Chicago, IL – “We have never had so much respect from so many,” proclaimed Sirlena Perry. “And,” she said further, “we earned it.”

Perry was referring to the victory in the contract campaign for clerical workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She is a leader in the negotiating committee and assistant chief steward for Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

This respect came from union members, as well as non-union employees, after Local 73 and management settled contract negotiations. In early November, after bargaining for over a year, the committee brought a contract proposal to the members for ratification. Over 450 came out to vote, and only 1% voted against it. This was because the contract included increased job security and good wages.

As Tom Terranova, chief negotiator put it, “This is a victory in a very tough budget time. We were able to get what we’ve got only because we held out and fought hard for 14 months.” Because of the continued crisis in the economy, Terranova prepared the members, “In order to do well over the next two years of this contract, we have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, and more people have to get involved.”

The contract spans four years. The amount each worker will receive varies – some could see as much as a 24.5% raise. Union employees get two raises a year, on the contract date and on their anniversary date. For the 2005 and 2006 contract years, only the anniversary date raises have been decided. The contract raises may yet have to be negotiated (a wage reopener) if the state budget is in crisis again.

UIC: A Union Fortress

One of the reasons that the contract took so long to settle was because the union had to fight on two fronts – for a contract and against job cuts. Balancing the budget on the backs of workers happens in every state in times of economic troubles. A standard operating procedure at UIC has been job eliminations for support staff.

Local 73 made a big stand against job cuts. Negotiations were delayed at several points while the union focused on protecting jobs. The main task was forcing the university to chop from the top. The governor took the University of Illinois administration to task for a bloated bureaucracy, and eventually we forced the top administration to freeze their own salaries for a second year in a row. This freed up hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the pool of funds being bargained over was larger.

The UIC workers were able to make their fight a social question. This compelled politicians to take our stand. “The best of these elected officials have become our allies,” said Perry. “Our lobbying victories showed that we need COPE.” COPE is the Committee On Political Education. At the contract ratification meetings, over 250 clerical workers signed up to contribute to COPE.

Second, every job cut was reviewed by a negotiating team, including Tom Terranova, following the affected workers until they were placed in vacancies. The approach taken by the local resulted in only a handful of actual layoffs.

“The best thing we did was fighting around the job cuts during contract negotiations, “ said Perry. “We showed the members that we are in this fight for the long haul.” The contract negotiating committee helped organize the resistance to the cuts; then flowed right into the battle over wages and contract language. While describing the situation, Sirlena Perry said, “management thought they had us over a barrel. We demanded no job cuts, and they expected us to be humble in wage negotiations.”

Wage Gains Despite State Crisis

Instead, the workers demanded a fair contract, including keeping up with the workers in Urbana. At the downstate campus of the university, union clerical workers had a contract that continued through the last two years, and so their wages had moved higher than the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Luz Martinez, a new activist in the union and member of the bargaining committee, spoke up in her first negotiations. “We deserve a good raise. Our workloads have increased in the clinics. The top administrators have benefited; we should too.”

When management came across with the wage offer, Martinez said that the workers in the clinics thanked her. She told them they were the ones who should be thanked, for taking action for themselves.

Martinez summed it up this way: “The customer service representatives in the clinics had not been very involved in the union before this contract fight. What made the difference is more people got informed. When we didn’t get a raise last year, they realized we had to fight for ourselves. They had to come out, to get involved, to win this.”

#ChicagoIL #News #SEIULocal73 #UniversityOfIllinoisAtChicagoUIC #wageParity #jobCuts

Chicago, IL – In front of the offices of James Stukel, president of the University of Illinois, the lunchtime crowd swelled. Soon, 100 workers were marching around, singing and chanting. On the bullhorn, Jeff McCaster, a building service worker and union steward with Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), shouted, “That man sits up there, he has plush carpet everywhere. He probably has it in the bathroom.” The picketers laughed in response.

Altogether, over 200 people rallied Sept. 10 demanding a decent contract for the clerical workers. These workers had gone without a contract for the past year. As a result of the state budget crisis, 1100 workers under the contract did not receive their cost of living raise.

