Category Archives: News

UFCW mourns the loss of Int’l VP Chad Young

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Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Vice President Chad Young.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Vice President Chad Young passed away at home Jan. 11. He was 57.

AUSTIN, MINN. — United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Vice President Chad Young passed away at home Jan. 11. He was 57.

As a young man growing up in Austin, Minn., Young was inspired by his father, Roger, who was an active union member and organizer in the United Packinghouse Workers of America, a predecessor union to the UFCW. Young was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer in his youth, and he carried that fighting spirit with him throughout his life as he fought for workers and their union.

His life was driven completely by two words: union and family. And for Young, those two values were interlocked. The day he first clocked in to work at Hormel Foods in Austin, Minn. in 1981, he joined UFCW Local 9 and began his lifelong career as a fighter for his union family.

He stepped forward to lead as a union steward at Hormel in 1983 and again, later, as a volunteer union organizer where he worked on a number of campaigns in Iowa and Minnesota during a time of great change in the meatpacking industry. Young was also part of a team of UFCW organizers who inspired nurses in Washington State to join together in his union.

Young joined the staff of the UFCW International Union in 1988 and brought his fighting spirit and warm heart to worker campaigns across the country. He played a key role in the early efforts to win a union voice for workers at Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel, N.C., serving as a key leader during an election there in 1997.

In 1999, he was promoted to the UFCW International Office as Executive Assistant to the Packing House Director in Washington D.C. In 2005, Young was named Director of Region 5 — South-central, and was elected as an International Vice President in 2006. He was reelected in August 2013 at the UFCW International Convention in Chicago.

Young was a true warrior of the labor movement. He loved being a part of the UFCW. He was proud to wake up every morning and fight for working men and women. He was loved by many for his sense of humor, hearty laugh and passion for the union and its members.

Young is survived by his wife, Lynn Young, his mother Esther Young, daughters Heather Young, Ashley Young, Jamie Colbert and Kelly Colbert, sisters Mona Young and Patti Jo Corey and granddaughters Maya and Cameryn. He is preceded in death by his father Roger Young.

The viewing was held Jan. 14 in Grapevine, Texas wigth a memorial service the following day.
—United Food and Commercial Workers

Raising Wages Summit

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Fox Valley Labor News
staff reports
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015

raising wages summit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Setting the tone for 2015, the country’s largest federation of unions, the AFL-CIO, announced a Raising Wages Call to Action in which politicians and candidates will be judged based on their actions on raising wages.

At the AFL-CIO’s first-ever Summit on Raising Wages held Jan. 7 in Washington, D.C., AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka launched the Raising Wages campaign, putting in motion plans to raise wages for working Americans and rejecting the notion that nothing can be done about stagnant wages.

The AFL-CIO will take the Raising Wages campaign to Atlanta, Columbus, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and San Diego — the seven cities that will serve as the starting points of this long-term effort. State federations of labor will also hold Raising Wages summits in the first four presidential primary states — Iowa (this spring), Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

“Families don’t need to hear more about income inequality. They need more income,” said Trumka. “I’m eager to turn on the heat and begin judging candidates based on this issue of raising wages. They can’t just feel our pain but tell us how they’re going to raise wages for every American.”

AFL-CIO National Summit

ALF-CIO President Richard Trumka speaks at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Raising Wages. Photos courtesy of AFL-CIO

Speaking at the summit was a fierce champion of the middle class, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who praised the AFL-CIO for spotlighting an important economic issue of our time. Despite the seemingly rosy economic picture, the senator from Massachusetts said the middle class is still in deep trouble. The rising stock market, for example, won’t help people if they don’t own stocks. People who are still unemployed won’t appreciate the lower unemployment rate.

Students who just graduated with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt won’t benefit from a low inflation. Their struggles are a result of the choices politicians make: instead of building an economy for all, they’re building an economy for some. The trickle-down economics helps the rich get richer at the expense of everyone else. As a result, young adults today will be worse off than their parents for the first time in history.

“We know that democracy does not work when congressmen and regulators bow down to Wall Street’s political power,” she said. “And that means it’s time to break up the Wall Street banks and remind politicians they don’t work for the big banks, they work for us.”

