City of Chicago Bulletin: May 2025

Threat to Chicago’s federal funding remains high

The billionaires and anti-union extremists in the White House and Congress are continuing their push for dramatic cuts to the federal funding that the city of Chicago relies on to continue providing public services.

The Trump administration said in April that it is working on a policy to “withhold all federal funding for any city or state” that has declared itself a sanctuary city, as Chicago has.

Medicaid funding destined for the city is also under threat as the anti-worker majority in Congress continues to press for massive cuts to the program.  AFSCME, along with other concerned organizations, has been mobilizing grassroots pressure to save Medicaid.

And our efforts are making a difference: Some Republicans in the House are now raising concerns about the scale of the cuts being proposed—$880 billion over the next 10 years to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. If we can keep the pressure on, we may be able to force them to change course. But if Congress follows through on drastic cuts to Medicaid, the city’s budget and nearly every city of Chicago resident would be harmed.

In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a cut of $11.4 billion in allocated funding to state and local public health departments, including Chicago. The cancelled funding was originally allocated in federal COVID-19 relief legislation, and mostly went towards testing, virus research, and other community health programs.

The city has joined in a lawsuit to challenge the cuts that is now working its way through the courts.

Any and every attempt to cut funding for public services will be met by stiff resistance from our union. Everyone has a role to play in this fight: we need to get organized, fight back and stay AFSCME strong.

Chicago Public Library workers sound the alarm on unsafe working conditions

Libraries should be safe spaces for all. But members of AFSCME Local 1215 who work for the Chicago Public Library say alarming and unsafe conditions have been on the rise in recent years—and management isn’t doing enough to keep workers and patrons safe.

Violent assaults, sexual assaults and harassment, drug use and mental health incidents are all on the rise at Chicago Public Library branches. Meanwhile, staffing is down. Across the entire system, there are 100 fewer library staff than there were in 2020, meaning the remaining employees have fewer people to rely on when dangerous situations arise.

Concerns are widespread throughout the library’s 81 branches but are most pronounced at the flagship Harold Washington Library located in the Loop. Since 2021, the number of police reports linked to Chicago’s libraries has nearly tripled, WGN News found.

Local 1215 has convened a Worker Safety Group and is calling on management to quickly implement stronger safety measures, such as making sure every branch has a panic button and security cameras, hiring security staff for each floor at each branch, and offering enhanced de-escalation training to library staff and security employees.

Watch WGN’s full segment on dangerous conditions in libraries by clicking the link below.

Read the Chicago Tribune’s report here.

Speak up if your department tries to bid out AFSCME members’ work

City services should be delivered by city employees. This ensures that crucial public services are being delivered by skilled and experienced union members.  And it safeguards the jobs of those employees.

That’s why Council 31 was alarmed to discover that in recent weeks, there have been two cases where the city has not given our union the appropriate notice regarding potential contracting out.

Article 22 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement with the city says “It is the policy of the Employer to involve the Union in a Department’s decision-making process concerning potential contracting out.”

Article 22 also requires the city to provide 45 days’ notice before they make the final decision to give public notice to outside contractors.  

This notice, when given, gives each local union time to suggest alternatives to contracting out. Council 31 is filing a grievance over the city’s failure to provide that notice in these two cases.

If you hear your department is planning to put out a bid for contractors to do work that could otherwise be done by AFSCME members, please reach out right away to your local union leaders or Council 31 Staff Representative.