unique. In their retire-ment years, both of my parentsrelied mainly on Social Securityfor their income. And both ofthem had the costs of long ill-nesses before their deaths bornelargely by Medicare.

My folks didn’t regard theseas “entitlement programs.” Theysaw them for what they are –programs folks pay into withevery paycheck to provide themeconomic and medical securityin their retirement years.

Enemies of these programssay that those retired or nearingretirement age needn’t worry,that even if they are cut back,both Medicare and Social Secu-rity will be there for us.

That’s great. But whatabout our kids? If these pro-grams aren’t there for them,what will they do when theyretire? Will they live in povertywithout adequate access tohealth care? Will they become afinancial burden to their kids?

If the anti-governmentforces really cared about thenext generation, they wouldn’tcut funding for higher educa-tion and saddle our kids withhigher student loan debt.

Those of us who care aboutour kids and our grandchildrenshould make sure that educa-tion at all levels remains anational priority and thatMedicare and Social Securityare left intact not just for us,but for them as well.

We should also point out

that there are many ways toensure that future generationsare not saddled with unafford-able debt.

We could cut off access tooffshore tax havens that costthe government billions in taxrevenue every year.

We could insist that U.S.corporations pay taxes on theirprofits when they are earned,not when they decide to repa-triate the earnings. Accordingto the AFL-CIO, Americancompanies have as much as$1.9 trillion sheltered overseas.As the Federation states, “thatwould make a nice down pay-ment on fixing the debt.”

We could tax the rich atthe rates in place during ourmost prosperous period – fromthe end of WWII to the 1970s,when, incidentally, the averageCEO’s pay wasn’t 354 times thepay of their average employee.

Here in Illinois we couldclose $2 billion in wasteful cor-porate tax loopholess - moneywhich could be used to helppay for public safety, healthcare and education for ourkids.

The Greatest Generationto whom we owe so much did-n’t believe in tearing publicservices down. They expandedthem, even if they had to bor-row and spend, and tax them-selves to do it.

I shudder to think whatthis country would look like ifwe follow the prescription ofthe doctors of doom who sayAmerica must lower its sightsand trim its sails to remaingreat.

That’s not how we becamea great nation, nor is it acourse that will reverse thedecline of the middle class,whose size and income issteadily eroding.

Shame on those whoignore history and cloak theirdesire to protect their richeswith rhetoric about theiralleged concern for futuregenerations.

And double shame on usif we fall for their phonyclaims.

Anti-government zealots, right-wingpundits and their political soul matesin Congress constantly implore us to

cut public spending.w

On the Move April-May 2013 3

For individualswith develop-mental disabili-

ties in Illinois, directsupport workers arelike family. Basictasks like gettingdressed and prepar-ing meals could nothappen without theirassistance.

THE WORK IS PHYSICALLY AND

EMOTIONALLY DEMANDING. ITREQUIRES PERSEVERANCE,patience and the ability togain the trust of people whostruggle to adapt to change.

“The whole focus is making them as independentas possible, whatever thatmight be,” said YolandaWoods, President of Local2481 and a direct care workerat Springfield’s Hope Insti-tute. “What we’re trying to dois help them reach theirpotential.”

Yet for this important,often exhausting work, directcare workers often find them-selves making wages that stillleave them below the povertylevel.

Direct care workers areemployed by private agencies,usually non-profit organiza-tions. However, their wagesare largely governed by grants administered by thestate – and the money provid-ed by those grants hasremained the same since theeconomic downturn began in2007.

Because the agencieshave not received cost-of-doing-business adjustmentsfrom the state to help themkeep pace with inflation,workers haven’t received thewage increases needed tokeep up either.

Workers in AFSCME-rep-resented agencies have faredbetter than most because theunion has been able to bar-gain modest raises or bonus-es. But that still doesn’t bringthem up to the level wherethey should be.

“Funding for workers isbeing squeezed out by theincreasing need for servicesand the rates don’t changeunless the legislature doessomething,” said Anne Irving,AFSCME Council 31’s Direc-tor of Public Policy.

That’s why AFSCME hasjoined with a number of theagencies where union mem-bers work to launch a new

campaign to press state legis-lators to appropriate addition-al funding for direct careworkers’ wages.

The campaign has a sim-ple message: Direct supportwork is vital and difficult –and direct support workersdeserve wages that lift themout of poverty. Right now theaverage wage in this sector is$9.35 an hour, while thepoverty level for a family offour is $23,550. The new CareCampaign wants to firstincrease wages by $1 an hour– then push on to bring work-ers all the way out of povertyby securing state funding thatwould bring the average wageto $13 an hour.

Low wages not only harmworkers and their families,they also result in highturnover, which erodes thequality of care provided toindividuals.

“The biggest challenge of

the job is the high turnoverrate,” said Rosalind Wake-field, President of Local 4008,which represents Little CityFoundation workers in Pala-tine. “Just when you get com-fortable working with a groupof residents, you’re moved tosomeone else.”

While this is disruptive forworkers, it’s the people theyhelp who suffer the most,Wakefield said.

“They’re so used to rou-tine and they form bonds withthe staff they’re working withand have to turn around anddo it again and again,” shesaid.

Yurvette Simmons, whoworks for United CerebralPalsy of Will County, said thelow pay in direct care has ledto staff shortages and incredi-bly long work weeks for thosewho remain.

“My work week is sup-posed to be 35 hours but I

have worked in one weekprobably almost 90 hoursbecause we are so short-staffed,” she said. “We’re over-worked and tired because wedon’t make enough to sur-vive. We cannot provide prop-er care for individualsbecause we’re too tired. A lotof us have worked ourselves towhere we’re sick.”

Exhaustion is only thebeginning for many directcare workers. Many have fami-lies of their own yet have toget by on the same wagesearned by a teenager on asummer job.

“There are a few of our members who go to thelocal churches to get food tomake ends meet,” Wakefieldsaid. “There was one memberI talked to who said her sonwas acting up because he felt

she cared more about workthan him. To provide for herhousehold, she had to workall those extra hours to givehim what he needed.”

Increasing the flow ofstate money to direct careagencies would help addressthose problems and allowworkers to focus not just on ajob, but on a mission –improving the lives of those intheir care.

“We have created a rela-tionship to where, when Icome in, I’m seeing my fami-ly,” Simmons said. “To not beable to take care of thembecause of these cuts, it both-ers me. It angers me to thepoint where I’ve gotten outand talked more about whatwe need for them. If I had theworld to give to them, Iwould.”

Push is on to increase disability worker pay

w

In 2008, direct care workers rallied to improve pay and maintain funding forservices. This scene could repeat itself as workers fight for wages to lift them-selves out of poverty.


New state contract—the fight goes on

AFSCME andGov. Pat Quinn’s

administration agreedto a new contract aftera 15-month negotiat-ing process thatpushed workers to thebrink – headed intothe final round ofnegotiations, strikepreparations wereunder way across thestate.

“WE WERE READY TO DO WHATEV-ER WAS NECESSARY,” SAIDAFSCME COUNCIL 31 ORGANIZ-ing Director Tracey Abman.“The growing support for astrike was clear and I think thatput a lot of pressure on theadministration to finally workconstructively to reach a settle-ment.”

Once the state signaled itsopenness to negotiating, bothsides hunkered down to see ifan agreement could bereached.

At 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 28,mere days after a contract hadseemed out of reach, the StateBargaining Committee gaveunanimous approval to the ten-tative agreement.

“When I went down to bar-gaining, I was convinced I’d becoming back to Chicago to askmy members to take a strikevote,” said Safiya Felters, Presi-dent of Local 2854. “Instead, wemet to ratify a new contract.”

That ratification vote tookplace over two weeks in March.The final tally showed 96 per-cent of union members backedthe agreement, with many see-ing it as proof of the value ofworker solidarity.

“I’m very pleased with thenew contract. I think all theaction by workers played a bigrole in showing strength innumbers and leadership,” saidDorothy Fairman, a social work-er at Madden Mental HealthCenter and a member of Local386. “It really was all for oneand one for all. The administra-tion knew we were ready to gothe extra mile.”

The contract will seeemployee wages increase 4 per-cent over the life of the agree-ment, with half that increasecoming in July 2013 and theremainder one year later.

The agreement alsoincludes expanded rights onlayoff, increases in longevitybonuses and no changes in hol-

idays. It also continues theUpward Mobility Program,which gives state workers accessto an affordable college educa-tion.

Health care costs willincrease, but at a far lower ratethan management had beendemanding. And those increas-es cannot take effect unless thewage increases called for thecontract also take place.

The agreement representsa major victory for stateemployees, especially givenwhat the employer had beendemanding over the manymonths at the bargaining table:no wage increases for threeyears, no step increases until fis-cal 2015, reductions in holidaysand vacation time, no UpwardMobility Program and muchsteeper increases in health carepremiums.

“It’s been a very long, hardfight to achieve this contractwhich values the work that stateemployees continue to do andprotects the economic gainsour union has made,” AFSCMECouncil 31 Executive DirectorHenry Bayer said. “We came sofar because we stood togetherthrough the most difficulttimes, in unity and solidarity,with determination and forti-tude. If we continue to displaythat unity and determination,we can make sure that wesecure a contract of which wecan all be proud.”

