Cook County Public Defenders Association

As a result of the layoff notices received by some of our members, the Union Executive Board is taking steps to make sure that the rights of our members facing layoff are protected and our members are fully informed during this process.  For this purpose, the Executive Board is scheduled to meet with AFSCME representatives next Wednesday to cooperate on issues such as rehire rights, COBRA, and to check the accuracy of the seniority used in the layoff process.  If members facing layoffs have any questions you want us to address to AFSCME, please call Brendan Max at (773)869-2423.  After the meeting with AFSCME, the Executive Board will conduct in-person meetings with members facing layoff to fully inform these members of all their rights and protections.  We will schedule these meetings in the near future.

The layoffs will also likely cause some re-shuffling of remaining attorneys in the Office.  We are aware that there are many concerns about how this re-shuffling is accomplished.  We have begun conversations with Management to try to ensure that this process is as fair as possible for our members and is consistent with our Collective Bargaining Agreement.  We will report more on this as the staffing plan is developed.

 New information:  Subsequent to this message in its original format, we have learned that the first phase of the re-shuffling will be voluntary through the normal bidding process.  By this afternoon (Wednesday, April 4th) or tomorrow, the Office will post multiple openings in First Municipal and Civil.  After the response to these postings is assessed, further plans will be considered if staffing levels are still inadequate.  Therefore, if any members are interested in working at these sites, check the postings and bid.

The union received notice on 3/29/07 that 15 of its least senior members are being layed off. The layoffs are to be effective 4/29/07. Many had predicted the number of layoffs that would affect our members and the Local’s leadership chose not to enter into the realm of speculation because we never knew what the County was up to.

Now that we have notice and will be taking measures to ensure compliance with the collective bargaining agreement. Please remember that this year marks the first time in the Local’s history that any member is getting a layoff notice. And this is the first time that the County is giving layoff notices in as many years as people can remember. Many of the collective bargaining agreements for the varioius locals that represent county workers have different layoff language and the county is clearly having difficulty navigating the waters of the different agreements. Rest assured, we will take all measures necessary to ensure our contract is followed.

We have received official notice from the County that the layoff notices that purported to be effective on March 19th are recinded. Therefore, anyone who received such notices in our Office can disregard those notices. If and when layoffs occur in the future, new notices will have to be provided to assistant public defenders.

With regard to when future notices may issue and how many assistant public defenders may be laid off, we are still not sure. As a matter of fact, Stroger’s office has not even finalized layoffs for our Office yet. In a letter dated March 13, 2007, Jonathan Rothstein (Special Assistant to Todd Stroger) stated the following: “We are in the process of finalizing the positions affected by the budget cuts imposed by the Board of Commissioners, and will provide you with additional notice as necessary.” Until the number of layoffs and notice dates are finalized, no one can say for sure what the layoff situation looks like in our Office. While one could reasonably believe that the official budget process which ended in February was the final and definitive word on layoffs in our Office, that is simply not the case. As we have stated here before, as soon as a definitive number and date for layoffs is available, we will report it here.

From a pool of 250 candidates, Local member Stuart Katz of the MDD division was voted an Associate Judge by the sitting Full Circuit Judges after being named as one of 62 finalists by the Associate Judge Nominating Committee. Stuart will be sworn in on April 11 along with Darren Bowden, Chief of the Child Protection Division of the Law Office of the Public Defender, former Assistant Public Defender Callie Baird and 28 other candidates. Congratulations to all! Local 3315 is proud to have them join other former Cook County Assistant Public Defenders now on the bench. An incomplete list of former Local 3315 members who are now Cook County Judges includes Terry Smith, Ramon Ocasio, Andrew Berman, Paul Stralka, Karen Shields, Jorge Alonso, Tim Chambers, Kathleen Pantle, Kerry Kennedy, and Noreen Love.

Please contact Debby Neisen or Stephanie Hirschboeck at MDD or Lisa Brean at 26th Street for information on a celebration for Stuart that is scheduled for April 5, 2007.

Despite repeated inquiries by the Executive Board, management is at a loss to explain why no letters have issued to any members notifying them of a layoff – even though several members were verbally told so nearly two weeks ago.  All we can tell you is that only non-union employees have been let go so far.  The union is entitled to notice of any layoffs and as of today’s date, we have received no notice.  Have any members received new layoff notices?  We don’t know.  But if you received a layoff notice, (not the unsigned Kim D. Gilmore variety which said layoff was effective as of 3/19/07) please contact one of the Executive Board members as soon as you can so we can file an appropriate greivance. 

Perhaps it comes as small consolation but, no news (at least as to layoffs) is good news.

And although this website is for Local 3315 members, we are not aware of any investigator union members receiving any layoff notices either. 

Please accept our apologies for any delay in notifying the members that nothing has happened yet.

