Pat Barcas photo
Teamsters Local 727 funeral directors and drivers, above and right, strike in Lisle July 3. About 60 workers are affected by the strike. Teamsters have not heard back from SCI after rejecting its final offer June 30.

By Pat Barcas
Staff writer
pat@foxvalleylabornews.com

At press time Tuesday, the strike continues at 16 Chicago area funeral homes as unattended death cleaning directors and drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 727, walk the picket lines.

The 59 workers went on strike July 2 after voting to reject Houston based umbrella company SCI’s June 30 “last, best and final offer.” Teamsters spokesman Brian Rainville said there still has been no contact from SCI as of Tuesday, and thus, the strike continues.

SCI, who uses the Dignity Memorial brand name, has not contacted Teamsters Local 727 since the strike began to resume negotiations.

“Two days before the strike, our negotiating team made an offer to Dignity that contained lower wage increases than they were offering so we could maintain our pension and health benefits. It kept the rest of the contract intact with virtually the same language we’ve been working under since 2007,” said Jay Horowitz, a 20-year funeral driver and member of the negotiating team. “We’re asking SCI the same thing we asked when bargaining began: let’s negotiate a fair contract.”

Teamsters Local 727 has represented Chicago’s funeral directors and embalmers since 1946, and it represents more than 6,800 men and women in the greater Chicago area. Follow this site and learn more about them by click resources. The union said Tuesday that an SCI recruiter has offered at least one picketing funeral director a “potential opportunity on a temporary basis due to a strike in progress.”

In the week leading up to the strike, the company brought in out-of-state funeral directors to do the work normally provided by local funeral directors.

“SCI’s contingent of out-of-state funeral directors must not be working,” said John T. Coli, Teamsters Local 727 Secretary-Treasurer. “From what we understand, the few funerals Dignity has performed have left families dissatisfied.”

Since negotiations began June 14, Local 727 spent nearly 50 hours in a fruitless attempt to reach an agreement. June 27, the union filed unfair labor practice charges against the company for engaging in bad faith bargaining by making unlawful omissions and misrepresentations in memos issued to its employees and negotiators.

Additionally, SCI issued memos that contained implied threats to interfere with employees’ current benefits in violation of section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA. By end-of-day June 30, SCI had made virtually no movement on its proposals to eliminate the employee pension plan and gut workplace rights.

“In 100 years of representing workers in Chicago’s funeral industry, the Teamsters have always been able to reach amicable agreements. Unfortunately it is obvious that SCI intended from the beginning to destroy that achievement and force its employees to strike,” said Coli. “SCI’s initial demand sheet from June 14 is nearly identical to the final offer they presented June 30. The company admits it can easily afford to maintain these workers’ benefits. They just simply won’t because their business model calls for them to siphon more money out of the Chicago community and send it back to Houston.”

The men and women on strike said they are not picketing any funeral that was arranged prior to the vote.

“In 40 years as a funeral director I’ve helped thousands of people through some of the most difficult times in their lives. Striking is not something I ever thought I would have to do,” said John Liberatore, a director at Piser Funeral Services in Skokie. “We will not picket any funeral we arranged prior to this vote. For any future arrangements, we have created a website and a hotline to help our families connect with a community-friendly company while the strike is ongoing.”

To find a community-friendly funeral home not affected by the labor action, call the hotline at 312-206-4123, or visit www.integrityinillinois.com. A complete list of affected homes is available at the site.