Action shifts to Springfield

THE RATIFICATION OF A NEW CON-tract for state workers may havemarked the end of a long,statewide struggle, but it alsomarked the beginning of a newfight focused on Springfield.

A key condition of the ten-tative agreement supported byAFSCME’s State BargainingCommittee was that the newcontract would not becomevalid until the terms of the pre-vious contract were honored.

Until those issues areresolved, the contract will notbecome official.

“The contract has been rati-fied, but not signed, and it willnot be until those conditionshave been satisfied,” Bayer said.

One of several issues stand-ing in the way of the contractbeing official is the status of thestate’s appeal of a Cook CountyCircuit Court ruling that foundunion members are owed backwages resulting from the payincreases the Quinn administra-tion had refused to honor.

While Quinn’s officeagreed to withdraw its appeal,the decision ultimately rests in

the hands of Attorney GeneralLisa Madigan. Her office hassaid it is conducting a review ofthe appeal and has not decidedwhether to withdraw it.

If the appeal is not with-drawn, then the contract willnot be signed and the unionwill submit the tentative agree-ment once again to membersfor a re-vote based on the newinformation.

“Members ratified the ten-tative agreement based on theunderstanding that the statewould not pursue its appeal,”Bayer said. “They should havethe opportunity to considerwhether the ratification shouldstand if the appeal isn’t with-drawn.”

Meanwhile, the Quinnadministration is moving for-ward with other actions to seethat the terms of the previous

contract are honored. The fiscal2014 budget submitted by thegovernor includes funding tobring all employees to theirproper wage level pursuant to the previous and currentcontracts.

The administration is alsomoving to disperse as much ofthe $42 million held in escrowas can be legally releasedtoward payment of back wagesthat are still owed.

That leads to the other hur-dle in honoring the previouscontract: The remaining backpay owed to employees, approx-imately $150 million, must beappropriated by the GeneralAssembly. A supplementalappropriations bill to do thatwas slated to be introduced inApril.

However, some legislatorshave signaled reluctance to

support the supplementalbecause in this tight budgetaryclimate, they want to see thestate’s limited funds spent onother priorities.

“We see this as a straight-forward problem with a straight-forward solution,” Bayer said. “Contracts must be hon-ored. The General Assemblyshould pass the supplementalappropriation quickly. That’sthe simplest solution for every-one.”

But seeing that solution putinto law may require furtheraction by state employees.

“Union members need tobe prepared to mobilize andput pressure on their electedofficials to do their job andhonor this agreement,” saidCouncil 31 Deputy DirectorRoberta Lynch.

w

Members of Local 2854 vote to ratify the new contract for state workers.

Council 31 Staff Representative David Dover answers questions about the new state contract at a ratificationmeeting for Local 2081.


As On the Movewent to press,legislators in

the General Assem-bly were still weigh-ing various proposalsaimed at addressingthe state’s pensionfunding crisis.

WHILE NO RESOLUTION

APPEARED IN SIGHT, IT REMAINED

CLEAR THAT MANY POLITICIANS

are still pushing plans thatwould make public employeesand retirees shoulder theentire burden for addressingthe funding shortfall – eventhough they played no role increating it. All of the planstarget participants in theSERS, SURS and TRS pensionsystems.

“Active employees andretirees have to remain onhigh alert and ready to act,”said Council 31 ExecutiveDirector Henry Bayer. “If theleaders in the assembly thinkthey have a pension-cuttingbill that can pass, they’ll put itto a vote quickly. We need tobe ready to take action on amoment’s notice.”

The state House alreadypassed a bill (HB 1165) thatwould drastically reduce thepension cost-of-living adjust-ment for retired state and uni-

versity employees, as well asteachers. That bill would elim-inate the COLA entirely forthe first five years of retire-ment or until the age of 67,whichever came first, as wellas change the formula bywhich the COLA is calculated.

HB 1165 would hitretirees living on fixedincomes especially hard. Theyretired based on the commit-ment that their pensionwould keep pace with infla-tion. Under HB 1165, theywould lose purchasing poweryear after year.

“We all know that Illinoisis facing a real pension crisisand public employees are pre-pared to do their part to solveit,” Bayer said. “But we willnot allow legislators to placethe whole burden on thebacks of current employeesand retirees.

“Legislative leadersshould sit down with the WeAre One Illinois labor coali-tion to develop a plan thatfairly shares the burden andtruly fixes the problem,” hesaid.

Keeping up the fight

SO FAR, PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNION

members and retirees havetwice beaten back attempts topass pension-cutting legisla-tion, with large turnouts atState Capitol rallies in Augustof last year and in January.

But just because lawmak-

ers have been unable to get abill through both chambers ofthe General Assembly so far,that doesn’t mean it won’thappen. The cold, hard reali-ty of the state’s fiscal situationmakes it all too likely that

some action will be takensoon.

And if something doeshappen, it could happen veryquickly.

“The leaders can getsomething introduced andpassed within 24 hours if theyhave the votes,” said Council31 Legislative Director JoannaWebb-Gauvin. “That won’tleave us time to organize arally or a protest in the rotun-da. But we will have time tosend e-mails and make phonecalls. People need to be ready when the time comes.”

If leaders in the General

Assembly attempt to pass legislation in such a way, stopping it will require a massive turnout from workersand retirees in front of theircomputers and on theirphones.

“We need to make it clearto the politicians in both par-ties that voting against theretirement security of publicworkers will have real conse-quences,” Bayer said. “Whenyou work for decades toensure a middle class way oflife and a secure retirement,you can’t let someone takethat away from you.”

Pressure amps up in Springfieldfor pension fix

w

“We need to be ready to take action

on a moment’s notice.“— Henry Bayer

State employees and retirees havetwice rallied at the State Capitol, inAugust 2012 (at left) and January2013 (below) to prevent the passageof pension-cutting legislation.

School bus drivers stave off privatization push

During theschool year,the first and

last school employeea student interactswith each day isn’talways a teacher –often, it’s a bus driveror monitor.

DRIVING A LARGE, YELLOW BUS

MAY BE THE MOST OBVIOUS JOB

THESE WORKERS DO, BUT IT’Shardly the only one. They haveto keep an eye on dozens oframbunctious children orrowdy teenagers. They have tomemorize local neighbor-hoods, stops and houses. Theyhave to look after the conditionof their vehicle. They handletransportation to and from fieldtrips, sporting events and otherextracurricular activities. Somealso provide assistance to chil-dren with disabilities or behav-ioral issues.

Their work may too oftenbe overlooked by students, par-ents and school administrators.But for those behind the wheel,it’s a deep source of pride.

“I’ve been driving buses foralmost 10 years now. Some-times when kids see me out ofschool at the supermarket, theycome up and give me a hug,”said Kelly McDonald, a mem-ber of AFSCME Local 3057 anddriver for the Valley ViewSchool District, which serveschildren in Romeoville and Bol-ingbrook. “That’s a rewardingthing for me. If something goeswrong at home or you hear ofsomething bad happening toone of the kids on your route, ittouches you.”

Putting the needs of chil-dren first seems like an obviousrequirement for any school dis-trict’s transportation program.Yet it’s becoming increasinglycommon to put that task in thehands of private companies thatsee profit as the primary goal.

Looking for a quick way tosave money, some school dis-tricts have completely or partial-ly outsourced their transporta-tion operations to privatecompanies. Many others have atleast explored the idea.

The drivers at the ValleyView School District faced thethreat of privatization last year.But by forming an alliance withconcerned parents, they wereable to beat back the threat.

“From a bus driver’s stand-point, you have to look at whatwe have to offer versus a privatecompany,” said Jim Canady,

president of Local 3057. “Thereare benefits to having your owndrivers versus an outside com-pany. An outside company ishere to make a profit – every-thing they do is about that. Ifyou’re looking at a bus servicedone through a school system,they’re not looking for profit.”

That difference can havesignificant repercussions. Pri-vate companies will often try tomake extra money by rentingout buses for chartered trips,putting pressure on drivers towork faster and compromisingsafety. Private companies mayalso wait longer to upgradevehicles or regularly make dri-vers change their routes –something that can be especial-ly troubling for students withdisabilities.

“We had one kid that wasvery emotionally disturbed,”McDonald said. “He would spiton you if you got too close tohim. But he got comfortablewith us. At the end of theschool year, he was almost look-ing forward to seeing the samedriver and the same monitor. Ifthat driver or monitor wasn’tthere, whoever was there had ahard time. Private companiesdon’t get that.”

The law on their side

THANKS TO ACTIVISM BY AFSCMEand other allies, there are pro-tections against privatization inIllinois law. In 2007, unionswon passage of a law (PublicAct 95-241) that prohibits priva-tization from upending existingcollective bargaining agree-ments. The law also requiresschool districts to provide 90days’ notice of an intent to pri-vatize work.

Under the law, privatefirms must hire the district’s dis-placed employees and providethem comparable benefits, aswell as provide detailed infor-mation about cost projectionsand employees it plans to bringon board. The school district isrequired to show the impact ofprivatization on costs and con-duct at least one public hearingon any pending contract with aprivate firm.

Most recently, that law wasput to use by bus drivers work-ing for McLean County UnitDistrict 5 in Bloomington. Inthat case, the state EducationalLabor Relations Board foundmanagement had acted with“anti-union animus” when itdecided to contract out trans-portation work.

