Will County Employees on Strike for Fairness!

Members of AFSCME Local 1028, representing some 1,200 Will County employees, are on strike after management again refused to offer fair wages or back off a plan to double employee health care costs. In a last-ditch round of negotiations on Nov. 13 and 14, representatives of the Will County board did not budge from their demand that employees accept a paltry wage increase after four years with no cost-of-living raise. Combined with the county’s demands on health care costs, management’s proposal amounts to a pay cut for many employees. County employees voted to authorize a strike more than a month ago, but made every effort to seek a compromise, even delaying a planned work stoppage to return to negotiations at the request of a federal mediator.

To help the county through tough times, employees represented by AFSCME agreed to forego a cost-of-living pay increase for the past four years. Today 40 percent of union members earn less than $30,000 annually. Current contract talks have dragged on for 15 months with little sign of compromise by county management and little involvement by county executive Larry Walsh.

We need to support our sisters and brothers in AFSCME.  Check back here to find out what you can do to help.

Survey says . . . !

At yesterday's membership meetings, we discussed the preliminary results of the membership contract surveys.  It came as no surprise that the surveys showed we are working too hard, for too long, with too little support and resources.  The number one issue for our members is staffing/work load with many respondents commenting that patient care is adversely affected by too few nurses being asked to care for too many patients with cuts to unit secretaries, CNAs and other support personnel.  Long hours under these conditions result in unsafe environment for our members and our patients.

If you haven't had a chance to fill out a survey, don't despair!  This is an on-going process and we will continue to accept surveys up until the commencement of bargaining.  Talk to an INA officer or Bargaining Support Committee member or stop by the INA office in Room 243.  You can also call us by clicking on the icon to the right of this post.   

Membership meeting next Tuesday at 4pm and 8pm

Next Tuesday, November 12, we'll have our monthly membership meeting at the Painters Hall (100 Republic Avenue).  This month, we're trying something different to help accomodate everyone's schedules--two meeting times at 4pm and 8pm.  Come to whichever is most convenient for you.

This month, in addition to our regular business, we're going to be talking about the contract surveys and identifying bargaining issues.

Hope to see you there!

Turn those surveys in!

Today is the target date for returning contract surveys.  If you haven't done so, please turn in your survey to a Bargaining Support Committee member as soon as possible.  We'll discuss the results at our next membership meeting on November 12.

Great meeting last night!

We had a good crowd last night and a lively discussion around the upcoming contract negotiations.  We anticipating a tough bargain and are putting in place plans to mobile the membership to get the best results.  Next month, we are switching to a different format of two meetings to be able to reach members on different shifts.  Watch here for details . . . .

Membership meeting on October 22 at 5:30p

Our monthly membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 22 at 5:30pm at the Painters Hall, 100 Republic Avenue, Joliet.  See you there!

Contract surveys out now!

With tonight's membership meeting, we are kicking off the contract survey.  Expect for a member of the Bargaining Support Committee, the Bargaining Team or the Executive Board to contact you over the next two weeks to get your input on the upcoming contract negotiations.  Or you can contact us at ina.stjoes@gmail.com and we'll get a survey to you.

Contract 2014!

Welcome to the new INA at St. Joseph’s Medical Center blog!  Check back regularly to find the latest news and information on contract negotiations.