5,400 Illinois Members Sign Off on New, Three-Year Pact

Cook County, Illinois

Pressure and more pressure, including a strike threat, has paid off for some 5,400 county employees (AFSCME Council 31 members) who ratified a three-year contract that provides across-the-board raises of 10.5 percent over the next 18 months.

The workers, who had been negotiating since last November when their contract expired, voted by a 9-to-1 margin to settle their contract.

“It took a threatened strike to get an agreement that our members believed would be fair and reasonable,” says Council 31 Exec. Director Henry Bayer, who serves as an International vice president. “Our members showed tremendous solidarity and determination to win a fair contract that they overwhelmingly ratified.”

Mobilization efforts by the county workers who are assistant public defenders, clericals, police sergeants, circuit court clerks, juvenile and adult probation officers, public guardians and health department employees, included a spirited rally with more than 1,000 supporters at the county building. Then several days before the final negotiation session, they voted to authorize a strike.

As of late July, some 200 county jail sergeants — Local 3692 members — were expected to sign an agreement patterned after the other locals. The correctional employees are legally barred from striking, but are allowed to take disputes before an arbitrator, if they choose to do so.