But while the law ensuresthe privatization process is donefairly and transparently, it does-

n’t halt the process entirely.When privatization does takeplace, it often has unintendedside effects.

“We’ve already gotten anoutsourcing company here thatdoes some of our routes,” saidJames Banks, a driver for PeoriaPublic Schools District #150.“It’s not good for camaraderie.Their drivers don’t directlyreport to our supervisors. Theykind of ignore what our bossessay. We’ve got to follow certainguidelines and they don’t.”

Yet it’s not uncommon forbus drivers from private compa-nies to transition to working

directly for a school district,Canady said – both for the ben-efits of being in a union andalso working for an organiza-tion that puts the needs of chil-dren first.

“The majority of peoplethat come here stay herebecause it’s a top-notch organi-zation,” he said. “You can’t saythat for some of these privatecompanies. If you look at usright now, we have so many

people coming to us from theprivate companies.”

But despite the manyadvantages of directly employ-ing school bus drivers, manyschool board administratorsmaintain a short-term focus onhow many dollars are beingspent – an outlook that forcesdrivers to make some toughdecisions.

Canady said Valley ViewSchool District bus driversagreed to significant conces-sions in order to stave off priva-tization.

“Our school system could-n’t afford to pay out $20 anhour on a consistent basis whenyou look at what the privatecompanies are paying. It put usbehind the 8-ball,” he said.

Bus drivers face other pres-sures, too. Unlike teachers whoare paid a salary during thesummer, bus drivers are paidhourly – meaning during thesummer, work for their schooldistrict is scarce.

But, Canady said, driversfeel a deep connection to thewelfare of the students theytransport – something thatshows when a student is possiblyin danger or missing.

“The kids are a preciouscommodity,” he said. “We gointo a different mindset when itcomes over the radio that wehave a missing student.

“We are really responsiblefor their safety and thatincludes getting them fromhome, to school and backhome, and transporting themin safe conditions. That’s a bigpressure.”


w

Local 3057 member Rod Gonzalezchecks the fluids of a school bus between routes at the ValleyView School District’s transporta-tion center.

Jim Canady, a bus driver for ValleyView School District and presidentof Local 3057, performs a safetyinspection of a school bus.


Pension benefitsfor public service workers

are under siegethroughout Illinois,with one of thestrongest pushescoming from MayorRahm Emanuel’sadministration inChicago.

THE CENTERPIECE OF THE

EMANUEL ADMINISTRATION’S“REFORM” PLAN IS A DRACONIAN

proposal that would freeze

the retirement cost-of-livingadjustment for both currentand future retirees for 10years – a move that wouldmake retirees’ buying powerplummet.

The city’s proposal wouldalso reduce the benefit multi-plier for current employees,reducing the benefits theywould receive – a cripplingblow, considering city employ-ees do not receive Social Security.

Yet for all the administra-tion’s pressure, it’s clear thatcity workers aren’t willing toaccept what they’re beingoffered. In March, the Chica-go Police Sergeant’s Associa-tion overwhelmingly rejected

a tentative contract agree-ment that Emanuel had pro-moted as a “blueprint” fordealing with the city’s otherpension fund shortfalls.

The vote dealt a blow toEmanuel’s efforts to makeworkers bear the entire bur-den for pension fund fixes. It also suggests that AFSCMEmembers, most of whom areenrolled in the city’s deeplyunderfunded Municipal fund,can win if they mobilize inopposition to the Mayor’splans.

“City of Chicago workersand retirees need to be readyto stand up and fight,” saidAFSCME Council 31 RegionalDirector Nefertiti Smith.

“Workers’ retirement securityis on the line and the cutsMayor Emanuel wants toimpose are simply unaccept-able.”

The threat is real andimmediate. It’s likelyEmanuel could push to havepension cuts for city workersincluded in any pension legis-lation that moves forward in

the General Assembly thisspring.

“It’s a confusing situa-tion,” Smith said, “becausethere’s no bill in Springfieldright now that would impactcity employees.”

The problem is that anamendment affecting City ofChicago workers could beadded to other legislation atthe very last minute whenthere’s little time to lobby.

“That’s why it’s criticalthat City of Chicago AFSCMEmembers reach out to theirstate legislators right now andurge them to vote against anypension bill that does nothave the support of theirunion,” Smith said.

Emanuel pushing hard to cut city worker pensions

w

“City of Chicago workers and retirees need to be ready

to stand up and fight.”—Nerfertiti Smith

RN’s atChicago’sLoretto

Hospital are celebrat-ing the ratification oftheir first contract,the culmination of aprocess that beganlast year with an organizing campaignfocused on givingnurses a voice inpatient care.

TODAY, AS MEMBERS OF

AFSCME LOCAL 1216, THEY

HAVE THAT AND MORE.The new contract estab-

lishes a committee of rank-and-file nurses that will pro-vide input on patient care,patient satisfaction andstaffing ratios. It also protectsnurses against attempts to uni-laterally change shift sched-ules, institutes improved over-time pay, and locks in wageincreases in each year of theagreement.

It also gives nurses accessto the basics of a union con-tract, such as grievance proce-dures.

“I feel like we have a littlemore say-so in what goes on inthe hospital. We have a voicenow,” said Mabel Coleman,

one of the Lorettonurses. “Manage-ment was doingwhatever they want-ed to do.”

The nurses’organizing pushcame after new hos-pital managementbegan making dras-tic changes withouteven consultingstaff, includingplacing some nurs-es on 12-hour shiftsand laying off oth-ers with little noticeand no way to fightback.

“They weregoing to lay thenurses off with oneday’s notice. Theywere going to sendthem out withoutany pay,” said CoraFields, a nurse inthe hospital’sbehavioral healthdepartment. “Whatthey were planningon doing was downright coldand heartless, but because theunion stepped in, we got nurs-es with seniority able to stay.Those who were laid off gotseverance pay and the choiceto come back.”

The nurses reached outto AFSCME early last year andbegan an organizing cam-paign that was met with a neg-ative response by manage-

ment. “Years ago we had triedto form a union and theyfired people. They hadmandatory meetings, tellingpeople they didn’t need aunion,” Coleman said.

But this time, when anelection was finally held inMay, the union came out ontop.

The new contractrequires management to giveample notice of any signifi-

cant changes to nurses’ working arrangements, partic-ularly shifts and hours. Itensures that no nurse willwork more than five days in arow without the nurse’s per-mission. It also will boostnurse pay by 8 percent overthe life of the contract – withthe possibility of anotherwage increase if the hospitalreceives high marks onpatient satisfaction surveys.

Fields said she and herfellow nurses feel great abouthaving the contract in place,calling it the result of a persis-tent, determined organizingeffort.

“The biggest thing aboutorganizing a union is keepingpeople motivated,” she said.“You have to keep the spiritsup to keep people moving.You need strong leaders,strong motivators.”

Loretto Hospital nurses ratify first contract

w


On the front lines

Members of AFSCME’s State Bargaining Committee reflect on the fight for a fair contract

1

2 3 4

6

8

5 7

Dec. 15 2011: Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer presents the union’sopening contract proposal to management negotiators.

Feb. 28, 2013, 12:30 a.m.: Negotiations cometo a close after the AFSCME State BargainingCommittee reaches a tentative agreement.


Safiya Felters,Local 2854

My local used to have a lot ofdivision and factionalization.But every day, I was able toreach one person. I taughtpeople what I was taught. Ittook a lot of engagement andpersuasion. Our local mem-bership had been so disen-gaged. But at the end of theday I saw a local of nearly

800 people that barely knew each other gofrom despair to success. It showed me what solidarity is about.

It’s not just a cute word. It’s about peoplestanding together. I get it now, and I thinkour members get it now. I think the mem-bers and I understood is that this isn’t aspectator sport. If you’re on the sidelinesand complaining, you’re not going to win.

Dan Downen,Local 3600

I was really kind of surprisedat management’s unwilling-ness to compromise or moveon anything. I truly believethey moved because theyrealized we had organizedand could actually pull off astrike. When I started attending

the bargaining sessions, I wasa newly elected president. It helped me inmy organizing efforts in my local. I used thatas a tool to build solidarity. We’ve made alot of strides and had success because ofthis contract fight. I think given the circumstances, it’s an

excellent contract. The majority of mymembership feel that way, too.

Enus Higgins, Local 448

It was a long 15 months. Idon’t think I’ve ever gonethrough a contract negotia-tion for that long. This wasquite different.I’ve gone on strikes

before. My experience is thatwhen we stay together, wecan make it. The membershiplet us know they were strongand trusted us when we

went to the table and tried to bargain.I remember talking to members back

home, worried they’d be wearing down,but they never expressed that to me.People stayed pumped up and stayedinvolved. I didn’t want to give up and Iknow members didn’t want to give upeither.

Charlie Allen, Local 472

It was a long, hard fight. Thisis my third contract negotia-tion and it was unlike any-thing anybody’s ever seen. Itwas worse than pulling teeth.But we stuck to our guns andwe held out. In the end wewere able to bring a fair con-tract back to our members.The highlight for me was

the tenacity of the whole committee asone – we all stood together and stoodour ground. We got our members onboard, especially when talk of a strikecame around. The leadership statewideand local leadership got all the memberson board. We were ready to go if wehad to. Every negotiation has challenges, but

this was beyond a challenge. It turnedinto a marathon. But we got it done.

