Will County Employees on Strike for Fairness!

Members of AFSCME Local 1028, representing some 1,200 Will County employees, are on strike after management again refused to offer fair wages or back off a plan to double employee health care costs. In a last-ditch round of negotiations on Nov. 13 and 14, representatives of the Will County board did not budge from their demand that employees accept a paltry wage increase after four years with no cost-of-living raise. Combined with the county’s demands on health care costs, management’s proposal amounts to a pay cut for many employees. County employees voted to authorize a strike more than a month ago, but made every effort to seek a compromise, even delaying a planned work stoppage to return to negotiations at the request of a federal mediator.

To help the county through tough times, employees represented by AFSCME agreed to forego a cost-of-living pay increase for the past four years. Today 40 percent of union members earn less than $30,000 annually. Current contract talks have dragged on for 15 months with little sign of compromise by county management and little involvement by county executive Larry Walsh.

We need to support our sisters and brothers in AFSCME.  Check back here to find out what you can do to help.