The workers were angry. Not only had they lived with the hardship of not having a raise, but every worker at UIC has stories of arrogant managers and abuse that they have to put up with in the course of doing their jobs. Getting a decent raise is a show of respect. Irma Correa, a customer service representative working in the pediatrics clinic, carried a sign that read, “Stukel – Stop dissin’ and start payin’!”

Budget Cuts Used To Attack Workers

This year’s contract negotiations took place during the current economic crisis. With less money in state taxes being collected, there have been cuts to the budgets of all state agencies.

Yet the state still has plenty of money to give tax breaks to the rich and corporations. When the state agencies get their budgets cut, they try to balance them on the backs of the workers. This has been true at UIC as well.

The members of the union’s negotiating committee refuse to accept management’s claims of poverty. “All you have to do is look at all the new buildings on campus to know they have plenty of money,” said Glenda Searcy, bargaining committee member, at an Aug. 29 meeting attended by over 100 clericals.

In fact, President Stukel stated in his Sept. 5 ‘open letter’ to the campus, “We have a bigger budget than ever, but significantly less money from our single most important source, the state of Illinois.” In response, Shirley McIntosh, bargaining committee member from Patient Accounts said, “That letter said what working people have known all along.”

There are three other sources of revenue for UIC. Number one, research money, mainly from the National Institutes for Health. Much of this research is going to help medical corporations make more profits. This is another example of corporate welfare – the federal government pays for research, and then the results of that research are provided for free to the drug companies and biotech companies.

A second source of university revenue is patient care. Five years ago, by cutting staff and requiring massive overtime from nurses, the hospital set out to make itself more profitable. After protests from the nurses and Local 73, hospital management had to reverse some of the cuts. Improved staffing brought improved patient satisfaction; so more physicians are having in-patient procedures for their private clients done at UIC. The hospital is making more money than ever. Also, the clinics have more than doubled their patient visits each year. In the end, costs are down and business is up at the hospital, which makes the HMO’s and insurance companies happy to hand out bonuses to the physicians.

A third source of revenue is real estate. Take for example the South Campus Development (a mix of dormitories, private houses and commercial buildings). To get the land for it, the city and university teamed up against the surrounding communities of poor folks. Eminent domain law was used to get the land for UIC, who then turned it over to the private developers. It’s now worth $800 million, and UIC reportedly gets a 10 to 30% cut of the money.

When one of their ‘profit centers’ needs an infusion of cash, the Board of Trustees is happy to waive the rules which say that funds from one source can’t be used for another. But when it comes to providing raises for employees, they say these rules are written in stone.

Injury to One, Injury to All

Every worker knows UIC is doing fine, even with the state budget crisis. Given this, the negotiating committee has been united in demanding good raises.

The negotiating committee is fighting for every group of employees. One example is those workers on the top step in their classifications. These most senior employees got the short end of the stick last year – a wage freeze and no step increase. Fifty workers were affected.

Another example is library techs, who just voted to join the union. Sixty-two library techs watched for ten years as union workers got raises while they remained stuck in the mud. In a show of solidarity, the negotiating committee refused to leave these two groups behind, insisting on getting their demands as part of an overall settlement.

Sirlena Perry, assistant chief steward and bargaining committee member, said, “We have been patient. We are united to keep fighting, but we want a fair contract, and we want it now.”

Tom Terranova, negotiator for the clerical unit, spoke at the rally, saying, “We’re close, but not there yet.” Calling on the members to keep fighting, he laid out, “If we want to win job security and the raises we deserve, we have to keep pressure on the university. This rally is the biggest action we’ve had in the 12 months of these negotiations. We have to be prepared for the next action to be even bigger so that management knows we’re serious.”

No Going Back! Wage Parity With Urbana!

For 35 years, the University of Illinois administration paid workers at their downstate campus more than workers at the Chicago campus. This was because, when UIC was built in the 1960’s, most of the workers were African American, Mexicano or Puerto Rican, while most workers at the downstate campus in Urbana were white. It took a mighty struggle for Local 73 to win equal pay for the Chicago employees.

