For the 54 AFSCME members at the St. Charles Public Library, their first contract ticks all the boxes—and then some.

AFSCME members and Council 31 legislative and policy staff made their voices heard before the state House Personnel and Pensions Committee at a hearing on improvements to Tier 2 pensions.

More than 500 employees of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) have ratified their first union contract.

AFSCME members like us know how important the work we do is. And we know how important it is to have adequate staffing levels to be able to fulfill our mission. So we need to spread the word: There are good union jobs available serving the public good!

Workers at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry officially formed their union, Museum of Science and Industry Workers United, with AFSCME Council 31.

Local 1275 recruited and campaigned for school board candidates who were more sympathetic to their problems. They all won—and the result was a contract extension that properly values the work they do.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s commitment to reopen previously closed mental health clinics and begin building a new and better system of public mental health services can be kept in the mayor’s first term, according to a new report from Council 31.

The new contract for AFSCME members in state government was ratified by a resounding 99% vote.

For the new AFSCME members at the Waukegan Public Library, the first chapter in the story of their union ends on a high note: They’ve won a first contract guaranteeing them a strong voice on the job and fair wages.

In the sixth big win in the past year and a half for Chicago-area cultural workers organizing with AFSCME, employees of the Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and its off-site collections facility won their union election.

The 90 employees of the public health department who formed their union with AFSCME in December 2021 have been at the bargaining table for more than a year.

The administrative staff of AFSCME Local 2887 and the building service workers of Local 2232 are spreading solidarity across campus, standing arm in arm to support each other’s fights for better working conditions.

The frost of winter has given way to a sea of green—the grass is growing, the trees have sprouted new leaves. In park districts across the state, AFSCME members are there to help shepherd the summer season in.

The Chicago City Council passed the AFSCME-sponsored Human Service Workforce Advancement (HSWA) ordinance by a veto-proof majority of 42-2 on March 15.

Nearly 300 employees of the Field Museum have won their union with AFSCME Council 31.

AFSCME members who care for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities in community agencies are ramping up for a wide-ranging, concerted effort to get wage increases through the state budgeting process.