Good evening,
We have some more updates to relay on what happened today and what some of our next steps forward are.
Today every court site received at least one gallon of hand sanitizer from Koval. This is a refill for smaller dispensers. Check the grocery stores on your next supply run for universal dispensers. Or in a pinch an old rinsed out shampoo bottle might work. We do ask that you use these refill jugs for work purposes. We can always order more and can probably have it within 24 hours. Even when we go virtual, we will still have staff in the offices and we should be taking as much precautionary steps with co-workers and other staff as we are with clients. So, we will keep it coming just let us know when you need it.
Today we learned that several locations were in the process of setting up Zoom virtual hearings. 555 W Harrison, Maywood and behind the scenes in JJ. As stated last night CBC and Holiday bond court were already virtual. Some Judges at 26th Street are using it. You should have all gotten instructions how to access it and tutorials on how to use it. Please become familiar with this program. We are continuing our pressure on the Chief Judge to have all courtrooms virtual by Monday. That is the GOAL, and the board will be discussing what action we take if the goal is not met. We believe the Chief Judge is making a good faith effort to comply with our request. We should know more about this tomorrow.
Two divisions that we are particularly concerned with are the Police Station Unit and Child Protection. With CP we are pressing the Chief Judge for the virtual hearings for T.Cs. The Police Station Unit is difficult as these members are in and out of police stations that have been closed to public, the offices are not practicing social distancing, there needs to be direct contact with the client, no if any supplies provided and we all know how “honest” the police are in reporting numbers. For these members I can’t stress enough, if you don’t feel safe leave. I know its hard as you have a client there but you can’t help them if you are sick. We will keep pushing management for protection for your unit.
The board believes that we have a right to be notified of who tested positive that we may have been in contact with in the last three weeks. To that end we drafted a letter, well drafted and researched by Chris Anderson, to be submitted to the Sheriff, County and Chief Judge requesting that information. We also had a call with Council 31 today where this issue was discussed, and the Council agreed to reach out immediately to the Sheriff’s labor council to inform them of what we will be asking for formally. We will keep you up to date as we receive more information. We have attached the letter.
The next item is a little tricky and we expect to get questions on an individual basis as we go forward. You received an email from management today regarding personal use time during this crisis. If you are concerned about coming into court due to what’s happening, and you yourself have an underlying risk factor condition, your first response is to not be on the schedule at all. If you still are contact your Union board member contact. If someone you live with has an underlying risk factor condition and you are on the court schedule and don’t want to come in take a day. If you are sick and are not working from home, you can take a day. If you take a day during this crisis, we will attempt to get the days back based on President’s Preckwinkle’s past orders and National and State Emergency Declarations.
Under the Governor’s orders the largest number of people allowed to “congregate” is 10. The board insists that this is also true of the courtrooms. So, if there are 10 people in the courtroom you are requested to leave, contact your supervisor and the Union, and state that the current courtroom is operating in a dangerous fashion under the Governor’s orders. Refuse to go back into court until the situation is corrected. Again, our goal is to have all virtual courtrooms by Monday. But this job action will help us keep up the pressure to get this done.
Stay Safe, Wash Your Hands and Have a Restful Night
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Kevin OchallaPresidentLocal 3315