Last year, Local 73’s contract at UIC expired. However, the workers at Urbana had two more years in their contract. Now Chicago workers are staring at the prospect of falling behind their Urbana co-workers. “You’re not going back,” said Willie English, a union steward from the service and maintenance unit, as he addressed the crowd. “You’ve had a long fight, but it’ll be worth it when you win the respect you deserve.”

#ChicagoIL #News #BudgetCuts #SEIULocal73 #wageParity

Chicago, IL – A year of struggle has brought success for workers in Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). On Sept. 17 and 19, nearly 400 workers came out to overwhelmingly ratify a new contract.

“We stuck to our guns, and came up with the best contract we've seen!” said Willie English, a building service foreman and member of the negotiating committee. He summed it up, “It was a terrific victory after a long, hard-fought battle.”

The negotiating committee successfully rallied the members in a fight against discrimination. The biggest issue for the negotiations was the wage differences between UIC and the downstate campuses of the University of Illinois system. Most of the 720 members of the Service and Maintenance unit of Local 73 at the University of Illinois in Chicago are Black or Latino. Most of the University of Illinois employees who work downstate are white.

Other issues in the contract negotiations included basic seniority rights and job security. Local 73 made important gains on both of these as well.

But it is the achievement of equality with the downstate workers that will result in raises of as much as 30% over the 5 years that the contract is in force.

Historic victory

Winning this contract takes on more significance when one looks back two years. In the spring of 1999, hospital housekeepers were faced with privatization of their jobs in the new Outpatient Care Center. Top managers announced that the housekeepers were “the worst ever seen,” and that they were “high maintenance.” What was really going on was a drive by the UIC bosses to make the hospital and clinics more profitable for the HMOs and insurance companies. They wanted to make up financial losses from managed care by taking from the housekeepers.

Local 73 beat back that attack, but it was just the opening bell. Ever since, UIC has tried one privatization scheme after another. Bosses held secret talks to attempt a big merger of UIC, Rush-Presbyterian, and Cook County hospitals. The bosses tried to declare the Outpatient Care Center a private corporation. When both of these were beaten back, they resorted to separating the hospital from the Outpatient Care Center. This was defeated, but then their new scheme was to separate the medical center from UIC. Local 73, along with the Illinois Nurses Association and others fought each of these measures.

In the last year, Local 73 began an offensive, which started with organizing the Marriott food services in the student buildings. With the new Service and Maintenance contract, the local has come from behind to win.

Lessons from the fight

1st Lesson

Unity. There were moments in the past year when cynicism threatened to weaken our fighting strength. Many workers couldn't see that the union officers, staff, and the negotiating committee were serious about the battle with management. “They didn't understand the power of the union, when workers really stick together,” said Greg Hardison, steward in housekeeping.

Management got a rude awakening when over 400 employees and supporters marched in June of this year. Everywhere on campus, non-union workers, those in other unions, administrators, faculty and students all were talking about the dynamo that Local 73 had become. By coming out in such numbers, the membership had proved that they were unified, and weren't going to take it no more!

2nd Lesson

Alliances with the community. UIC has been run for 35 years by forces from outside Chicago – suburban and downstate, mainly Republican politicians. Communities surrounding UIC, mostly Black and Mexicano people, have had very little input into how UIC's wealth is used. Local 73 has been building alliances with community activists, organizations, and leaders in recent years.

The key alliances have been with Black and Latino politicians, such as state senators Miguel del Valle and Donne Trotter, along with state representative Constance Howard. These progressive politicians came into office during and following the wave of the electoral reform movements of the 1980's that produced Chicago's first Black mayor, Harold Washington. They helped lead the fight against UIC's expansion and racist mistreatment of the community. Their joining together with SEIU made a powerful team.

3rd Lesson

Seeing the bigger picture. Local 73 has come to understand, in the words of union steward and hospital housekeeper, Randy Evans, “UIC is part of a master plan to reshape the West Side of Chicago. This is being done to the detriment of the poor and working people that live here.” This “Harvard on Halsted” movement also harms most students at UIC. The “Urban Mission” that launched Circle Campus (UIC's old name) was supposed to provide Chicago Public School students with a chance at a four-year education leading to graduate and professional school.

