Category: City of Chicago / Cook County

Some Illinois AFSCME members have received communications from the so-called “Freedom Foundation,” or “Opt Out Today," a group that seeks to stop workers from collectively fighting to protect pensions, raise wages, or improve protections and benefits.

AFSCME Local 1216 members at Loretto Hospital uncovered a system payroll error—more than 100 nurses had been underpaid to the tune of $148,000. Back pay returned to individual employees ranged from a few dollars to more than $10,000.

“I could see the angst in her eyes,” AFSCME Local 2953 executive board member and chief steward Serbekian Minas said. “How can I not help this woman as much as I can and go the extra mile?"

This Black History Month we honor the foundational contributions of Chicagoan James Riley, former sanitation worker and AFSCME member in Memphis who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968.

In February we celebrate Black History Month, and AFSCME’s long legacy of standing up for racial justice—from the strike of Memphis sanitation workers 56 years ago this month, to affirming that Black Lives Matter today.

Staff at the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago voted overwhelmingly to form their union—the Art Institute of Chicago Workers United—with AFSCME Council 31 in mail-ballot elections tallied January 11 and 12.

Growth is one of AFSCME Council 31’s most vital missions. Seeking the union difference, more than 1,500 workers have organized with AFSCME Council 31 since March 2020.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear four cases aimed at expanding the scope of its 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31.

With the theme of Better Together, AFSCME Council 31’s 22nd biennial convention focused on all that has been achieved through solidarity over the last two years—and the importance of staying united to overcome the challenges ahead.

This memorial video of AFSCME members who we have lost since our last convention in 2019 was aired at convention on October 15, 2021 and includes a beautiful performance by Renee Barnes who is on the staff of our international union.