Melanie Hoyle, Local 2600

I learned a lot of patienceand I learned not to get dis-heartened and that this is along-term fight and notsomething that can be settledovernight. When you bargain,you don’t just bargain thecontract you’re in right now– you also are bargaining forfuture contracts, too. Therewas a huge weight on our

shoulders every time we went in there. I think the low point was when

Quinn canceled our contract. We werescared about what was going to happennext. To have a governor just so blatantlydisregard us and our work was reallytough to take. But that caused us to startto organize and talk about a strike vote.That’s when our people really started topull together. We saw activism in ourworkplaces we had never seen and I amso proud of our members.

Michael Yana, Local 141

I’ve never been a memberof the bargaining commit-tee before. I thought I hadan idea of what tookplace but it was definitelyeye-opening when Iwalked in to see what wewere dealing with, whatwe were facing. Thestate’s position wouldn’t

move – they would posture and come inwith no real offers. It was kind of a shock. Sometimes it’s difficult to get large

groups of people to understand whereour power lies and what shows ourstrengths, which is showing up in largenumbers or making phone calls. . But Ithink with this contract, people under-stand that’s what did it.

Kyle Seiffert, Local 203

It was exciting to seeand watch our leader-ship work like they do. Itbrings everything intoperspective – how pas-sionate people areabout us. I wish every-one could have theopportunity to see whatI’ve seen because it’svery motivating.

This was a good deal for the stateand a good deal for the workers. Itshowed that we’re trying to create a bet-ter life for employees and we won’t quit,no matter what odds face us, until wefeel like we’ve gotten what’s in the bestinterests of our members. It was difficult coming back after

every negotiation and telling our mem-bers that we’re not getting any move-ment, but that was also the exciting part.We had to get our members moving. Itwas empowering getting members activewho have never been involved. You seethe union moving in the right direction.

Linda Hall, Local 386

When I was elected tothe bargaining committee,I thought we didn’t have asay. I thought we werethere to show the leader-ship support and let man-agement know we werestanding together. I didn’trealize we’d have a voice inwhat was being said. Theleadership can’t do any-

thing without talking to the bargaining com-mittee. I thought that was kind of cool. It was a great experience. I was willing

to go however long it would have taken usto get what we needed. If it took us threeyears, we were going to be right there. If wehad to do more, we would have still beenright there. Even though we might have different

opinions, when we stand together it showsthe strength and power we do have. Weshowed determination, and most of all weshowed unity.

Opposite page:Scenes from the contract fight: The AFSCME Truth Squad confrontsGov. Pat Quinn (1); state employeesparticipate in Statewide Unity Days inNovember 2012 (2-4) and February2013 (5, 6); the Truth Squad tracksQuinn in Chicago (7) and Decatur (8).


Cook County canine officers winOT pay, but not without cost

IN FEBRUARY, AS PART OF A SET-TLEMENT OF A LAWSUIT SPARKED

BY AFSCME AND BROUGHT BY

the Illinois Department ofLabor, the Sheriff’s officeagreed to pay 26 officers in thecounty’s Canine Patrol/BombUnit for overtime earned whilecaring for their dogs while offduty on weekends. The settle-ment, totaling more than$250,000, will see some officersreceive in excess of $25,000.

But while the money is wel-come, officers are still angryover the decision by CookCounty Sheriff Tom Dart –made while the case was stillunwinding – to eliminate theCanine Patrol/Bomb Unit.

Officers kept their jobs, butsince 2010 they’ve been doing itwithout their trusted caninecompanions.

“It’s a bittersweet victory,”said one of the officers, Local2264 member Tim Gorniak.“The sheriff retaliated against usby retiring our dogs and send-ing us back to patrol. We wonthe battle but at a heavy cost.”

Before the unit was dis-banded, Gorniak was pairedwith Laika named after the dogthe Soviet Union shot into spacein the 1950s. The partnershipdidn’t end when Gorniak wasdone with his shift. Every day,

Laika would come home withGorniak to eat and rest up.

Of course, to a dog, Satur-day and Sunday are just like anyother day – meaning that onweekends, Gorniak had to makesure Laika got the right amountof exercise and activity. Andunlike a dog that’s merely keptas a pet, Laika’s weekend activi-ties weren’t optional.

“A lot of time and energyand expense goes into caringfor these dogs,” Gorniak said.“We asked for one hour eachweekend day to care for thesedogs. You can’t just hand thekeys to your neighbor and askthem to do it. There was a lot ofpressure on officers that no onetook into account.”

No one, including the sher-iff’s office. While officers werecompensated for taking care oftheir dogs on holidays and vaca-tion days, they weren’t gettingpaid for time worked on theweekend.

Such compensation wasn’ta part of the officers’ collectivebargaining agreement, but theSheriff’s Office policy appearedto be a clear violation of statelabor law. That led to a com-plaint being filed with the Illinois Department of Labor in 2008.

“It was a no-brainer,” said

AFSCME Council 31 attorneyScott Miller. “When it comes todog handlers, their work athome caring for the dog needsto be compensated.”

The officers’ case eventuallywon backing from the stateAttorney General’s office. Aftermuch delay, the two sidesagreed to settle, with each offi-cer guaranteed a minimum$1,000 payment.

Unfortunately, that camewell after Dart decided to dis-

band the unit – one that hadonce been a source of pride forthe county, with its officers anddogs often giving assistance toother law enforcement agen-cies.

“We did jobs for the DEA,the FBI, the Coast Guard,” Gor-niak said. “We had hundreds ofletters of support asking not toshut us down. They turned ablind eye to that.”

The dogs were often usedto sniff out bombs and drugs

and assist in missing personscases. But they also providedcover for officers, acted as adeterrent and were effective atimmobilizing criminal suspects.

“Everyone we worked withloved the dogs because it madethe job safer,” Gorniak said. “99percent of the time when thedog showed up, the bad guyknew it meant business. Theydidn’t want to fight with a dog.Even the most violent subjectswould surrender.”

Fortunately for the dogs,when the canine unit was dis-banded, officers were given thechance to buy their dogs andtake them home as pets – anoffer many quickly accepted.

Laika now lives with Gorni-ak’s family in southwesternCook County. But due to herpolice training, she’s not a typi-cal household pet.

“The things that make it agood work dog don’t make itthe best home dog,” Gorniaksaid. “My dog is very aggressivetoward gunfire. When you heara thunderclap, there’s a reasonthe dog jumped up and rippedthe blinds off the windowtwice. During bad storms, Ihave to lock her up to keepher from destroying thehouse.”

While they’re no longerpartners on patrol, Laika’s loy-alty hasn’t waned a bit.

“I cannot get out the bedin the middle of the night touse the bathroom without thedog sitting by the door,” Gorni-ak said. “The dog will followme downstairs to watch me doa load of laundry.”

The officers of the Cook County Sheriff’s canine unit have somethingto celebrate, but only after paying a

hefty price: Their unit no longer exists.

w

As the drumbeat for so-called

reform continues forstate pension funds,active and retiredCook County workersmay soon need towage their own fightto protect theirretirement security.

THE THREATS THEY FACE ARE

SIMILAR: THE “REFORM” BEINGPUSHED BY COOK COUNTY

Board President Toni Preck-winkle’s administration wouldraise the retirement age,increase employee contribu-tions and lower benefits forcurrent retirees.

However, there is one cru-cial difference: Preckwinklehas, so far at least, proven willing to communicate withthe unions representing coun-ty employees in an effort tofind a solution both sides canlive with.

“We’re actually meetingand talking and looking tofind a solution,” said ScottAdams, AFSCME Council 31’sDirector of Research andEmployee Benefits.

Preckwinkle’s proposal isalso notable in that it doesn’task employees to shoulder theentire financial burden. Thecounty would increase its con-tributions as well.

But despite those positivedevelopments, the county’sproposal as it now standswould still mean substantialcuts in benefits. Proposed

reductions in the cost-of-livingadjustment (COLA) alonewould reduce the value of pen-sion benefits for both currentand future retirees by as muchas 30 percent over twodecades.

The Chicago Federationof Labor (CFL) has conveneda work group of the unionsrepresenting county employ-ees to develop a unifiedresponse to President Preck-winkle’s initiative. The CFLwork group has made clear tothe county that its current pro-posal is not acceptable.

“We know that significantchanges are needed to ensurethe solvency of the county’s pen-sion system,” said AFSCMECouncil 31 Associate DirectorMike Newman. “But workingpeople and retirees didn’t causethese problems and shouldn’thave to shoulder most of theburden in fixing them.”

While negotiations arecontinuing between the CFL

work group and the CookCounty Board, the pensiondebate in Springfield alsodemands attention, since anylegislation passed there couldbecome the model forchangesin Cook County as well.

The County Board cannotmake changes to the pensionsystem on its own. Anychanges must be donethrough legislation passed bythe General Assembly. Thatmeans any changes to stateworkers’ pensions – even thosethat violate the state constitu-tion – could well be replicatedfor county employees.

“AFSCME members inCook County need to be ready to join this battle, andthey should be keeping an eyeon what’s happening rightnow in Springfield,” Newmansaid. “If state workers see theirpensions cut, benefits forCook County workers mightbe next on the choppingblock.”

