We're on call for our communities—and our union

 

Roberta Lynch

When winter storm warnings start blasting out from every cell phone, TV, and radio in the vicinity, many folks start thinking about how they can hunker down or what precautionary measures they need to take. 

But some AFSCME members are already out on the highways and byways, meeting the fearsome ice and snow head-on to help keep the rest of us safe. The city and county workers who operate snowplows and salt trucks allow us to get to work, school, medical appointments or the grocery store at far less risk of accidents or injuries.

And if another big winter hazard—frozen or broken water pipes—strikes a community, repair crews of city or county workers are ready to spring into action at any hour of the day or night.
That’s the AFSCME way: We serve our communities, and we never quit.

Public works employees are storm warriors, first responders, roadside rescuers, emergency dispatchers, crisis interventionists, and much, much more.

When the call goes out, they are always prepared to answer.

AFSCME Council 31 includes local unions representing more than 100 different units of local government in Illinois, ranging in size from 20 workers to more than 2,000.

In some cases, their assistance is less tangible, but no less critical. Mental health counselors intervene when extreme behavior threatens others. Nursing home workers provide care for the community’s elderly and ailing. Engineering employees work to prevent floods, and respond swiftly when flooding does occur. Law enforcement officers keep county jails secure and community streets safe. It’s a list that could go on and on.

They are all on call for their communities.

Though all too often “unsung”, they are all heroes nonetheless, everyday heroes who make every day better because of their skill and diligence. Heroes who deserve fairness and fundamental respect.

It’s pretty straightforward: Fairness means a family-sustaining wage, affordable and accessible health care, a secure retirement. Respect means decent and safe working conditions, reasonable hours of work, and a voice on the job to help determine how the work is done.

That’s the AFSCME way. It’s by coming together in our union, and continually building it stronger, that we ensure that our work is recognized, valued and rewarded.

Over the decades, we’ve made great progress in advancing those goals. But during the coronavirus pandemic—when public employees remained on the job, often at great personal risk—the contribution AFSCME members make became ever clearer and more appreciated.

In recent rounds of contract negotiations, AFSCME local unions across the state are winning unprecedented wage increases, as well as significant improvements in benefits and working conditions.

But the forces allied against us remain, and they are powerful.

One is the threat of privatization, when employers look to provide services on the cheap, without regard for quality. We’ve fought hard against the privatization of county nursing homes, city water systems and other basic public services that should remain in public hands.

Another threat is posed by attempts to weaken retirement security. Despite the fact that the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (which includes both cities and counties outside Chicago and Cook) is the only fully funded pension system in Illinois, some politicians continue to press for further cutting public employee pensions. When he was a state legislator, Darren Bailey—the former Republican candidate for governor who is now running for Congress—pushed to abolish the Illinois constitution’s pension protection clause.

The attacks on the very existence of unions like ours continue, too. Dark-money groups like the Freedom Foundation are sending FOIA requests to local governments to garner personal, private information about union members—such as home address, phone number, age and more—in order to besiege you with pleas to drop your union membership.

We’re mostly winning those battles on every front. This year we stopped the closure of the DeKalb County Nursing Home, then won the best contract ever there. We’ve blocked pension destruction bills like Darren Bailey’s from ever seeing the light of day, while we’re launching an effort to improve Tier 2 pensions. And AFSCME members are tearing up and tossing out the glossy, lie-filled mailers that the Freedom Foundation sends them.

But that doesn’t mean all is well. The forces of division are working overtime to stir up hostility in our country—and that can all too easily spill over into our ranks.

Just as we never quit on our communities—doing the job every day to respond to the storms, floods, and other disasters that may come—so, too, we can never quit protecting, defending and deepening the unity and solidarity that are the bedrock of our union.

If we continue to lock arms together, to stand up for ourselves and for each other, and to serve and build our communities better, we will be the true heroes of our own story.