Also speaking at the summit was Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, who said prosperity in this country is not being shared as productivity has gone up 80 percent but wages are stagnant. Wage theft remains a widespread problem across America. It’s costing workers $1 billion a year in California and New York alone, about 40 percent of their meager income.

“Nobody that works a full time job should live in poverty. That’s not who we are as a nation” he said.

In addition to fair wages, earned income in the form of paid leave is another big problem. In countries he’s been to, Secretary Perez said they have some form of paid leave. Not here in America where businesses and some lawmakers fight against it. He shared a story of a mother who had to put her sick child on a school bus because she couldn’t stay home to take care of him.

“You shouldn’t have to make a choice between your job and your family,” he said. “The most important family value is time spent with your family.”

AFL-CIO National Summit on Raising Wages

AFSCME Local 1427 speaks at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Raising Wages. Photos courtesy of AFL-CIO

Despite many obstacles, workers have had successes when they stick together. A good example took place in New York when then Papa John’s Pizza worker Shantel Walker and his co-workers fought wage theft by raising awareness in the community and bringing thousands of people to the store to confront the manager. They successfully retrieved the stolen wages for their co-worker.

The summit also featured a roundtable discussion where the audience heard from workers, business owners, academics, labor and political leaders. Jennifer Epps-Addison, Wisconsin Jobs Now executive director, brought up a point that few people thought about — that in many communities, people of color have never made it to the middle class. They have to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet.

The panelists agreed that unions are a solution to this important economic issue; when workers are unionized, both wage and gender gaps shrink significantly. The public also needs to hear the truth — that raising wages boosts the economy because when people have money to spend, businesses grow, which in turn creates more jobs – for more info InstantInfo Systems is one of the best platforms to provide information on businesses and their growth. Government gets more tax revenues, which can then be invested in education and infrastructure instead of cutting funding for these important programs. Raising wages allows people to take care of their families and moves people off welfare. It’s also good for businesses as it puts more money in people’s hands.

“If [people] can’t have a party, I don’t get business,” David Borris, owner of Hel’s Kitchen Catering in Chicago, explained why he supports raising wages.

House again approves Keystone XL, now it’s up to the White House

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Fox Valley Labor News
staff reports
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015

keystone xl pipeline

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House voted Jan. 9 to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, setting the stage for a Senate vote this week and a face-off with the White House over final approval of the controversial pipeline.

The bill passed by a vote of 266 to 153 — more than enough to pass, but still not a veto-proof majority. This marked the first House vote on Keystone in the 114th Congress, though the lower chamber previously voted nine times to approve it. The Senate was expected to begin voting on its own Keystone approval legislation Jan. 12.

Democrats, for the most part, continued to oppose legislation that bypassed the executive decision-making process on Keystone XL. And they noted the White House has said it will veto the legislation.

Locally, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) voted against the bill to preserve environmental protections for Keystone Pipeline, adding that the Nebraska Supreme Court decision took a step in that direction.
Nebraska’s ruling cleared the way for the proposed pipeline’s route through the state. The Obama administration had been waiting for the

Nebraska ruling to render its own decision on the pipeline, which is still forthcoming.

Foster said he looked forward to the completion of the regulatory approval process for this project, yet he still voted ‘no.’

“However, I voted against this legislation because it would give Keystone XL an unnecessary exemption from the environmental permitting processes,” Foster explained.

After the Nebraska ruling became public, LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan released a statement saying he wanted President Obama to “immediately resume the National Interest Determination that he needlessly suspended last year and Democrats in Congress must stop all the excuses and end the shameful politics used to block Keystone.”

North America’s Building Trades Unions was pleased that a “bi-partisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives recognizes the potential for job creation, economic growth, and energy independence that will accrue through the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.”

It added that the project has been the most analyzed and studied infrastructure project in the history of our nation.

“The American public has long been clamoring for increased bi-partisan cooperation and accord. We express our hope that, once the Senate has approved this bill, President Obama embraces that sentiment as well and signs this legislation into law,” the North America’s Building Trades Unions added.

Congressman Foster also voted in favor of an amendment to require the project to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, a fund which is used to clean up after pipeline oil spills and fires on U.S. soil. Unfortunately this amendment was defeated on a largely party-line basis.

