Cook County Public Defenders Association

AFSCME members will join with other union members at a Rally to Support the Employee Free Choice Act. An all-out fight is brewing over the legislation, with big business groups pouring millions of dollars into their anti-union campaign. The national AFL-CIO is leading the free-choice offensive, countering the millions of dollars the bosses are spending by raising millions of working people’s voices to demand the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. To give Chicago-area workers a chance to speak out, the Illinois AFL-CIO and the Chicago Federation of labor are holding a “Rally to Support the Employee Free Choice Act.” All AFSCME members are urged to attend this rally at 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the Plumbers Hall, 1340 W. Washington Boulevard in Chicago. Click here for a flyer you can download and distribute.
Working people are struggling to get by, and America’s middle class is disappearing. But when workers try to form unions and bargain for a better life, corporations use coercion and harassment to stop them. The Employee Free Choice Act would restore workers’ freedom to decide for themselves—without employer intimidation—whether to form unions and bargain for better wages, benefits and a voice on the job.
The Employee Free Choice Act would:

Establish stronger penalties when companies violate the rights of workers forming unions and negotiating first contracts.
Provide mediation and arbitration when workers and the employer can’t agree on a first contract.
Allow workers to form unions and bargain once a majority signs authorization cards.
Click here for a flyer you can download and distribute.

Here is a link to the page where you can click Burnette v. Terrell and either hear or watch and hear the argument in the mandamus action brought against Judge Terrell of Maywood. The issue is whether a judge has the power to appoint a particular assistant as opposed to the office.  Very interesting issue.  Here is the link.

A memorial to a dedicated AFSCME leader
Larry Marquardt was a tireless organizer and union leader who dedicated his life to improving the lives of working people. He was the first executive director of AFSCME Council 31, serving in that position until his death in 1980. In his memory, Council 31 has established a scholarship fund which
offers AFSCME members and their children financial assistance for higher education.

Two scholarships of $1000.00 each will be awarded each school year to the chosen candidate.

An email with an attachment that contains the application is being sent to all members who are on our email list.  As always, you can get on the email list by sending an email with your name and worksite to: board@cookcountypd.org

Or you can obtain an application from:
AFSCME Council 31, 29 N. Wacker, Suite 800,
Chicago IL 60606, or call 312-641-6060.

Complete the application and return to the Council’s Chicago office. All items must be filled out. All information is confidential.
Deadline
Completed applications must be received by4 pm on the third Friday in April.

Eligibility
The applicant must:
• Be either a member of AFSCME Council 31
or a dependent child or child living in the
household of a Council 31 member.
(Membership of one year in good standing
is required.)
• Be a high school senior or college student
under the age of 25, or a Council 31
member of any age, who is working toward
an undergraduate degree or diploma in an
accredited college or vocational school
• Plan to attend school full time.
• Meet the requirements of the school he or
she plans to attend.
Method of Selection
High school or college grades and class ranking should be submitted with the completed application form. The Selection Committee will screen qualified candidates and determine eligibility. Final selection of scholarship recipients rests with the Selection Committee, which will notify each applicant of the action taken on his or her application.
Criteria for Selection
The Committee will consider:
• financial need
• high school or college grades and class
ranking
• vocational goals as expressed in the
application, including interest in the
goals of the labor movement
Selection Committee
The Committee consists of three objective individuals who are not part of Council 31. They are appointed by the Council 31 Executive Board.
Payment of Awards
One-half of the award will be paid to the recipient at the beginning of the first term, the remainder will be paid at the beginning of the
second term. Payment will be made upon receipt of proof of acceptance and registration for that term.

We have updated our website with a new tool that allows us to upload pictures for the website.  If members have pictures they would like to have posted. they can submit them as an attachment to an email sent to the board.  Enjoy this new section and thanks to Cindy Brown, Amy Thompson,  Julie Harmon and George Grzeca  for making the Annual Golf Outing an annual success.[nggallery id=3]

The arbitration over the County’s failure to maintain the 1% wage increase that was implemented in June of 2008 and taken back a few months later had been scheduled for December 12th, 2008  but has now been rescheduled due to a conflict in the schedule of the  Assistant  Cook County State’s Attorney handling the case for the Employer.   The arbitration is now scheduled for February 27th, 2009.  We will update you with any developments on this issue.

Governer Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris were arrested by the FBI this morning, December 9, 2008.  Your AFSCME People committee decided to not endorse Blagojevich when he ran for re-election in 2006.  Read the 76 page complaint filed in federal court by clicking this link.

On a related note, here is the opinion from the Illinois Supreme Court in the case of  Roland Burris v. Jesse White.

 The budget hearing schedule can be found by clicking this link.  Or click this for a link to the actual budget proposal in pdf form.

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

With the onset of the Holiday Season, allow me to update you on a few items of interest.

Holiday Party

The local will be holding it’s annual holiday party on December 12th at Moretti’s on West Jackson.  The deadline for RSVP is December 4, 2008.  You can bring one guest and law clerks are welcome.  One catch:  you must RSVP by email to unionparty08@gmail.com.  You must identify not only yourself but your guest as well.  Please respect the process and send the email.  This is the only way the local can know how many people to have food and drink for. 

Negotiations

Since September, local board members have been participating in bargaining with the County in order to obtain a new collective bargaining agreement for Local 3315.  As in past years, the County and AFSCME have been unable to negotiate a new contract before the current one expired.  While the contract has a self renewal clause, but for that provision, it expired on November 30th, 2008.  The issues currently on the table are non-economic and concern such things as the use of personal days and military leave.  Many other non-ecomomic issues are currently on both the universal table and local table.

The County will only engage in a discussion of economic issues (i.e. wages and health care) once the non-economic issues have been resolved.  Forthcoming is the usual report from some consulting firm the County hires (at conderable expense) to describe the health plan we currently enjoy and how the County just can’t afford such benefits.   The process, at this time, is painfully slow and we anticipate the necessity for job actions to pressure the County in moving the negotiations along.  Stay tuned and please cooperate with job actions requested by your executive board.

The 1% Issue

The arbitration concerning the 1%issue will be held on December 12th, 2008.  As soon as there is a decision from the arbitrator, we will inform the membership. ( The decision will probably not be available till the early months of 2009.)

Union Dues

As of January 1, 2009, your dues will increase 69 cents per pay period.  The increase was mandated by the International and while we regret an increase, it insures that the local maintains the level of services and benefits offered to our members.

ARDC Dues

Please don’t forget to pay your ARDC dues because our contract requires that all assistants be “listed on the Master Roll of attorneys licensed to practice in the State of Illinois and shall remain so listed during the term of employment.”  Management is verifying compliance online so please comply promptly.  Incidentally, we are proposing, in local negotiations, that the County pay our dues in the next contract.

Happy Holidays!

K. S. Galhotra

President, Local 3315

Patrick Ryan, a third year law student at John Marshall law school, won the winter/spring 2009 Jack Carey Scholarship last week.  The award, which was recently increased from $2000 to $2500, was awarded to Ryan who was selected from a field of many qualified and respected candidates.  Ryan has been working for months as a clerk in the Traffic Division of the Law Office of the Public Defender with assistant public defenders Theresa Nelson, Melissa Myer, Jerry Byerly and Mychal Luther.  He is known for the tremendous hours he has been putting in at the office, sometimes four days a week while still enrolled in law school full time.  Ryan’s future goals are to pursue a career as an assistant public defender.  The next scholarship will be for the summer of 2009 and the deadline is 4/1/09.