AFSCME Local Government Update: February 2025
Winter reminds us of the dedication of public works employees
With the snowfall and frigid temperatures Illinois has experienced this winter, it’s important to remember those who charge towards weather when their communities need them most: public works employees. AFSCME represents dozens of public works units in cities and towns all across Illinois.
Public works employees don’t run away from brutal winter weather. When snow falls, they work around the clock, maneuvering their massive plows down slick, untreated streets in low visibility. They put themselves in harm’s way to make sure their communities can get where they need to go.
When a water main breaks, leaving a sheet of thick ice and residents without running water, public works employees will be there at any hour to fix it. They excavate frozen ground in sub-zero temperatures, standing in icy, muddy water to make repairs while fighting against time and the elements.
This work is difficult and dangerous—and all too often, it’s taken for granted. But their commitment to our communities deserves our gratitude. They truly make Illinois happen.
Local 1748 unites for a fair contract—and wins one!
When AFSCME members who work for the McHenry County Probation Department stood together to demand fair pay, they put management on notice that they were united in fighting for what they deserved—and the final contract the local ratified is proof that their unity paid dividends.
Every time the AFSCME Local 1748 bargaining committee went into contract negotiations, every member of the local proudly wore stickers declaring their support for their negotiating team.
The union reached a turning point in those negotiations when members went straight to the top to demand fair wages. Dozens of employees signed on to a letter to the chief judge, who oversees the probation department.
“In recent years, we have been frustrated as many talented and experienced employees have left our department for other jobs,” the employees wrote. “We believe that by raising wages, we will be able to maintain a motivated and committed team.”
The letter made an impact. They could feel they were getting closer to reaching an agreement—and soon they did.
The final contract was overwhelmingly ratified. In the first year of the contract, union members will see their pay rise by 10%, and increase by an average of 18% over the three-year contract’s term.
Trump and Musk have public education in their sights
In the first month of President Trump’s term, he and billionaire Elon Musk have made it clear that public schools are in the line of fire in their war on public services.
Chief among the administration’s actions is its effort to dismantle the Department of Education.
President Trump also issued a direct attack on public schools when he signed an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to prioritize private schools when distributing discretionary federal grant funding.
On Feb. 14, the administration issued a memo to K-12 school districts demanding they end all practices relating to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or have their federal funding revoked. Schools were given two weeks to purge all such programs from their operations. The department’s letter provides few concrete examples of what these practices are, leaving K-12 schools scrambling to comply with the directive.
It is not yet clear how schools in Illinois plan to respond to the administration’s order. In the meantime, multiple lawsuits have been filed in federal court challenging the administration’s executive orders on DEI.
Keeping up the fight to Fix Tier 2
AFSCME and our allies in the We Are One Illinois coalition are vowing to carry the fight for pension fairness forward into the spring legislative session, but it’s going to take the involvement of every AFSCME member to get it over the finish line.
Over the past year, union members built a powerful movement dedicated to reforming the unfair pension system in which public employees hired after Jan. 1, 2011, must work longer for a lesser “Tier 2” benefit than “Tier 1” employees hired before that date.
Members have educated lawmakers, lobbied, mobilized, strategized, and stood together for dignity and security in retirement. But it has become clear that many legislators would not sign on to support pension improvements without additional revenue.
The Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act, the union-backed bill which will make a number of serious improvements to Tier 2, has already been reintroduced by Sen. Robert Martwick in the General Assembly. The grassroots efforts of AFSCME members will be key in moving the bill forward. The AFSCME legislative team will be hard at work all session building support for the bill, but they can’t do it alone. They need AFSCME members everywhere to rise up and demand their lawmakers pass the bill.
Stay tuned for ways you can step up to advocate for fixing Tier 2.
Pritzker’s recommended state budget stays the course on local government funding
Gov. JB Pritzker introduced his proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget last week. The $55.2 billion spending plan averted a forecasted deficit, and the budget is balanced. The plan makes good on Pritzker’s commitment to increase funding for the state’s K-12 schools, with an increase of $350 million, and early childhood education programs for low-income families, with an increase of $85 million.
The governor’s spending plan includes an appropriation of $2.3 billion for the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF). This fund allocates a portion of state income taxes to be distributed to local governments throughout the state on a per-capita basis.
Over the years, the Illinois General Assembly has decreased the share of state income taxes that are directed to local governments. Until 2011, 10% of all state income tax receipts were set aside in the LGDF. Today, it’s around 6%.
This is unfair and hurts many local AFSCME unions when we fight for better pay and benefits at the bargaining table. This money funds our jobs and our union contracts, and we deserve our fair share.
The state legislature will now debate and offer amendments to the proposed budget. The Council 31 legislative team will be at the Capitol throughout the budget process to protect AFSCME members’ interests.