Cook County wantspension change

w

Tim Gorniak of the Cook County Sheriff’sDepartment leads his dog, Laika, through atraining exercise to teach the dog how tofind drugs.


Quinn signs bill strip-ping more than 3,500 of bargaining rights

ON APRIL 5, GOV. PAT QUINN

signed into law legislation (SB1556) that takes away collectivebargaining rights from morethan 3,500 state workers, includ-ing up to 1,900 who are alreadyAFSCME members.

“It is outrageous that thegovernor has made it one of histop priorities to take away bar-gaining rights. The labor move-ment fought hard to defeat thislegislation and we will continueto fight to minimize the dam-age that it will do to employ-ees,” said AFSCME Council 31Executive Director HenryBayer, who called the bill “a bla-tantly anti-worker piece of legis-lation.”

The law will hit especiallyhard among public serviceadministrators in variousdepartments. The Illinois LaborRelations Board had previouslycertified them as employeescovered by the collective bar-gaining law. The Quinn admin-istration, however, has arguedthat PSAs hold managementpositions, even though theyhave little actual authority.

AFSCME is working to limitthe bill’s impact in discussionswith the state’s department ofCentral Management Services.The union is pushing for an

enforceable agreement that willreduce the number of positionsthat can be removed from thebargaining unit, prevent paycuts for individuals who areremoved, and offer those target-ed for removal the option totake other positions within thebargaining unit if they want tocontinue to have contractualrights.

Study shows government employees face more workplaceviolence

A NEW STUDY FROM THE U.S.Department of Justice showsgovernment workers facemany dangers on the job –more than most workers, infact.

According to the study,released April 11, governmentworkers at all levels experi-enced 18 non-fatal violentincidents for every 1,000workers between 2002 and2011. Private sector workersexperienced only 5.2 inci-dents per 1,000 workers.

While much of the gapcan be attributed to the largenumber of security personnelemployed by the government,even when those jobs wereeliminated, there were still 8.7violent incidents per 1,000workers, compared to only 4.7in the private sector.

The threat of violence isespecially severe for state,county and local governmentworkers. In 2011, the rate ofworkplace violence againststate, county, and localemployees (21.6 incidents per1,000 workers) was more thanfive times the rate of federalemployees.

The study did containsome positive news. It foundthat the rate of workplace vio-lence experienced by state,county and local governmentworkers declined about 82percent between 1994 and2011.

AFSCME-endorsed candidate wins Joliet City Council seat

THE FIGHT AGAINST PRIVATIZA-tion received a boost April 9when Jim McFarland won a seaton the Joliet City Council.

McFarland, who wasendorsed by AFSCME, has been a vocal opponent of bring-ing an immigrant detentioncenter to Joliet. Some city offi-cials have pushed to build thecenter in the city and have itrun by a private firm, Correc-tions Corporation of America.McFarland says he opposes having that company – or anyother private firm – run theproposed facility.

“I think the residents ofJoliet spoke loud and clear thatthey don’t want a for-profitprison in Joliet,” McFarlandtold The Herald-News.

The race for the remainingspots on the City Council is verytight. Two other AFSCME-endorsed candidates were stillin the running as On the Movewent to press.

Bills would protect personal information of DOC, DCFS, StatePolice and county jailworkers

LEGISLATION (SB 1723) NOW

pending in the Illinois GeneralAssembly would offer greaterprotections to employees of thestate Department of Correc-tions, Department of Childrenand Family Services and theState Police.

Under current law, theaddresses of most state employ-ees are in the public record.Employees in DOC, DCFS andthe State Police have beenexempt from this for securityreasons. However, if thoseemployees had a spouse work-ing in a department withoutsuch protections, their address-es would still be available. Thelegislation would ensure thatthe spouse’s information wasalso not included in the publicrecord. AFSCME is pushing tohave spouses of Department ofJuvenile Justice employees, aswell as other sensitive positions,included in the legislation.

Another bill (SB 2153)would exempt from the Free-dom of Information Act recordsrequested by county jail inmatesif they include records from staffmembers’ personnel files, staffrosters or other staffing assign-ment information.

Obama pushes to fix federal labor board as GOP attempts to shut it down

DAYS AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA

announced nominations aimedat restoring a quorum on theNational Labor Relations Board,Republicans in the U.S. House

passed a bill that would paralyzethe board, which addressesunions and labor disputes in theprivate sector.

There is currently only oneperson on the board who wasconfirmed by the Senate –Chairman Mark Pearce, aDemocrat whose term expiresin August.

Obama has nominatedPearce to another term, alongwith two Republican nominees.They join the nominations oftwo other Democrats, SharonBlock and Richard Griffin, whohave been blocked for monthsby Senate Republicans.

In early 2012, Obama hadinstalled Block and Griffin onthe NLRB using his recessappointment power, whichallows the president to fill vacantpositions when the Senate is notin session. However, a federalappeals court ruled in Januarythat these appointments werenot valid because the Senate wastechnically in session – it washolding “pro forma” sessionsevery three days. These sessionslast only minutes and wererequired because the GOP-ledHouse refused to adjourn.

House Republicans are alsoworking to prevent the NLRBfrom functioning. On April 12,they passed a bill that wouldfreeze all activities of the NLRBthat require a full quorum, orthree members. It would alsobar the NLRB from enforcingany decisions it has made sinceJan. 4, 2012, the day Obamamade the disputed recessappointments.

While the bill will not betaken up by the Democratic-ledSenate, its passage and the fili-buster of Obama’s nomineesreflect the anti-worker mindsetof Republicans in Congress.

SHORT REPORTS

For people who are struggling in a

down economy, fewplaces offer a bettervalue than a publiclibrary.

LIBRARIES PROVIDE FREE INTER-NET ACCESS FOR THOSE WHO HAD

TO ELIMINATE IT TO MAKE endsmeet, or need it to search forjobs. They offer educationalactivities for children whoseparents can’t afford pre-school. Parents who can’t taketheir family to the moviesknow the library is a safe placeto go and rent a DVD. And of

course, libraries continue tooffer both the latest in popu-lar books and classic fiction.

Yet at a time whenlibraries are most needed, thepeople who make them such avaluable community resource– librarians and support staff –are often seen as a prime tar-get for cuts by local electedofficials.

“Our funding has gonedown and we’ve suffered lay-offs. We’re still working withreduced hours and reducedstaff,” said Karla Janssen, alibrarian at the Rockford Pub-lic Library and president ofAFSCME Local 3350. “Thecity council thought we didn’tneed help. The problem withthat line of thinking is that in

times of economic crisis ortrouble, libraries are busierthan ever. That’s our peak.”

Library workers in Rock-ford recently ratified a newcontract after beating back

attempts by management totransfer work out of the bar-gaining unit to volunteers,eliminate overtime on Sun-days and take health insur-ance away from part-timeworkers.

“We knew volunteerswould never do bargainingunit work as long as we wereable to stand there,” Janssensaid. “Who would volunteer todo the kind of jobs we do? Itlooks wonderful from the out-side, but they don’t know thenitty-gritty of it.”

Library work is muchmore than stamping books inand out and shushing patrons– a stereotype that persistseven as library workers handle

Library workers remain dedicatedamid budget pressures

Local 1215 member Caroline Broeren, a children’s librarian, leads a storytimesession at Chicago’s Wrightwood-Ashburn branch.

Continued on page 15

w


Picket breaks logjamin Orland Park

AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS OF

talks that included somefierce verbal fireworks, grass-roots pressure by City ofOrland Park workers finallysucceeded in forging anagreement.

The four-year contractwill see wages increase by 7.8percent over the life of theagreement, well above the 4percent initially proposed bymanagement.

“There was a lot of dis-tance between us and man-agement,” said Local 368President Tim Lynch. “Theywanted to raise our healthinsurance by 600 percent. Itwas ridiculous.”

When talks looked like theywere going nowhere, the local’smembership held an informa-tional picket and made sure thepublic knew about negativecomments the managementrepresentatives had made aboutfrontline city workers.

The picket drew supportfrom about 75 employees,including maintenance work-ers, road construction crewsand police dispatchers.

“I saw a good amount ofsolidarity out there,” Lynchsaid. “I would say it went along way in getting them tocome to an agreement.”

Eight is enough for Anchor Houseemployees

FOR THE EIGHT MEMBERS OF

AFSCME Local 1232 who

work at the AnchorHouse shelter forteenage boys inChicago, contractnegotiations were acause for concern.

“There are sofew of them and wewent into negotia-tions thinking theywere trying to getrid of us,” saidCouncil 31 StaffRepresentativeLora Harris. “Butin the end we werevery pleased. It wasthe first time wegot anything inthere for part-timeemployees.”

The three-yearagreementincludes wageincreases of 1.5 percent in each year and alsogrants a floatingholiday to thosewith five years

of service.The Anchor House

employees are part of Local1232, which includes employ-ees of Methodist Youth Ser-vices. Anchor House employ-ees negotiate separately fromthe rest of the local.

“I thought it would be atough negotiation, but we didit in one day and everyonewas satisfied,” Harris said.“They hadn’t had raises inthree years, so we were verypleased.”

Interest-based bargaining yields 9.5%wage increase for Cityof Decatur workers

CITY OF DECATUR WORKERS ARE

satisfied with a new five-yearagreement that will see wagesincrease by 9.5 percent overthe life of the agreement,including 2 percent bumps ineach of the agreement’s firstthree years.

