Progress and Delays at OUP

We made some continued progress at Offices Under the President negotiations on Wednesday. We agreed to add Juneteenth Day as a paid holiday, allow remote participation in grievance meetings, and remove the residency requirement for bargaining unit employees.

We are still waiting to receive the information we requested months ago about the finances and outsourced work in Transportation and Highways and other financial costing information. There was a fair amount of discussion, mostly in a sidebar with the Federal Mediator, about the disciplinary process, labor-management meetings, and protecting bargaining unit work and jobs – including additional limits to subcontracting.

There was also some progress in the discussion and subsequent management counter-proposal on lateral transfers to a different shift or location and job bidding rights across all of the County.

Next, we are scheduled on March 25 to listen to a financial presentation from the County as we prepare to finish up much of the noneconomic negotiations and shift toward our economic bargaining goals:

• Guaranteed raises every year for every worker
• Increased step increases to reward longevity and experience
• Improved paid time off benefits
• Fix certain inequities in the current pay structure
• No givebacks

Other upcoming bargaining dates are:

• March 19 Clerk’s Office
• March 22 Sheriff’s Office
• March 25 CCH
• April 2 Clerk’s Office

You can view the latest information on Cook County Bargaining on our website. 

Be sure to show your union pride every Wednesday by wearing your Local 73 swag or wearing purple! Organizers will distribute stickers at worksites for you to wear. Working remotely? Here’s a Zoom background you can use in meetings!