9 September 2015

AFSCME Sub-chapter 161

Dear member:

We will meet again at Ruby Tuesdays Restaurant at 5203 Old Orchard Road, Skokie, Il. on Wednesday, 16^th September. The meeting starts at 11 AM.

The business of this meeting is twofold: 1) Election of officers, executive board members, and trustees. 2) With the failure of the Illinois House vote to override the Governor Rauner’s veto of SB1229, there is a probability of a lockout or strike.

In our last meeting. Ms Jo Patton, of Council 31’s staff, laid out the the hostile actions of the governor’s bargaining team during the current negotiations. With the defeat of SB1229’s override vote, Council 31 and AFSCME Retiree Council 31 have decided on a joint course of action.

The bargaining team will continue to bargain for a contract acceptable to the state workers covered by the master contract. Our Union will fight, hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst (impasse and lockout). When this happens, the retirees will have a role in this fight.

The second piece of business will be a discussion of how we can re-tool and apply past and current work to this threat.

There are no winners in a strike. Economically, it will touch all of us. Our goal will be to prepare to deter the strike if we can, and help our union prevail if it happens. The purpose of deterrence is to tell your adversary that his chances of success are exceedingly slim to none at all.

Sincerely,

Charles Hogan, President

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