Council 31 Staff Repre-sentative Chris Hooser attrib-uted the negotiation’s successto the use of interest-basedbargaining.

“It forced the parties tostay in the room and workthrough all issues, keepingcaucuses to a minimum,”Hooser said. “It fostered agreater understanding of theissues and built better com-munication and relationshipsbetween the two sides.”

The agreement alsocapped health insurance pre-mium increases at 2 percentfor the first year of the agree-ment and 7.5 percent annual-

ly for all remaining years.Plus, the employer must pro-vide documentation to sub-stantiate any increases.

Local 268 President JerdMorstatter said that whilenegotiations took some time –the first wage increase isretroactive to May 2012 –members are satisfied withthe outcome.

“We felt that we improvedthe language to better protectthe members,” he said. “Itwasn’t confrontational andthe overall outcome was pret-ty good.”

Joining Hooser andMorstatter on the negotiatingteam were Jerry Potts, ChrisGessaman, Stacey Hill, TomCook, Cliff Bruce and SteveMcCall.

Rock Island Co. AirportAuthority workersfight off take-aways

ON THE VERGE OF GOING TO

arbitration, workers at theRock Island County Metropol-itan Airport Authorityreached a five-year agreementwith management, ending acontentious bargainingprocess.

The new agreement willsee members of Local 3744receive a 2 percent wageincrease in each year of thecontract. Just as important,the local’s membershipfought off management’sattempt to take away stepincreases, increase employeeinsurance costs and freezewages.

“Management saw that weweren’t going to bend,” saidCouncil 31 Staff Representa-tive Tony McCubbin. “It wasperseverance by the bargain-ing committee and the local’smembers, standing strong,that sent the message that weweren’t going to playaround.”

Contrary to manage-ment’s original wishes, theagreement maintains the sta-tus quo on health insurancecosts and step increases.

“We stayed together andstuck to our original propos-al,” said Local President Jef-frey Swan. “We had a date setfor arbitration, but then man-agement came back with theirlast proposal and it was identi-cal to our last offer. We could-n’t turn that down.”

The local’s bargainingteam, led by McCubbin,included Swan, Rob Albert,Eric Weighall, Scott Crowland Kathy Green.

ON THE LOCAL LEVEL

City of Rockford workers make major gains in new contract

AFTER 15 MONTHS OF NEGOTIATIONS, CITY OF ROCKFORD

employees ratified a contract that will see wages increaseby 7 percent over the life of the agreement.

The contract also includes an out-of-pocket cap onhealth insurance premiums and a strong “me too” provi-sion that locks in premium rates until employees in otherunions catch up or exceed those paid by AFSCME mem-bers.

The city’s negotiators were initially doing little tomove toward an agreement, said Local 1058 PresidentGarry Cacciapaglia.

“What we had to go through to finally get to an agree-ment was very difficult,” Cacciapaglia said. “They were basi-cally surface bargaining. It wasn’t until we really sat downand had a 12-hour negotiating session that we finally gotsome progress.”

In exchange for increases in wages and limits onhealth insurance premiums, workers accepted a cap oncompensatory time. Under the terms of the new agree-ment, employees can have no more than 80 hours of comptime accrued at any time.

The new contract comes after not only a contentiousbargaining process, but also a previous agreement that sawworkers go four years without improvements in wageswhile accepting concessions on health care costs.

“The workers have been making big sacrifices foryears,” said Council 31 staff representative Ed Sadlowski.“It was at least four years without a wage adjustment forcity workers. They’ve made concessions on health insur-ance changes in the last contract. They stood in solidaritywith the community and accepted sacrifices.”

Sadlowski said the local remained united throughoutthe negotiations, despite a diverse membership.

“There’s good leadership in each department. There’speople from streets, water, the police department, 911 callcenters, clericals,” he said. “They’re all at the table andthey all took ownership.”

The bargaining team was led by Council 31 staff repre-sentative Ken Anderson and included Cacciapaglia, BobRever, Brian Jacobi, Tony Garcia, Ron Reinagle, DougPassmore, Christina Loudermilk, Julie Michalsen, NedFriel, Aquanetta Smith, Darius Morrow and Brian Collins.

Continued on the facing page

Members of Local 1058 vote to ratify anew contract with the City of Rockford.


Imagine having ajob that requiredyou to pay money

to enter your work-site every day.

THAT WAS THE SITUATION CON-FRONTING EMPLOYEES OF THE

ILLINOIS STATE TOLL HIGHWAY

Authority, including some234 administrative workersrepresented by AFSCMELocal 3883.

Since at least 1960,employees of the Toll High-way Authority have beenexempt from paying tolls ifthey had to use the Tollwaywhile traveling to and fromwork or undertaking othertravel connected to officialbusiness. Most recently, thisbenefit was provided by giv-ing employees I-PASStransponders for their vehi-cles.

Yet in November 2011,the Toll Highway Authorityannounced without any warn-ing or discussion with theunion that it was revokingthis benefit, meaning Author-ity workers would have to payto use the Tollway while com-muting to work.

“The way I look at this isthat when I’m on my way towork, I might not be on theclock, but that road is mywork,” Local 3883 PresidentRobert Homeyer said. “I andothers actively call in issues

that are going on with theroad, whether there’s debrison the roadway or someother issue. We’re allinvolved in making sure theroadway is clean and movingfor everyone.”

AFSCME and unions rep-resenting other workersimmediately demanded toenter bargaining over thepolicy change – a request theToll Highway Authorityrefused, claiming the matterwas not subject to bargaining.

In response,the unions filedan unfair laborpractice chargewith the IllinoisLabor RelationsBoard. Morethan a yearlater, the boardruled decisivelyin favor of work-ers, finding thatthe Toll High-way Authoritycould not takeaway the benefitwithout goingthrough the col-lective bargain-ing process.

The admin-istrative law judge (ALJ)found that “disallowing theuse of non-revenue transpon-ders for commuting will forceemployees to either pay thefull cost of tolls to commuteto and from work or altertheir routes to avoid tolls,potentially resulting in longer

routes to and from work.”For some workers, that

would amount to hundredsof dollars in commuting costsper year.

“We’ve got employeesthat work at all corners of thesystem,” Homeyer said.“We’ve got people that workon other parts of the systembut live further north, southor west. There are many indi-viduals that are coming fromthe farther end of the systemto get where their daily loca-

tion is. With thetolls increasing,that would defi-nitely be an eco-nomic impact.”

The ALJfound that theTollway Authori-ty failed to nego-tiate andrequired thatany change tothe policy on I-PASS transpon-ders must bemade throughthe collectivebargainingprocess.

Homeyersaid the issue

may come up in the nextround of bargaining, but fornow, employees are enjoyingthe victory.

“We believe that it’s abenefit for the Tollway tocontinue this program,” hesaid. “We believe that it’s ben-eficial on both sides.”

State toll road workers prevail in I-PASS dispute

w

Wages, retiree healthcare improve for Peoria County HealthDept. employees

INCREASED WAGES AND PROTEC-tions for retiree health careare among the improvementsin a new three-year agreementcovering members ofAFSCME Local 3665 at thePeoria County Health Depart-ment.

Wages will increase by 2 percent in the first yearof the contract, followed byincreases of 2.25 percent and2.5 percent. Provisions cover-ing retiree health care –which had been addressedin a side agreement – weremade part of the contractitself.

“It was a good negotia-tion. Management was inter-ested in getting a deal so weonly met eight times,” saidLocal President Joe BechtoldIII. “Both sides were reason-able and had a realistic out-look.”

The agreement also provides increased flexibilityto workers in using benefittime, which can now be takenin 15-minute increments, as opposed to 1 hour underthe previous agreement.

The bargaining commit-tee included Bechtold, BrianJohnson, Corine Smith, Mari-anne House, Michelle Bailey,Renee Spradlin, Robert Rivoliand Tina DeVall.

IYC medical vendoremployees win wage increases

HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT

Department of Juvenile Jus-tice facilities throughout thestate won wage increases in anew contract.

The workers areemployed by a medical ser-vices contractor, CorrectionalHealthcare Companies, andare members of differentAFSCME locals based at eachfacility. However, they negoti-ate a contract that coversCHC workers at all DJJ facilities.

Members were pleasedwith the agreement, whichwill see wages increase by 7percent over five years.

“We were trying to get thebest that we could for ourpeople,” said Lori Gibson, anRN at IYC Kewanee, whoserved on the bargainingcommittee.

The contract will seeworkers’ health insurancepremiums increase, thoughboth sides agreed that healthcare costs and benefits couldbe renegotiated later oncethe impact of the AffordableCare Act is clearer. Employ-ees also preserved their401(k) benefits.

Gibson said the tone ofthe negotiations was positive,even when the two sides dis-agreed.

“We were able to expressour concerns to the companyand they were willing to hear them,” she said. “I feltlike they were hearing what we were saying – even if they weren’t always in agreement.”

The bargaining teamincluded Gibson, Council 31Staff Representatives JoePluger and Ty Petersen, EwaMorre, Sherri Hurley andJulie Szafraniec.

