In Mother's Footsteps
Thousands of delegates join their Cook County Brothers and Sisters in downtown Chicago to protest givebacks.
"When you pick a fight with AFSCME in Cook County, you're going up against this entire union!" declared Pres. Gerald W. McEntee from the Convention floor. And the thousands of delegates who cheered his words proved his point.
Led by a 14-foot-tall giant puppet of legendary labor organizer Mother Jones, delegates left the Convention hall after the Thursday session to join Cook County employees at a rally in downtown Chicago.
There, they protested against the givebacks demanded by the county board. Contract negotiations had been stalled for ten months.
At the time, the county's contract offer would have imposed a three-year wage freeze while significantly increasing employees' health insurance contributions.
Rally 'round. Holding printed and homemade signs, protesters surrounded the Cook County Building. The crowd flooded across the street where thousands chanted, "No contract, no peace!"
"County Board President John Stroger and members of the county board gave themselves big raises just seven months ago. Now that the money is safely tucked into their pockets, they are seeking to deny raises to Cook County employees," said Henry Bayer, AFSCME Council 31 executive director and an International vice president.
Make 'em pay. Council 31 Deputy Director Roberta Lynch, now also an International vice president, told the crowd: "We're going to hold John Stroger accountable. We're going to make him pay if he doesn't pay us fairly."
Also speaking at the rally was International Vice Pres. Henry Nicholas who is president of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees. In the end, even Mother Jones herself took the microphone to lead a few chants.
Did they hear her in the county building? They must have-since after ten months of foot-dragging by county negotiators, the county board president was suddenly expressing his interest in getting a contract in place as soon as possible.
By Alison S. Lebwohl
| Mother Jones ¤ born Mary Harris in Ireland, probably in the late 1830s ¤ worked as a seamstress and teacher ¤ lost her husband and four children in 1867 Memphis yellow fever epidemic ¤ famous for her work organizing coal miners ¤ remained an agitator well into her nineties. |
