Perseverance, Community Support Lead to Tentative Agreement for Jewish Federation Workers

The bargaining team of the Jewish Federation of Chicago workers reached a tentative agreement late Tuesday, January 24.

“Our victory was the combination of the perseverance of our bargaining team, media actions and social media ads from our union, and support from the public and elected officials,” said Lillian Gecker, Certified Clinician and Steward at JCFS Chicago. “But most importantly, this victory was achieved through the action from the hundreds of union members who stepped up, got involved, and made their voices heard.”

The tentative agreement includes several wins, including: increased across-the-board annual raises; for the first time ever, pay tables based on seniority; expanded paid parental leave; paid COVID leave; $0 mental health co-pays; bilingual pay; improved language related to workload; staffing; work-life balance, and much more. More details will be provided to membership in the coming days.

“As early childhood teachers, we’ve been underpaid and understaffed for too long. We fought hard for fair pay increases that will help retain quality teachers and reward those who have given years of service to JCC,” said Emily Kaufman, Lead Teacher at Bernard Weinger JCC and Bargaining Team Member. “While there is more work to be done in improving pay in the early childhood field as a whole, I’m proud that this tentative agreement secures the highest pay increases for teachers we’ve ever seen before in our union contract.”