Whiteside County health workers picket for fair contract

More than 90 AFSCME members in the Whiteside County Health Department are ramping up their fight for a fair contract.

The public health workers officially formed their union in December 2021 and began contract negotiations the following March. After more than a year at the bargaining table, the health department is still stalling at the bargaining table.

So they took to the picket line outside a meeting of the county board in Morrison on April 18 to make their fight visible to the community and let the county’s leadership know that the delay in a fair contract is unacceptable. Later, they addressed the board directly.

“As public health workers, we stepped up to protect our community through the pandemic, despite the risks to ourselves and our families,” Steph Stichter, a registered nurse and member of the bargaining committee, told reporters at the picket. “We deserve respect, fair treatment and fair pay—not these endless delays.”