“This legislation carves out special exemptions that would allow a Canadian company to cross the entire United States without complying with the environmental laws that U.S. energy companies abide by; without requiring that they pay into the oil spill liability trust fund; and without guaranteeing that any of the oil pumped through the Keystone pipeline would stay in the United States,” Foster added.

Labor leader O’Sullivan said Americans concerned about energy independence and working men and women eager to build our nation’s energy future are encouraged by this progress.
“It’s time to move forward to unlock energy and good construction careers,” he added.

Postal service cuts disrupt workers’ lives

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Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015

American Postal Workers Union

To save nearly $16 billion, USPS says it consolidated 305 mail-processing plants, shortened window hours at 13,000 post offices, eliminated 23,000 delivery routes and cut 212,000 jobs since 2006. The latest cuts will increase average mail delivery times from 1.8 days to 2.1 days, the Postal Service said. The new standards will not affect packages and Priority Mail, such as medicine and most advertising materials. Photo courtesy of American Postal Workers Union

WASHINGTON — When postal officials lowered “service standards” Jan. 5, they didn’t just slow down America’s mail: They set in motion a process that is causing serious disruption in the lives of thousands of hard-working postal employees.

As management reconfigures mail processing, they are also causing massive reassignments and shift changes for workers. Revolutionize your fashion line with our fashion logistics expertise.

“It’s an outrage,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Postal bureaucrats are virtually eliminating overnight delivery of first-class mail and periodicals, slowing down all mail delivery across the country, and jeopardizing the future of our great national treasure. At the same time, they’re causing major upheaval in the lives of workers.

“In implementing the changes, they ignored the pleas of 51 senators and 178 members of the House, who asked for a one-year moratorium on the reduction in service standard and the closure and consolidation of mail processing facilities,” Dimondstein said.

He went on to explain they disregarded the warnings of the USPS Office of Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Postal Regulatory Commission, which raised serious concerns about delayed mail. Management even overlooked the concerns of some mailing industry trade associations.

“They also ignored the demands of postal unions and the hundreds of thousands of workers we represent,” Dimondstein added.

“Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is ending his reign the way he began — undermining, degrading, and weakening the public Postal Service he was supposed to lead, and spitting in the eyes of tens of thousands of proud postal employees. Responsibility for the upheaval in the lives of postal workers rests squarely on his shoulders,” the union president said.

Dimondstein also explained the APWU has fought long and hard to stop the destructive changes from taking effect, and we intend to keep up the fight.

“Our rallying cry, ‘Standing Up and Fighting Back,’ doesn’t mean we will win every battle. But if we don’t wage the struggle, we are guaranteed to lose.

“The struggle must continue on many fronts,” Dimondstein said. “The APWU — from the national officers to members on the work floor — must renew our efforts to win support for postal legislation that restores the previous service standards. We must fight for better service and better jobs when contract negotiations get underway in February, and we must act in concert with our many allies who are demanding a vibrant public postal service for generations to come.”
—American Postal Workers Union

Teamsters not happy with DOT border decisions

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Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015

Teamsters

The DOT is moving forward with a plan to open the border to Mexican trucks in the coming months, a plan that igores the statutory and regulatory requirements of a pilot program. Photo courtesy of Teamsters

WASHINGTON — The following is the official statement of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in response to the Department of Transportation’s announcement that it will open the border to trucks domiciled in Mexico this year.

“I am outraged that the Department of Transportation has chosen to ignore the findings of the DOT Inspector General and is moving forward with a plan to open the border to Mexican trucks in the coming months.

“One thing was made clear in the IG’s report — the pilot program was a failure. It did not provide enough data for the IG to determine with any confidence that the trucks participating in the program were representative of those that could be permitted in the future. Nor could the IG project the safety performance of Mexico-domiciled carriers based on the data collected from the pilot program.

“This policy change by the DOT flies in the face of common sense and ignores the statutory and regulatory requirements of a pilot program. Allowing untested, Mexican trucks to travel our highways is a mistake of the highest order and it’s the driving public that will be put at risk by the DOT’s rash decision.”
—International Brotherhood of Teamsters

AFGE files grievances over management rigging TOPS

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Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015

tsa

WASHINGTON, D.C — Transportation Security Officers are angry about the way management changed the rules to rig the TOPS system. AFGE immediately responded, and AFGE-filed a grievance challenging the TSA’s manipulation of the TOPS levels. AFGE attorneys believe TSA management violated the collective bargaining agreement and TSA’s own policy while undermining teamwork critical to ensuring the safety of the flying public.