Iroquois County workers see littleimprovement in new contract

FACED WITH A COUNTY BOARD

determined to keep wages inplace while hiking up healthcare costs, Iroquois Countyemployees accepted a newcontract that freezes wagesfor two years.

The agreement alsoincludes a $650 signing bonusfor members of Local 3312and keeps health insurancepremiums stable.

“The county board isdetermined to run over anything and anyone in its way,” said Council 31 StaffRepresentative MichaelWilmore. “The membershipwas willing to fight for more than a year just to getwhat it got.”

Wilmore said manage-ment had suggested wageincreases could be possiblewhen the previous agreementwas worked out. However, inthe time since then, the coun-ty’s health care costs in-creased and support for work-er wage increases diminished.

“They were back in the black but the countyended up paying significantlymore for the health insuranceand not passing it along tothe employees,” Wilmoresaid.

The bargaining teamincluded Wilmore, Local3312 President John Smith,Louise Bruens, JackieBurkiewicz and Debbie Plunkett.

Continued from the facing page

“The way I look at this is that when I’m

on my way to work, I might not be on the clock, but that road is my work.”

—Robert Homeyer


Fight for affordable retireehealth care continues

WHILE AFSCME CONTINUES TO

challenge a new law that tookaway a longstanding benefitthat provided health insuranceto many retired state and stateuniversity employees withoutany premium cost, the Unionhas also worked to ensure thatthe new State of Illinois mastercontract keeps retiree healthcare affordable.

After Sangamon CountyCircuit Court Judge StephenNardulli granted the state’smotion to dismiss a union-backed lawsuit against the newlaw (Public Act 97-695 – passedinto law as SB 1313), AFSCMEand its allies decided in earlyApril to appeal Judge Nardulli’sruling.

PA 97-695 orders the Illi-nois Department of CentralManagement Services (CMS) todevelop a premium paymentschedule for all SERS andSURS retirees. Previously, mostretirees did not have to con-tribute toward their individualpremiums, although they paidtoward dependent premiums aswell as copays and deductibles.

The original proposaldeveloped by CMS would havecost retirees over 20 percent oftheir pension in many cases.The Union made it a top priori-ty in state contract negotiationsto beat back such onerousincreases. After more than 15months of bargaining, that goalwas achieved—with no retireewho formerly paid no premiumbeing required to pay morethan 4 percent of their pension

toward their health care premi-um.

“While we continue to fightin the courts over the constitu-tionality of SB 1313 we under-stood the union could notstand by and allow the state toimpose outrageous premiumson retirees that live on a fixedincome,” says Virginia Yates,president of Chapter 31. “Thestate bargaining committeefought till the very end to getretiree health insurance costs aslow as possible and to establisha labor-management healthinsurance committee to ensurethat the implementation of thecontract is as seamless as possi-ble.”

Under the new agreement,retired state workers pay premi-ums equal to 2 percent of theirpension for those who are notMedicare-eligible, and 1 per-cent for those eligible forMedicare. The new ratesbecome effective July 1, 2013.

One year later, non-Medicare-eligible retirees willsee premiums increase an addi-tional 2 percent, with those eli-gible for Medicare seeing a 1percent increase. Those retireeswho are over 65 and notMedicare Eligible will also pay 1percent as of July 1, 2013 andan additional 1 percent as ofJuly 1, 2014.

“I am so thankful that thebargaining committee foughtto reduce the premiums that weretirees will have to pay,” saidAudrey Allman, a member ofGalesburg sub-chapter 77. “Ican handle 1 percent this yearand an additional 1 percentnext year, but I could not havepaid the 20 percent that the

state was pushing.” In addition, Medicare Eligi-

ble retirees will be enrolled inMedicare Advantage plans as ofJanuary 1, 2014 that are compa-rable to current plans in termsof level of services and range ofproviders.

Home care providers runout of funds

The Department on Aging ranout of appropriations authorityto pay home care providers onMarch 15 – until more fundingis approved, no more bills canbe submitted by the more than25,000 home care providers tothe comptroller’s office for pay-ment.

Home care providers sup-port seniors with critical assis-tance, cooking meals, cleaninglaundry, and administering toimportant medical needs. Without this help, 80,000seniors in Illinois could losetheir independence and beforced into costly long-terminstitutional care.

The General Assembly onlyapproved eight months of fund-ing last year, and the Depart-ment on Aging needs $173 mil-lion to plug the hole.Compounding the problem fur-ther, the department has beencarrying bills from one year tothe next for several years at anever growing rate.

With providers alreadymonths behind on receivingpayments, the lack of futurefunds could push some to closetheir doors. In a survey done bythe home care provider associa-tion of its membership, 37 per-cent of respondents said an

additional month in paymentdelays would put them out ofbusiness.

Agencies that handlehome care duties have beenasked to keep providing thecare and continue submittinginvoices for the services.

It would take about $300million to provide servicesthrough the end of the fiscalyear on June 30. Already, homecare providers, seniors and peo-ple with disabilities have ralliedseveral times at the capitol to pushthe General Assembly to appro-priate the needed funding.

“Chained CPI” proposalhurts seniors, especially women

A METHOD OF MEASURING INFLA-tion called “chained CPI” hasfound its way into PresidentObama’s budget proposal. Im-plementing it would result in acut to Social Security benefits.

AFSCME InternationalPresident Lee Saunders calledthe proposal “a very bad idea.”

CPI stands for consumerprice index, a formula thatlooks at how the prices of vari-ous goods change over time.The CPI is the basis for cost-of-living adjustments in programssuch as Social Security, veteransbenefits and food stamps.

Chained CPI is a twist onthat: It measures living costs dif-ferently because it assumes thatwhen prices for one thing goup, people settle for cheapersubstitutes. A proposal to switchto chained CPI essentially cutsthe amount of the cost-of-livingadjustment.

This reduction will hurt

senior citizens as the years goby. Seniors spend much oftheir money on health care,where lower-cost substitutes arerare and prices overall are ris-ing much faster than inflation.

The AARP has reportedthat this change would dispro-portionately impact women.They found that women earnless on average than men, aremore likely to work part timeand are more likely to havegaps in their employment.These factors result in loweraverage annual Social Securitybenefits for women who receiveabout $13,000 compared tomen, who on average receiveabout $17,000.

Another factor is thatwomen tend to live longer,making up a larger share of thepopulation as it ages. Becausethe chained CPI would cut ben-efits more with every passingyear, women will see a greatershare of these cuts.

CLUW award given to AFSCME activist

ONMARCH 21ST, MARY JONES,president of AFSCME ChicagoSub-chapter 60 and a Chapter31 Executive Board Member,was honored by the Coalition ofLabor Union Women (CLUW).Jones received the Florence Cri-ley Award, which is given towomen who are strong leadersin the union movement andtheir communities.

Criley was an activist in boththe labor movement and wom-en’s rights from the 1930s tillher death in 1976. She assistedin the establishment of CLUWwhich strengthened women’srole and involvement in thelabor movement.

The award was presented toJones for her service as presi-dent of AFSCME sub-chapter60, as a member of the Coali-tion of Black Trade Unionists(CBTU), and as a member ofCLUW. Mary was active in theunion movement while workingand has remained involved inretirement. While working atthe Chicago Public Library, sheserved as a steward, executiveboard member, and on thenegotiating committee forAFSCME Local 1215.

Florence Blimling(1928-2013)FLORENCE BLIMLING, A TRUSTEE

for Chapter 31 and member ofAFSCME sub-chapter 82 in Jack-sonville since 1991, passed awayin February. Florence retired in1991 from the School for theDeaf in Jacksonville after a totalof 30 years of service to the state.

RETIREE NOTES

AFTER THE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON A NEW CONTRACT WAS REACHED,many retirees had questions about how the new contract wouldaffect them.

In the weeks after the agreement was announced, retireeswere able to have those questions answered at sub-chapter meetings attended by retiree coordinators, Council 31 staff orlocal leaders.

“Chapter 31 members are deeply relieved that the steepincreases in premiums, copays and deductibles Gov. Quinn

had been demanding for many months were nowhere to befound,” said Jack Graves, president of Freeport sub-chapter 71.

Graves said Executive Board member Lou Cook briefedthe sub-chapter at a meeting that took on a celebratory toneonce questions were answered.

“Many of us have serious illnesses and conditions, and withthe approval of this contract, they will continue to receive themedical care they need to protect their lives and remain astrong part of this union,” he said.

Retirees get answers to health care questions

Continued on the facing page


AFSCME members inLaSalle

County are discussingthe possibility of astrike amid ongoingfrustration over bar-gaining talks with thecounty board.

EVEN THOUGH THE COUNTY’SGENERAL FUND IS FLUSH, MAN-AGEMENT NEGOTIATORS HAVE

RESISTed even modest wageincreases for the 300 countyworkers who are members ofLocal 978.

“The county doesn’t wantto give us anything, eventhough some non-union

employees have seen wagesincrease by more than 10 per-cent,” said the local’s presi-dent, Vickey Leadingham.

“The local is just prettyshocked because we hadtaken small increases in thelast contract,” said Council 31staff representative RandyDominic. “County manage-ment said that if we stuck withthem until reserves are builtup, they’d reward us. Nowthey’re built up but they onlyoffered 1 percent for eachyear initially.”

The previous contractalso saw workers acceptincreased health care costs –with the promise of improvedwages in the next contract.

