Will County Workers on Strike Line; County Says All Offices Open

Will County employees manned the picket line Monday, the first day of their contract strike against the county. Below is AFSCME Local 1028 representative Anders Lindall's issued a statement Sunday confirming the strike, followed by Will County Executive Larry Walsh's statement that all county offices were open for business.

Anders Lindall's statement:

More than 1,000 frontline employees of Will County are prepared to strike tomorrow (Monday) morning to achieve a fair union contract.

Their union, AFSCME Local 1028, has done everything possible to avert a strike, but county executive Larry Walsh and the county board have refused to compromise.

"County workers want the same thing every working person wants, fair pay and health care we can afford," AFSCME Local 1028 president Dave Delrose said.

County management is trying to force county employees to pay sharply higher costs for health insurance -- twice what they now pay, with the lowest-paid employees saddled with the largest percentage hikes under the county's plan.

Those costs are unaffordable for county employees, 40% of who earn less than $30,000 a year. They sacrificed to help the county through tough times by foregoing any cost-of-living pay increase for the past four years.

But the county has refused to add a single penny to its cost-of-living proposal for nearly a month. Although Larry Walsh stated publicly on Saturday morning that he would contact the mediator and ask to return to negotiations today (Sunday), the union received no communication from the mediator, indicating Walsh failed to do so. 

"Our union did everything possible to avoid this strike, but county politicians have failed to meet us halfway," Delrose said. "Striking is tough for us personally and will disrupt the services we provide, but there comes a time when everyone has to stand up for what's right. We ask the public's continued support."

Employees are set to picket at more than 20 worksites throughout Will County starting early Monday.

Larry Walsh's statement:

Will County Executive Larry Walsh assured residents that Will County government was open for business and ready to serve their needs despite a strike by the County’s union workforce represented by AFSCME Local 1028.  Executive Walsh and the Will County Board have been working for over 15 months to avert a work stoppage by the union, but could not reach an agreement.

“I have said throughout these negotiations that a strike is not good for anyone; no one wins with a strike,” said Executive Walsh.  “I was very disappointed to learn that AFSCME employees who claimed they too wanted to avoid a strike wore red stickers throughout all of our recent negotiation sessions that proudly proclaimed their readiness to strike,” said Walsh.  “I had hoped they would have spent their time and energy on bringing a more realistic proposal on health care and wages to the bargaining table.”

Walsh and the county's negotiation team have been meeting with AFSCME Local 1028 for over 15 months, the last 5 months with the aid of a federal mediator, and the main sticking point remains increased health care costs and wage increases.  The county returned to the bargaining table after giving its best and final offer, at the request of the federal mediator, in a good faith effort to avoid a strike.  However, the union has demonstrated an unwillingness to accept the county’s budgetary limitations and has continued its push for hirer wages.

“We have a fiscal responsibility to all of the Will County residents to balance the wants of our union employees with the needs of all the residents,” said Walsh.  “We must balance the budget and not spend money that we do not have.”

Walsh noted that there has been a considerable amount of misinformation put out by AFSCME Local 1028 – such as the claims that their members have not received pay increase for the last four years when in fact they have continued to receive 2.5% wage step increased in each of those years.    He hoped that the general public would take a look at the facts and realize that the proposal the County leaders have presented to Local 1028 which insures that all AFSCME-represented employees receive wage increases that more than offset any increase in health insurance premiums the employees will be asked to pay is more than fair and should be approved by the union so that their members can return to work and resume receiving their paychecks and health insurance.

“The first casualty of many political campaigns, and union negotiations, is the truth,” said Walsh.  “I am truly disappointed in the personal attacks and other misinformation that has been released to the public during the past several months.  I hope that we can get past all of this negativity and get our workers back to their jobs and all the services to Will County residents returned to normal.”

Walsh thanked the many County employees who have worked hard to prepare for a possible strike and said he has confidence in all of the elected officials, department heads, and other county staff who will continue to provide quality and friendly services to Will County residents during the strike.