Kevin Ochalla

Union Golf Outing: August 25, 2016

Local 3315 will be having its annual golf outing on August 25, 2016, at Eaglewood in Itasca. This was the place where we held our outing last year and all had a great time. The outing includes 18 holes of golf with a cart, lunch at the turn, dinner and drinks.

Check out the resort’s website at www.eaglewoodresort.com, for directions and available amenities.  We have access to the pool and can rent bowling alleys if there are any takers.

Members who do not golf can come for drinks and dinner. Please respond to the email below to RSVP.

Non-union members must pay $50 at the door to participate.

Please contact Mark Douglass at 26^th and California to reserve your spot for golf and/or drinks and dinner at local3315golfouting2016@gmail.com.

If you have a foursome, then please list all names when you respond.  The deadline is 8/19/2016. (When responding please use your personal email, not your county email.)

Contract was ratified overwhelmingly, by over 97% of voting members. To those that still have questions please send them my way or speak with any of the other board members. Thank you all! On to the next fight!

Please remind any interested law clerks that the application deadline for the Jack Carey Memorial Scholarship is July 1st. Any interested clerks must have their applications submitted, along with a resume, to the following email address by July 1st to be considered for the fall semester. msmejkal@msn.com. (the address on the application form itself is no longer valid). Applicants can find all the information on this site under the Resources/Jack Carey Memorial Scholarship function.

Good Luck to all the applicants!

Always a good time so reserve your spot on the Chicago’s First Lady, which will be boarding at 6:30 pm and will leave the dock on July 10, 2015 at 7:00 pm SHARP! The boat is docked at the south east corner of Michigan Ave. and Wacker Drive. Take the stairs down to the boat and look for the blue awning. (Parking is available: check the web at www.cruisechicago.com for directions info, etc. )

Please reserve your spot now by sending a refundable check made out to the Jack Carey Memorial Scholarship Fund for $15. One law clerk per member may attend free, but the member they work for, or they themselves, must reserve their spot by sending a seperate $15 refundable check. Guests of members are also welcome for a cost of $95 (no refund for guests) and made payable to AFSCME Local 3315.

Food by Harry Carey’s, top shelf libations and Little Missles will be playing live on the upper deck!

All checks must be received by Mark Douglass, at 26th Street on the 7th Floor, through interoffice mail or in person, no later than July 7, 2015. Like last year, there will be NO EXCEPTIONS. And once again, please remember that any bounced check (NSF) will result in disqualification from attendance at the next 3Union sponsored events. Seating is limited so don’t delay.

First I would like to congratulate all of the candidates that ran in the last election. While not everyone can win, the fact that so many were willing to take the time out of their lives by putting their names up for consideration for elected office shows the great dedication that those individuals have to the betterment of this union and the representation of all of our members. So thank you all again for your interest in the election. Voter turn out for this election was amazing and your voices have been heard.

The contract negotiations continue June 12th. There are still a couple of issues that need to be worked out. The two major issues are the timing of the wage increases and the complete insurance package. Hopefully this will happen on the 12th.

Now for the fun stuff. Save the following dates:

July 10th, 2015 for the Public Defender Boat Cruise.

August 13th, 2015 for the Annual Gold Outing.

More details will follow soon on how to reserve your spot for both of these events.

Finally, if you are not getting the emails from the local, or know a member that is not getting the emails, please contact me at president@cookcountypublicdefenders.com. This is an important tool for the board to keep all of our members informed of what’s happening in our union.

In Solidarity

Kevin Ochalla

President AFSCME Local 3315

Congratulations to the newly elected Local 3315 Executive Board.  The election results have been confirmed, and the new local officers are as follows:

President: Kevin Ochalla

Vice-President: Mark Douglass

Recording Secretary:  Sarah Garza Resnick

Treasurer: Crystal Carbellos

Executives-at-Large:   Brett E. Gallagher, Joe Gump, & Kyan Keenan

Trustees: Mary Butterton, Ruth McBeth, & Amber Miller

All officers will be sworn in next week, and a report of the Election Chair will be made at our next general membership meeting.  Again, thank you to the membership for participating in your union’s election.

Margaret Domin, Local 3315 Election Chair

As many of you know by now, I will be transitioning in the coming weeks to a position in Management. It was not an easy decision for me, primarily because I will miss my work for our Local. Through this work, I have had an opportunity for the past decade of serving the membership, helping negotiate great contracts during good times and decent contracts during hard times, and working with an Executive Board that is full of hardworking and dedicated members. While our Local is comprised of 450 members spread all over the County, we have always pulled together when needed and fought with one voice. I remember several budget cycles where our members dominated public hearings, taking time away from family to appear at budget meetings and get our message out. In the coming months and years, this kind of solidarity and participation in our cause will be as important as ever.

I am happy to report that your Executive Board will be ready to serve you and handle the challenges that are before us. Presita West will be your new President and Mark Douglass will be your new Vice President. Both are dedicated to our cause, and have much experience in leading this Local. They will do a great job. I have a lot of faith in our Board, in our Local, and in our Membership. I look forward to the many accomplishments that our Local will achieve in the coming years.

Thanks, Brendan Max.

Keep December 13th open for the Union Holiday Party. The bash will be held at Joe’s on Weed again, the same location as last year. More information will follow.