In the grievance recently filed with the TSA’s National Resolution Center, AFGE detailed how TSA has violated the bargaining agreement and the 2011 Pistole Determination, which sets forth a framework for a relationship between TSA and the union.

Specifically, the AFGE contract requires TSA to provide officers with the levels for TOPS at the start of the year so that you know what’s expected of you. This was an important point during negotiations and getting that language was key to ensuring fairness and transparency in the implementation of TOPS.

But then TSA management rigged the system by using a different set of levels never announced till the end of the process. Instead of the four level announced at the start, the agency created seven levels of evaluation with different amounts of raises and bonuses.

The last minute change meant it was impossible for employees to understand how to achieve a given performance level — high, low or in between. This is a clear violation of the bargaining agreement, which requires at the beginning of each performance year, management will establish and communicate performance standards and expectations for employees and will provide employees with established benchmarks toward which the employee can aim his or her per performance.

In addition to violating the bargaining agreement, TSA also violated its own Determination when it unilaterally changed the 2014 TOPS rating scale without collaborating with AFGE. The Determination calls for a “culture of collaboration and employee engagement” and “[l]abor management relations [that are] results oriented, designed to solve problems and resolve issues.”

Collaboration — not TSA management. TSA refused when AFGE protested the new scale and asked for a delay of the release of the scale, so the union and TSA could discuss the negative impact on the workforce. Because of the misguided change by TSA, employees who received the same rating will not receive the same salary increase and bonus. That’s simply not fair.

“Changing the scale at the end and creating arbitrary distinctions and subcategories undermines the integrity of the entire system,” AFGE General Counsel David Borer wrote in the grievance.

In the grievance, AFGE demands the arbitrator to order TSA to cancel the new levels and use the ones provided to employees at the beginning of the 2013-14 evaluation year. In awarding TOPS payouts based on the 2013-14 scale, TSA must ensure no employee’s pay increase or bonus will be decreased. The union is also asking the arbitrator to order TSA to work collaboratively with AFGE to develop TOPS in a way that complies with the Determination and the contract.
—American Federation of Government Employees

Strike enters 7th month

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IAMAW Local 701

EAST DUNDEE, Ill. — Subzero temperatures in January did not stop striking IAMAW Local 701 union members from walking the picket line. Nine mechanics at Al Piemonte Chevrolet dealership walked off the job July 9, 2014. They are fighting for their health insurance and pension. Members voted in early May 2014 in favor of joining the union, but store owners balked, offering half the insurance co-pay coverage and pension that their other stores have in their contract.

Teamsters profile: The work of a city booter

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By Fox Valley
Labor News staff
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

Teamsters Local 700 booter

Some of the most likeable men and women are considered by vehicle owners to be the most hated public servants in the City of Chicago. A Teamsters Local 700 profile shows that booters are just doing their job, which brings in revenue for the city. Photo courtesy of Teamsters Local 700

Some of the most likeable men and women are considered by vehicle owners to be the most hated public servants in the City of Chicago

CHICAGO — Meet Darryl Porter, a proud father and grandfather who enjoys cooking for friends and family. He’s a boy scout cycling master and an ordained deacon. A soft-spoken and polite family man, Porter is an avid fisherman who enjoys the outdoors. People can check Elevated Gunworks if they want the best gun equipments.

Yet this mild-mannered and well-liked Chicagoan strikes anger and frustration into half a million residents immediately upon seeing him on the job. His badge reads City of Chicago Department of Revenue, and his job title is booter.

Porter and 37 of his colleagues are responsible for installing and removing Denver Boots on all vehicles that have two tickets older than one year. That adds up to more than 530,000 vehicle owners responsible for paying millions of dollars to the City of Chicago.

Unfortunately for the workers who install and remove this debilitating contraption, booters don’t work on commission. The money that is paid to have the boot removed goes straight to the city’s Department of Finance, which merged with the Department of Revenue in 2012, but most trucks and uniforms don’t reflect the merger. You can try here for the best tools fro trucks.