“They said help us do thisfor two years and when webargain in 2013 we should be

able to make it up to youbecause we’ll save money.And they have saved money,but they don’t want to giveany more,” Leadingham said.

The difference betweenthe economic packages beingproposed by the union andmanagement is actually rela-tively small – about $18,000,said Leadingham, who noted that the county hasalready paid out $6,000 formeetings and mileage in con-nection with the prolongedbargaining.

Leadingham said the busi-ness background of countyboard members may havesomething to do with theirsudden reluctance to work ona deal.

“This board that we’rewith is a lot of businesspeople

and some of them comment-ed that we shouldn’t get araise every year when theirworkers don’t,” she said. The relationship wasn’t alwaysthis bad. In fact, the currentround of negotiations got off to a good start, Dominicsaid, with both sides usinginterest-based bargaining toexpedite the process. But thatprocess broke down oncewages and benefits were upfor discussion.

“It worked well and wethought we would have agood working relationshipwith the county,” Dominicsaid. “But when you get to theeconomics, a lot of the timeyou end up going to tradition-al bargaining and caucusing.”

The reason for the countyboard’s sudden unwillingness

to bargain is unclear. Howev-er, the local’s membership isclear on what lays ahead – ifno agreement can bereached, three bargainingunits may go on strike, whiletwo others will take the matterto arbitration.

“I met with everyone andwhat they’re telling me isthey’ll strike,” Leadinghamsaid.

Members of the localhave been active throughoutbargaining, staging an infor-mational picket and activelyconfronting county boardmembers.

“It’s really impressive,”Dominic said. “They’reputting out bargaining bulletins and newsletters now. It’s building a lot of solidarity.”

Strike may be only recourse in LaSalle County

w

a range of tasks, including ITsupport, tax preparation,child education and jobsearch assistance.

Libraries have also adapt-ed to the growth of digitalbooks by loaning out e-booksand e-book readers and pro-viding technical support forowners of Kindles and similardevices.

All that work demandsnot only a sharp mind, butalso the ability to stay onone’s feet for hours at a time.In some cases, it also requireslibrarians to be on the road –Rockford’s public library pro-vides a service that visits localschools to spark students’interest in reading.

“Any little bit of educa-tion helps and the teachersreally appreciate it,” said AmyPfeifer, a child services librari-an in Rockford. “It’s a goodway to promote the library services – I can talk to chil-dren in those settings. I think we’re a great gem in the com-munity. People are sometimesshocked when they find outwhat we offer.”

Plus, as cities have shrunklibrary budgets, the peoplewho work at them are oftenrequired to do work beyondwhat their job title suggests.

“Even though I’m anadult services librarian, I’m often in the children’sdepartment and I’m going tointeract with the parents, thechildren,” said Mina Duarte, alibrarian at the Chicago Pub-lic Library’s Rooseveltbranch. “When we only haveone reference person, wehave to interact with every-body. We do have a cybernavi-gator that assists with comput-ers but he’s only here 20hours a week.”

Library workers in Chica-go are all too familiar withthe threat of cuts. MayorRahm Emanuel’s administra-tion pushed hard to cutlibrary hours and jobs – atone point, Emanuel orderedall the library’s neighborhoodbranches to close on Mon-days. However, a strong cam-paign by library workers thatenlisted the support of thecommunity forced the admin-istration to back off most ofits demands, saving hundredsof jobs.

“They didn’t think therewas an importance to thelibrary when they were tryingto balance the budget on ourbacks,” said John Rayburn,president of Local 1215,which represents CPLemployees. “We had to show

them that we are very impor-tant. We’re a safe haven forkids to go to when a parentdoesn’t get off of work untillate. There are people whodo research on their ownbooks who thank us for pro-viding the tools they need. It’snot just a place where peoplehang out.”

Caroline Broeren, a chil-dren’s librarian at Chicago’sWrightwood-Ashburn branch,said those who want to cutlibrary hours and jobs tend to

be strangers to the servicesshe and others provide.

“It’s incredibly frustratingbecause I feel like the admin-istration doesn’t understand the value of libraries,” she said. “They’re not in the posi-tion of not knowing how theInternet works, or not evenbeing able to afford a com-puter. I think they really leaveout the people who aren’tprivileged enough to havethose things.”

Continued from page 11

Previously, she was employed atthe Jacksonville State Hospitalas a switchboard operator andPassavant Hospital as a surgicaltechnician. She had helped toestablish AFSCME as the unionfor state employees in Illinoisand immediately joined Chap-ter 31 upon retirement.

Florence was often heardtelling others about the experi-ence of working without aunion and that union mem-bership provided a protectionagainst mistreatment by man-agement, established safetystandards for those in danger-ous positions and allowedworkers to fight to maintainretiree benefits.

Blimling worked tirelesslyto improve working conditionsand workers’ rights. She wasinducted into the AFSCMEHall of Fame in 1999. Beyondher extensive efforts withAFSCME, Blimling served invarious roles in her local com-munity, including the homeextension club of Scottville.

“Florence was someoneyou could always count on torespond whenever the call for help was issued,” saidRetiree Coordinator MariaBritton-Sipe, “We’re going tomiss her ‘can-do’ attitude andencouragement.”

RETIREENOTES

Continued from the facing page

Call the AFSCME Personal Support Program.

We’re here when you need us.

PSP can

help!

Worried?

Cal

W

CalCalCall the the the AFSCME AFSCME AFSCME AFSCME AFSCME AFSCME PCal

We’re herherhere when WWe

Personal ersonal ersonal ersonal ersonal ersonal ersonal Supporupporupporupporupport PP

when when when when ou ou ou need need need yyou you

Progogram.am.am.

need need us.us.us.

Library workers remaindedicated


CORPORATETAX LOOPHOLES:EASYTOOPEN, HARDTO CLOSE

AFSCME and its union partners in the We AreOne Illinois coalition have identified $2 billion inloopholes in the Illinois tax system that could beeliminated to generate revenue for vital state ser-vices and preserve public employees’ retirementsecurity.

The list includes carve-outs that range from blatantgiveaways to well-intentioned failures, including:

• A law that allows Big Oil to avoid payingincome tax on profits derived from off-shoredrilling.

• A loophole that lets huge retailers like Wal-Mart write off the cost of collecting and remittingstate sales taxes.

• A sales tax exemption specifically for the pur-chase of newsprint and ink which overwhelminglybenefits the corporate-run media.

• An exemption for satellite TV providers on atax that cable TV providers already have to pay.

What they all have in common is ineffectiveness –the loopholes identified by the We Are One Illinoiscoalition aren’t doing anything to save or create jobs inIllinois, and they aren’t doing anything to help thestate’s working families.

That raises some important questions: How didthese loopholes become law in the first place? And

why are they so hard to eliminate?The answer to the first question is that, in

many cases, well-connected companies or industries –employing powerful lobbyists – get loopholes put into legislation by making big promises to politi-cians eager to demonstrate they care about creatingjobs.

“We find a lot of the loopholes are enacted withthe promise of creating or protecting jobs, or helpingbusinesses,” said Mark Murphy, a fiscal policy analyst atAFSCME’s international headquarters in Washington,D.C. “Elected officials are constantly on the receivingend, hearing new promises about what these taxbreaks will do. It’s unseemly. It distorts what the taxcode should look like.”

Murphy said Illinois’ research and developmenttax credit is a good example of this phenomenon.

“Its purpose is to incentivize research and develop-ment in Illinois, but we know from other states thisdoesn’t work,” he said. “Even in California, they foundthe R&D credit didn’t stimulate anything. The fact isthat state corporate income taxes are such a small partof a firm’s expenses that it’s hard to create an incentiveprogram that makes enough of a difference to where itwill influence behavior.”

But other loopholes represent clear abuses of thepolitical system by big business. The most blatantexample in Illinois may be a tax break for the Chicago

Mercantile Exchange.“The Chicago Mercantile Exchange tax break was

basically a shake-down,” Murphy said. “They threat-ened to leave the state if they didn’t get their way. Illi-nois is giving away $85 million a year to an entity thatobviously has plenty of money. Were they really goingto leave Chicago? That’s hard to believe.”

It’s easy to see how politicians could be taken in byfalse promises – or intimidated into putting a loopholeinto law. Yet even when these breaks fail to produce thedesired result, they remain law year after year. How?

Murphy said a lack of oversight – and no require-ment to prove effectiveness – often keeps ineffectiveloopholes on the books.

“If there’s a program that isn’t meeting the needsit’s supposed to, every year that program has to com-pete for funding with every other program out there,”Murphy said. “I think the history of state budgetsshows that bad or inefficient programs get wiped out.In contrast to that, tax loopholes get written into thetax code and are put on auto-pilot. They’re the roachmotels of state politics – they go in and never comeout.”

“We’re providing a much-needed accountabilityfor these things that go on from year to year withouthaving to prove their value,” Murphy said. “We wantthe resources to use for public needs. We want to takethat money and devote it to things people need.”

The fight to preserve pensionbenefits for Illinois’ public workers has put a much-needed spotlight on the billions in corporate tax loopholes

that litter the state’s tax code.

Documents

ON THE - AFSCME 31 · works for United Cerebral Palsy of Will County, said the low pay in direct care has led to staff shortages and incredi-bly long work weeks for those who remain