However, the attrition rate of these mostly minority students is so high that most who enter UIC do not graduate.

The union recognizes our common cause with students fighting tuition increases; with graduate employees demanding to be recognized as a union; with residents of public housing in the area who resisting the destruction of their homes; and with the non-union employees, also mainly Black and Latino, demanding opportunities for advancement within UIC.

The Illinois Black Caucus is laying plans for legislative hearings at UIC. These hearings are still pending, because while one issue has been settled, there are many others that need to be addressed.

The struggle continues

The contract was settled days before a Sept. 12 Board of Trustees meeting that was to have been the scene of another massive rally. Religious activists were coming together to put pressure there. The coalition Jobs With Justice helped bring everyone – workers, students, community, and religious activists – together into an ongoing alliance.

Cassandra Fuller, negotiating committee member and food service worker, said, “It was great help that Senators Trotter and del Valle were coming out for us. Everybody knew that UIC has this money. The legislators appropriate the funds to them, and we were being denied equal pay.” The threat of involvement by the legislators pushed management to act. “Otherwise, we would have still been sitting at the negotiation table,” said Fuller.

One issue that remains between the union and management is the employers' use of temporary workers. Nearly 1000 people work at UIC as “extra-help” or “900 hour employees.” The struggle for these workers will continue. One building service worker, Elmo Alejandro, commented, “It's not fair the way these workers work for so long and aren't offered benefits.”

Over the past year, management and Local 73 have been locked in combat. Local 73 and its president, Christine Boardman, are committed to continuing the struggle. “Off of this contract, we want to increase the number of stewards as well as build more political muscle,” said Bill Silver, chief negotiator. “We have to stop UIC's abuse of temporary workers.”

The settlement of this contract represents a real step forward for UIC workers, but if the past practice of UIC management is a guide, this is a temporary truce in an ongoing war.

#News #SEIULocal73 #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #PuertoRico #UniversityOfIllinoisAtChicagoUIC #wageParity

Chicago, IL – Over 400 workers, members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73, rallied on the city's West Side, June 5. They have been fighting for a new contract at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) since October 1.

The workers were fired up. They came out and rallied in two separate shifts-chanting, singing, and making non-stop noise for 3 hours, the first hour in pouring rain. The message sent to management: “We demand wage parity with the University's downstate work force.” About 86% of the membership of Local 73 is Black, Mexican, or Puerto Rican. At the University of Illinois' downstate campus in Champaign, the majority of the workforce is white. The Chicago workers are paid an average of $2.12 an hour less than the University's workers in Urbana and Springfield.

Bill Silver, chief negotiator, told the rally, “The job titles are the same, the work is similar – only the pay is unequal and discriminatory.” Willie English, a building service foreman and member of the negotiating committee, called out, “Respect us! Don't neglect us!” The workers roared back their agreement.

Over 800 workers are represented by Local 73, including building service workers, housekeepers, food service workers, parking service agents, nurse technicians, transporters, and medical assistants.

In addition to wages, union members are fighting for seniority rights. Long-term employees should be allowed to choose shifts and days off that allow them to spend time with their families. In addition, UIC uses many temporary workers. These “900 Hour” employees work full time, but receive no benefits or job security.

UIC: A Fortress of Struggle

UIC is much richer than it was 10 years ago. It received $350 million from the state, which is 5% more than last year; tuition from students; and nearly $200 million in research grants. Plus, the number of outpatient visits to a recently built clinic has doubled. But the rich have prospered while employees have been under attack. There has been an explosion in the number of top management positions, and top salaries have doubled, and doubled again. Yolanda Noyola, a building service worker, said, “ It's not fair, especially for the 900 hour workers, who get no benefits.”

Much of the problem at UIC is from the profit-crisis in healthcare. Last year, the HMOs demanded higher profits, so they lowered what they'll pay the hospital or clinic for each service. The federal government has been cutting back Medicare and Medicaid. The federal government also doesn't fund higher education as it did in the past. For both the state and federal government, in healthcare and in education, if it doesn't serve the rich, they won't fund it. UIC management has tried to shift this crisis on to the backs of workers.