“People look at what we do and they think this is an easy job, but it’s anything but easy,” Porter said. “You’re constantly multi-tasking, paying attention to the computer system, evaluating the scene around you, all while driving. And that’s just part of it.”

Teamsters Local 700 member Darryl Porter

Teamsters Local 700 member Darryl Porter has booted for Chicago for the past 17 years. He may not be the most liked city employee, but booting brings in more than $30 million in revenue each year. Photo courtesy of Teamsters Local 700

As a member of Teamsters Local 700, Porter has worked as a booter for the City of Chicago for the past 17 years. When he started, he said that two workers were assigned to each van, and they didn’t have cameras synched with a computer system to scan license plates. Rather, the booters were equipped with a telephone book-sized listing of expired plates.

Today, being a booter in Chicago means being a laborer, data entry tech and a driver. Porter said each week, booters are assigned a specific zone to patrol across the city. The zones are broken down with 15 zones for the north, 15 zones for the south and each zone varies in size. For example, one zone stretches from King Drive to Halsted Avenue and from 22nd to 59th.

After receiving their zones for the week, booters start up the vehicle’s computer system – an IBM database with hundreds of thousands of license plate entries. Despite common belief, booters don’t have access to the vehicle owner’s information. They don’t even have the address where each plate is registered to, and they don’t have the unpaid ticket information for each license plate. The only information Porter has in front of him is the license plate numbers for all vehicles in Chicago that his computer system says need a boot. Boost productivity and improve gaming experience with 50 gaming keyboards.

Teamsters Local 700

When a motorist sees a boot on their vehicle, they know they have two tickets that are older than one year. Photo courtesy of Teamsters Local 700

Porter’s van is equipped with two cameras, one on each side on top of the vehicle, that are synched with the computer database. Once Porter starts his route, the cameras scan all plates that he drives past. If the cameras scan a license plate that is a match with a plate number in the database, an alert will sound in Porter’s van. He then quickly asserts which side of his van the vehicle is on, if the vehicle is parked and accessible, or if it’s in moving traffic or parked in an area where Porter can not access like a private parking lot or garage. For garage services, hire experts serving all of Boise Idaho.

The other part of a booters’ job comes when a plate matches with an accessibly parked vehicle. Porter says it takes him less than a minute to get out the equipment, install the boot, put away his tools and get back in the van. Towering at 6-foot-4, Porter said he has to act swiftly installing the boots.

“The last thing you want is a confrontation with an angry owner,” Porter said. “We have no choice but to think fast on our feet, read the person and de-escalate the situation. You don’t want to make the wrong judgment and end up getting chased down the street with no protection.”

Teamsters Local 700

Porter’s van is equipped with two cameras that are synched with a computer database. Cameras scan vehicle plates, looking for hits and will sound when it finds a match. Photo courtesy of Teamsters Local 700

Booters cover routes all over the city from high crime to high-end areas, from King Drive to Oak Street. There is only one person per van, and booters rely on the van’s cameras to provide surveillance. However, if the vehicle being booted is parked on the right side of the van, only the right camera will record surveillance.

Porter said there’s always an element of the unknown when he boots a vehicle. He recalls some situations where multiple people surround the parked car upon seeing his van approach in order to create a distraction while the vehicle owner attempts to flee.

In other situations, booters are cursed at, spit at, screamed at and even chased down the street either by another car or by individuals. Even those booters who are responsible for removing the boots often encounter disgruntled owners. This is where Porter’s training as an ordained deacon and a generally patient person come into play.

“When you’re a person who genuinely wants to help other people, this job takes you totally out of your norm,” said Porter.

The City of Chicago employs 38 booters who together bring in an estimated $30 million for the city in revenue each year.
—Teamsters Local 700

Adjunct faculty at a St. Louis university form union

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By Fox Valley
Labor News staff
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

Adjunct faculty at a St. Louis university form union

Adjunct faculty at Washington University in St. Louis recently voted Union yes, marking a significant victory for part-time instructors known as the working class of the academic community. The SEIU Local 1 has been pushing its Adjunct Action campaign throughout the St. Louis area and nationwide for more than two years. Photo courtesy of Adjunct Action

ST. LOUIS — Adjunct professors at Washington University in St. Louis, have voted to join adjunct faculty at schools across the country in SEIU/Adjunct Action. More than 400 faculty members won their union Jan. 5 as ballots were counted at the National Labor Relations Board office in St. Louis.

