Category: Organizing

Because of AFSCME’s efforts, direct support professionals (DSPs) and other frontline employees at state-funded disability agencies have seen their wages go up an average of more than $5 per hour over the past five budget cycles.

Employees of Chicago’s iconic Field Museum announced in a public letter today that they are coming together to form their union, Field Museum Workers United. Like workers at the Art Institute of Chicago, are also joining AFSCME Council 31.

More than 300 building, grounds and dining services employees of Illinois State University—members of AFSCME local 1110—overwhelmingly voted to approve the terms of an agreement reached last week on the brink of a campus-wide strike.

AFSCME members at community disability agencies are standing up for a desperately needed wage increase in this year’s state budget—with language requiring employers to pass the raise directly to frontline workers.

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.

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.

In Illinois, state workers have a strong union voice and robust collective bargaining rights. In Missouri, their bargaining rights are restricted and unions weakened. There's a stark union difference between the two sides of the Mississippi River.

Marlon and his coworkers do essential work supporting individuals with developmental disabilities at state-funded human service agencies. The median wage? Just $12 an hour. AFSCME is lobbying to raise wages and ensure they go directly to workers' pockets!

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.

We're stronger when we unite together to make our voices heard. These local unions worked together to negotiate fair contracts with their employers.