Since 1996, UIC workers have been fighting against mounting attacks. Greg Hardison, a hospital housekeeper and union steward, said, “We marched last year against privatization of the whole medical center; we marched the year before to stop contracting-out of housekeeping jobs; the year before that, we protested when steward Randy Evans was unjustly disciplined; and the year before that, we jammed with management when they started cutting jobs.” Randy Evans, a housekeeper and member of the negotiating committee, said, “This management is like the Terminator. They just keep coming. And we just keep fighting back.”

Legislative Hearings to Follow

This show of force is Local 73's response to the University's attacks. Workers chanted, “UIC – We ain't gonna take it no more!” as they marched around the Medical Center. Local 73 members all jammed into the Labor Relations' offices at the end of the march to present a pay equity grievance, signed by 350 workers, demanding the same wages paid downstate.

Greg Parran, UIC's negotiator, refused to speak to the workers. He called the police and then hid inside his office. The workers taped their grievance to his door, then marched out, with the chant, “No Contract, No Peace,” sounding through the halls.

Local 73 president Christine Boardman also announced that Local 73 is calling for hearings by the state legislators to investigate these discriminatory practices by UIC. State Senator Donnie Trotter, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus in Springfield, was present at the demonstration, as was Senator Barack Obama. Both pledged their support to end the racial disparity in wages.

Other supporters at the rally included the Illinois Nurses Association, Jobs With Justice, UIC's Graduate Employees Organization, and a representative of the Chicago Federation of Labor. Margaret Blackshere, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO came to pledge her support, and the backing of the 1,000,000 plus members across Illinois for our struggle.

The demonstration ended with workers chanting the promise, “We'll be back.” The spirit and unity of Local 73 should prove to UIC management that this is a promise that will be kept.

#ChicagoIL #News #SEIULocal73 #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #PuertoRico #wageParity

Housekeepers, food service workers, mail handlers, medical assistants, nurse techs, transporters, and others are fighting for wage parity. Willie English, a member of the Service Employee International Union, Local 73 negotiating committee, said, “Local 73 is stronger than ever before. If we stay united, we'll win.”

U.I.C. has a bad relationship with the Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican communities that surround it. U.I.C. has forced poor residents from their housing; they have a high drop out rate of students from the Chicago Public Schools; they have very few African American or Latino faculty members.

In recent years, Black and Latino state representatives have held two hearings on U.I.C.'s racist practices. Progressive politicians like State Senator Miguel Del Valle and State Representative Connie Howard have joined with workers, community residents, students, faculty and staff to challenge the U.I.C. bosses.

Management is also trying to get concessions at the bargaining table. They want workers to give up precious seniority rights and other union rights. Greg Hardison, a steward in hospital housekeeping, said, “We told our state representatives that we won't trade wage parity for job security. We want both.”

Fighting to Keep Public Jobs

After years of paying Black and Latino workers less than their counterparts downstate, U.I.C. management now threatens their jobs with privatization and contracting out.

Local 73 filed labor charges against Wolcott, Wood, and Taylor – a company U.I.C. started. This so-called 'outside company' is threatening the jobs of the clerical workers who do the billing and collections for the hospital and clinics. The Illinois Education Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against U.I.C. for refusing to bargain over the elimination of these jobs. There will be a hearing in May or June, where the union will expose the anti-union practices of the university.

Local 73 grows in strength

Over 160 Marriott workers in food services at the student union buildings at U.I.C. just organized into Local 73. Along with a group of about 100 workers, who had been members of another union and who voted to switch to Local 73, this brings Local 73's numbers at U.I.C. to over 2000. Sirlena Perry, an assistant chief steward who helped organize the Marriott workers, said, “Now we have to fight for a good contract. We'll get one, or we'll keep fighting Marriott.”

U.I.C. had privatized these jobs 15 years ago. Marriott food service workers make several dollars an hour less than the U.I.C. food service workers. By organizing these workers, SEIU Local 73 sent a message to U.I.C. that “we will follow the work.” Unionizing will cut into the profits U.I.C. has been keeping.

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