Chicago kicks off week of statewide rallies for fair contract, fair budget
Some 1,300 union members, their families, community groups and elected officials like U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky joined together in Chicago Dec. 5 to kick off a week of statewide Rallies for Fairness. Rallies in Collinsville, Joliet, Marion, Rock Island, Rockford and Springfield follow this week.
We’re sending a clear message to Gov. Rauner: Stop holding hostages, drop your extreme demands that hurt all working people, and agree to a fair budget and fair union contracts now!
“We are talking about the middle class. We are talking about seniors. We are talking about children. We are talking about the disabled and most vulnerable people in the state,” Congresswoman Schakowsky told the Chicago crowd. “But does he care? No. Because he has a union-busting agenda, and he is not going to stop until he gets his way. So we have to stand firm. Are you ready to fight back?”
The crowd roared, waving signs that said “Fair Contract, Fair Budget” and “Serving Our Communities, Standing for Fairness.”
Stephen Mittons, president of AFSCME Local 2081 who has worked for the Department of Children and Family Services in Chicago for more than 20 years, fired up the crowd speaking of the importance of public service workers. “We can't have strong public services without strong unions,” he said. “We're working to assist families in need. We are the union.”
Vital public services are suffering damaging cuts caused by Governor Rauner’s refusal to work with legislators to enact a state budget, unless they first agree to pass his agenda aimed at crippling unions in Illinois. In addition, after nearly a year at the bargaining table with AFSCME and more than half a dozen other unions that represent tens of thousands of public service workers in state government, the Rauner Administration continues to seek to weaken workers’ rights and drive down take-home pay.
“You can’t build a state up by tearing down its people,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch told the crowd.
On the budget, Rauner demands that legislators first pass his so-called “Turnaround Agenda” that would hurt working families—by making it harder for injured workers to get medical care, reducing wages for construction workers, and stripping the right of teachers, first responders and other public service workers to bargain together—and weaken our state’s economy.
In union contract negotiations, Rauner is trying to force child protection workers, caregivers, correctional officers, emergency responders and other public service workers to accept his extreme demands that would harm public services, lead to more cronyism in government, wipe out safeguards that prevent privatization boondoggles, drive down take-home pay and make health insurance unaffordable.
Unions participating in the Rallies for Fairness include the Illinois AFL-CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, AFSCME Council 31, Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois FOP Labor Council, Illinois FOP State Lodge, Illinois Troopers Lodge #41 FOP, Illinois Nurses Association, Laborers’ Local 2002, Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois and SEIU Healthcare.
Participating community groups include the NAACP, Arise Chicago, Communities United, the Martin Luther King Center, Quad Cities Interfaith, Save the Illinois State Museum and many more.