{"id":42,"date":"2007-01-26T17:55:14","date_gmt":"2007-01-26T23:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookcountypd.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/26\/what-afscme-council-31-is-doing-and-what-we-still-need-to-do\/"},"modified":"2007-01-26T18:03:32","modified_gmt":"2007-01-27T00:03:32","slug":"what-afscme-council-31-is-doing-and-what-we-still-need-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/2007\/01\/26\/what-afscme-council-31-is-doing-and-what-we-still-need-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What AFSCME COUNCIL 31 IS DOING AND WHAT WE STILL NEED TO DO"},"content":{"rendered":"

What follows is the text of a memo sent from AFSCME COUNCIL 31 to local readers:<\/em><\/p>\n

Our battle to overturn Todd Stroger’s proposed budget cuts is gaining
\nsteam daily.\u00a0 AFSCME’s efforts helped to build great turnout at the two
\npublic hearings held in Markham and Skokie.\u00a0 Those hearings featured
\npowerful testimony from Council 31 staff, as well as from AFSCME local
\nleaders and activists.\u00a0 There was widespread press coverage of both
\nevents.\u00a0 Hopefully, you saw all of the AFSCME signs–and Local 1111
\npresident Herdastine Williams–featured in the Channel 9 report last
\nnight.<\/p>\n

Now we have to focus all of our efforts on turnout for the main public
\nhearing at the County Building on Monday, January 29.\u00a0 We’ll gather
\noutside at 10 AM for a spirited march and rally.\u00a0 It is critical that
\nyou do everything possible to bring out your members to this event.<\/p>\n

We are joining with the Chicago Federation of Labor, NNOC and concerned
\ncommunity organizations in organizing this event in order to
\ndemonstrate
\nthe broadest possible opposition to Stroger’s budget-cutting plan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to presenting testimony and packing the public hearings,
\nAFSCME has been working on many other fronts to combat these cuts:
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *We have met directly with Todd Stroger, along with the leaders of
\nthe Chicago Federation of Labor, to register the strong objections of
\nthe entire Chicago labor movement to his proposed cuts.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *I have met personally with most members of the County Board to
\nurge them to oppose the cuts.\u00a0 In addition, Council 31
\nintergovernmental
\naffairs director, Ray Harris, participated in a CFL delegation that met
\nwith most of the commissioners to push them to publicly come out
\nagainst
\nthe cuts.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *We have been reaching out to community groups, churches and other
\nadvocacy organizations to bring them into this fight.\u00a0 Every local
\nunion
\nneeds to be involved in this effort.\u00a0 It is critical that you reach out
\nto any potential allies–in members’ churches, community organizations,
\nprofessional associations, etc.\u00a0 Be sure to let Peter Schmalz know of
\nany contacts that you make.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *Council 31 has printed up AFSCME buttons and signs highlighting
\nour union’s opposition to the cuts.\u00a0 Stop by the Council office or
\ncheck
\nwith your Staff Representative if you need more buttons or signs.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *Council 31 staff have been working with local union leaders to
\ndocument the negative impact that the cuts would have on vital public
\nservices, like health care, the court system, and public safety.\u00a0 We
\nhave been using this information in reaching out to the media, in
\npreparing testimony for hearings, and in lobbying commissioners.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *Council 31 is monitoring the Finance Committee’s hearings on each
\ncounty division’s budget and identifying key issues that emerge in
\nquestioning by commissioners.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *Despite continuing pressure, Council 31 has made clear to all
\nelected officials that our union has no intention of reopening its
\ncontract to take furlough days or make any other concessions.\u00a0 At a
\nmeeting convened by the Chicago Federation of Labor, other county
\nunions
\nagreed with our position.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *Council 31 is continuing our work with the Center for Tax and
\nBudget Accountability to develop a comprehensive revenue-raising plan
\nthat represents a viable alternative to budget cutting.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *We are fighting to prevent any layoffs of AFSCME members.
\nHowever, if the County does initiate layoffs at any point during this
\nbattle, you can be assured that Council 31 will ensure that the
\ncontract
\nis followed and members’ rights are fully protected.<\/p>\n

We’ve made tremendous progress in this battle.\u00a0 Stroger and his allies
\nare on the defensive and most definitely feeling the heat.\u00a0 But we’ve
\nstill got a ways to go to beat back these cut in any final budget that
\nis adopted.\u00a0 We’ve got to make sure that County Board members are ready
\nand willing to stand up to Stroger and support alternative
\nrevenue-raising measures.\u00a0 It is critical that we keep the pressure
\non–NON-STOP.\u00a0 Be sure to keep those calls going in to Commissioners’
\noffices. Every one of your members should call his\/her County Board
\nmember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What follows is the text of a memo sent from AFSCME COUNCIL 31 to local readers: Our battle to overturn Todd Stroger’s proposed budget cuts is gaining steam daily.\u00a0 AFSCME’s efforts helped to build great turnout at the two public hearings held in Markham and Skokie.\u00a0 Those hearings featured powerful testimony from Council 31 staff, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/local3315.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}