The victory is the first in St. Louis and a step forward to improve the working conditions of the increasing numbers of part-time and contingent faculty in higher education.

Forty-four percent of faculty in St. Louis area private, non-profit colleges and universities work part time and 73 percent of all faculty are not on the tenure track. Adjunct faculty, now the majority of teaching faculty across the country, typically have no job security, no benefits and low pay , which forces adjuncts to string together jobs at multiple colleges and universities to make ends meet.

At the same time, revenues and tuition have increased steadily over the last two decades while spending on instruction has declined — and it’s adjuncts and their deeply-in-debt students who are suffering as a result.

Michael O’Bryan teaches in the English Department at Washington University. “This is a great day for faculty, students, and the entire community of higher education in St. Louis and throughout the region,” he said. “This victory is an important step toward improving the labor conditions of university faculty and, consequently, the learning experience of the students taught by those faculty. We look forward to enhancing Wash U’s already exemplary record of service to its students and to the St. Louis community.”

St. Louis adjunct faculty are following in the footsteps of adjuncts at nearly 20 universities who have joined Adjunct Action in the past two years, including Dominican University, St. Mary’s College and Otis College of Art and Design in California who voted to join SEIU in the last week.

They join faculty at the Howard University and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Tufts University and Northeastern University in Boston who have all voted for unionization in order to strengthen their voices and improving working conditions for all part-time faculty in America.

Darcie Star teaches dance at Washington University. “By uniting in solidarity to form our union we are part of building a positive future and creating sustainable change for those working in higher education,” she said. “This victory gives a voice to improved conditions for both faculty and students, as well as offering a platform for communication of needs and desires of those who provide service to the future generations.”
—Adjunct Action

Kishwaukee College faculty files intent to strike

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By Fox Valley
Labor News staff
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

Kishwaukee College teachers may strike

Kishwaukee College teachers used the recent winter break to distribute literature pertaining to the status of negotiations. Photo courtesy of Kishwaukee College Education Association

After months of the school’s bad faith bargaining, faculty takes an important step in the direction of a work stoppage

MALTA — The Kishwaukee College Education Association (KCEA) filed an intent to strike Jan. 5 with the Illinois Education Relations Board (IELRB), allowing the faculty to walk off the job as early as Jan. 16 if they do not reach an agreement with the School’s Board of Trustees. The filing does not guarantee the faculty will strike, but it gives the faculty that option if the college continues to bargain in bad faith.

Last week the faculty filed unfair labor practice complaints with the IELRB against the administration for violating the terms of bargaining and interfering with the faculty’s free speech rights. College representatives threatened to have faculty arrested for distributing literature pertaining to the status of negotiations.

Faculty members used the winter break to inform the public about the status of negotiations through public leafleting. The KCEA bargaining team also used winter break to work on its latest proposal, which it will present to administration. The two sides are set to meet with a third-party mediator Jan. 12.

“We hope it doesn’t come to this, but as the school administration continues to spread half-truths and misinformation about the negotiations process, we have little choice but to file an intent to strike,” said KCEA negotiator and history teacher Jennifer Jossendal.

“The administration keeps repeating to the public that they are offering us a proposal that includes raises. We crunched the numbers over and over again and we found that the current proposal does not include a raise for most of our educators and many of them will see a decrease in pay in addition to dramatic decreases in benefits. Kishwaukee College has nearly a million dollar surplus that increases by almost half a million dollars each year. We aren’t asking for the world, just a contract that reflects the work we put in every day to give our students the education they deserve,” Jossendal explained.

“I am a graduate of the College and I became an educator here because of the world-class education I received from Kishwaukee faculty. I fear that the cut backs the administration is trying to push on the faculty will prevent people like me from returning here to teach when other comparable schools offer salaries that are far more competitive,” said KCEA President and math teacher Matt Read.

“Kishwaukee College faculty includes a Jeopardy champion, a published award-winning author, and scores of educators who go above and beyond every day for the students they serve. The administration risks pushing out these outstanding educators through the games it plays at the negotiating table,” Read added.
—Kishwaukee College Education Association