UIUC locals stick together to win breakthrough contracts

When AFSCME Locals 3700 and 698 sat down for contract negotiations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, they knew they faced an uphill battle. 

The university’s lowest-paid workers were struggling to get by on wages as low as $15 per hour while management claimed there was no money for meaningful raises. But the two locals had a secret weapon: unprecedented unity and a coordinated campaign plan.

“Between our two locals we have 1,500 people with workers in every county in Illinois,” said Ursulla Idleman, AFSCME Local 3700’s president.

Unity laid the foundation for a contract campaign that would achieve serious victories.

The negotiations started slowly, with management dragging their feet on economic proposals. But when the locals launched coordinated actions—rallies at the provost’s office and powerful member testimonials—changes came. 

The persistence paid off. Both locals secured a 4% total wage increase in year one—double what non-union employees elsewhere on campus received through the university’s standard increase.

“This is the largest across-the-board raise we’ve received in the 12 years I’ve been here,” said Ben Riegler, president of AFSCME Local 698.

The biggest victories went to the university’s most undervalued workers. Child care workers who previously started at just $15 per hour received an 8.5% increase in year one, followed by 3% raises in years two and three. 

The contracts also broke new ground with the first-ever bilingual pay in University of Illinois history—an extra $100 monthly for employees required to use languages other than English on the job. Major improvements to the job audit process now guarantee workers at least 60 days of retroactive pay when they prove they’re doing higher-level work, ending years of bureaucratic delays.

The Local 698 bargaining committee included Riegler, Heidi Schwarz, Casandis Hunt, Robin Stuckemeyer, Rachel Dorney, Josh Garman and Jean Husmann.

The Local 3700 bargaining committee included Idleman, Shelly Estrada-Walters, Daniel Franco, Penny Hood, Cathy Keltz, Andrew Torrey, Tobi Wilder, Elizabeth Hartke, Anne Jackson, Della Jacobs, Kalen Mc Gowan and Siggi Schroth. 

Both committees were led by Council 31 Staff Representative Christina DeAngelo.