Cook County Sheriff’s Dept Workers Win $200,000 Owed!

My name is Mary McGlynn and I have been working at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office for 18 years. For the past 10 years me and a group of coworkers have been demanding that our employer pay us our correct job classification. We spent years working for salaries that were much less than what we should have been paid. In total, over $200,000 of unpaid wages were owed. It’s unjust for workers to get the job done and not be compensated for our work. It’s not fair for us or our families.

This is me speaking at the Membership Meeting on February 23.

We reached out to the Sherriff’s Chief Financial Officer and the attorney’s working in the President’s office. While they agreed that we were owed money they could not decide who would pay us. It had taken them too long and we had enough. We, members of Local 73, got together and decided we would email them every day until we were paid. We let them know that we were going to show up to their board meetings and continue to speak up.

Today, I want to share with all of you that it worked. We won the nearly $200,000 that we were owed! This has been a very positive experience for me because it shows that we can accomplish something good by working together as a team.

I want each of you to know that when we stick together, we can win together. If you have been thinking about getting more involved with your union, here are a couple of ways you can become more engaged:

• Steward trainings are happening almost every week. You can find more information about how to sign up here.
• Committees will be meeting to develop the union’s program around politics and policy, social and economic justice and more. If you’re interested in applying to join, click here.