Today, March 8, 2007, the union learned that members of management are having informational meetings with the ten least senior members of our local and informing them that layoff notices are going out any day with their names on them.  The union is entitled to written notice of each layoff and has not received any such notices to date. 

If you are one of the individuals who gets a layoff notice, keep in mind that the union will take every step to make sure the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement are followed chapter and verse.  This means an accurate determination of seniority, identification of eligible vacant positions in the County, and recall rights to name a few.

The union was also made aware that several employees of the Office of the Public Defender’s Policy unit, who are not members of any union, had their jobs summarily eliminated as of 3/2/07.  This should remind us all of the benefits of union membership and collective bargaining.

Throughout this budget process, many numbers have been thrown into the public eye as the accurate reflection of the number of assistant public defenders that will actually be laid off. These numbers have come from Mr. Burnette, from the County, from newspapers, and from other sources like rumor. We all want to know the final and accurate number of any potential layoffs as soon as possible. The sooner we know this, the better. As you can imagine, things would be much easier for the Executive Board if we were able to simply put this issue to rest and announce a definitive number.

The fact remains that a definitive number still does not exist, and we are still actively working to try to preclude the necessity for any layoffs. We continue to be involved in the budget process, working with Commissioners and others who may have effect in the current budget reconciliation process. For instance, on Thursday we requested a meeting with Mr. Burnette to discuss the ongoing budget error reconciliation process. The meeting took place Friday morning. We are aware that discretionary money is floating around that could be used to restore attorney positions, and we discussed this with Burnette, in addition to discussing other ideas for generating revenue that could save attorney positions in our office. If anything good comes of this activity, we will let you know.

While this step in the budget process (the error reconciliation process) is murkier than earlier steps, it nonetheless is a step in the process where layoff numbers are still being determined. We could stop now that the Commissioners have voted on a budget, resign ourselves to whatever outcome results, and save ourselves a lot of headache and work. But as long as we have a chance to save some jobs, we will continue to fight.

As for layoff numbers reported around town, we cannot control that, nor can we respond to every instance of someone claiming that they know the number. When we have a number that is worthy of reporting, we will announce it here promptly.

We have received many inquiries from assistant public defenders about the real number of layoffs that our Office is facing.  In response to those inquiries, we have explained that the final number is uncertain right now, and that we do not want to give out inaccurate information on such an important matter. 

Despite a Suntimes claim several days ago that the accurate number of layoffs in our Office is 10, the fact is that no one knows the final number at this point- not the Union, not Mr. Burnette, and not the Commissioners.  This is because the budget process in not over.  In fact, the Tribune reported the following today: “The new numbers are not final because some figures, such as those for the public defender’s office, still must be fully reconciled, budget officials said.” 

As soon as we have a reliable and accurate number, we will report that number here.  As we have throughout this process, we will continue to fight for every position possible for assistant public defenders.

We realize that many assistant public defenders are waiting to hear the final status of the public defender budget resulting from the hearing process last night.  As of today, we cannot tell you how many proposed layoffs are still in the budget for our Office.  We had representatives at the hearing throughout the night on Thursday and into Friday morning, and we can tell you that the public defender budget and number of proposed layoffs was in flux all night as we continued to lobby Commissioners.  We can also tell you that even as the Finance Committee was readying to vote, the picture for our Office was not clear. 

On behalf of those assistant public defenders that may be effected by the budget process, we called Commissioners’ offices this morning and asked the very question that assistant public defenders want the answer to- what is the definitive number of proposed layoffs in our Office as a result of the hearing last night?  They told us that the number of layoffs in our Office may not be known until next week.  If we receive something more definitive before the end of the day, we will post the information here.

 We can state that the layoff notices that were received by some assistant public defenders this week are not indicative of the possible layoffs in the Office.  Those notices can be disregarded for now.  It is our understanding that if layoffs result from the budget process, assistant public defenders will be separately notified in the future.

We are aware that some assistant public defenders have received layoff notices.  We have been aware since late last week that these notices were a possibility.  Here is what we can tell you at this time:  

The Alternative Budget proposed by a broad coalition of Commissioners last week calls for the retention of all front-line assistant public defenders.  This is the budet plan we support as the best way to address the current county budget crisis.

 When we first learned of possible layoff notices last week, we began communicating with the Commissioners who drafted and support the Alternative Budget.  It is the expressed desire of these Commissioners to retain all front-line assistant public defenders.  We continue to stay in communication with Commissioners this week as the budget process nears conclusion.

While some layoffs are a real possibility as a result of this budget battle, receiving a layoff notice now does not necessarily mean that layoffs will occur.  The budget process in ongoing.  While layoff notices are distressing, the budget battle will continue, and we will contiue to seek support from Commissioners for a fully-staffed public defenders office.  None of us knows what the final budget will look like until after the Commissioners vote on the budget.

For those assistant public defenders who received layoff notices, feel free to call Brendan Max or Bob Galhotra with any further questions.  We will post another update here when we have for information for publication.