AFSCME’s ‘Pat Quinn Truth Squad’ Is on the March in Illinois
by Clyde Weiss | September 27, 2012
AFSCME Council 31 members confront Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in Chicago on Sept. 21 to protest budget cuts and his anti-worker policies.
Hundreds of AFSCME members in Illinois took to the streets in recent days to oppose Gov. Pat Quinn’s efforts to devastate critical services.
Nearly 600 AFSCME Council 31 members demonstrated on Sept. 19 in Chicago to show their displeasure with a state budget that slashes nearly $90 million from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
Who protects the children?” chanted the AFSCME members as they carried dolls symbolizing the at-risk children who will be most hurt by the layoffs of caseworkers. Each doll represented 250 children who won’t receive services from the agency if the cuts go through.
Acting as a “Pat Quinn Truth Squad,” the protestors called on Quinn to stop the layoff of 283 employees of DCFS employees (another 100 positions won’t be filled because of the budget cuts). The layoffs are scheduled for Oct. 1.
Child welfare caseloads are already too high, and Quinn’s budget cuts will only make matters worse.
“If we’re going to put children at the bottom of the priority list, then shame on you,” declared Edward Schwartz, president of AFSCME Local 2081 (Council 31), which represents DCFS employees in Cook County.
“Pat Quinn Truth Squad” members insist that Governor Quinn stop telling lies about public service workers’ pensions. (Photos courtesy AFSCME Council 31)
AFSCME Council 31 “Pat Quinn Truth Squads” have confronted the governor at other events around the state. On Sept. 21, they confronted him at a Chicago event to protest threatened job cuts, false and exaggerated claims about public employee pensions, and his efforts to weaken workers’ rights to collective bargaining.
They also booed the governor in Joliet over plans to close the Dwight Correctional Center. The squad also booed him off the stage at the State Fair over proposed wage and pension cuts. Activists marched in opposition to his anti-worker policies at a Labor Day parade in Springfield, and challenged him at a bill signing ceremony in the Quad Cities this August.
AFSCME members in Illinois are showing they won’t be quiet in the face of Quinn’s Draconian budget cuts and policies. They want Quinn to postpone the DCFS layoffs until the state General Assembly can approve a supplemental appropriation to prevent those cuts during its veto session in late November.
The at-risk children who depend on these critical workers cannot speak up for themselves. That’s why AFSCME members are speaking up for them. Governor Quinn should not ignore their appeals.
