City Colleges Workers Win More Holidays, Pay Raises in New Contract

Facilities workers at City Colleges of Chicago are celebrating a new contract. The contract, overwhelmingly supported by members, contains historic pay increases and improvements to work/life balance, among other wins.

Workers will receive a $2.50 hourly pay increase in 2024, a $1.50 hourly pay increase in 2025, and a $1.00 hourly pay increase in 2026. Additionally, workers will now observe Juneteenth as a paid holiday, their birthdays as a personal holiday, and be allowed to take both Christmas and New Year’s Eve off.

New employees will now earn sick time in their first year, and workers will now receive more vacation time.

“This is my third time being part of the bargaining committee, and this time was the smoothest. We finally won things that we’ve been asking about for years, like New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve holidays. Workers have told me this is the best contract we’ve ever had,” Yolanda Hale, Janitor and Bargaining Committee member.

Photo credit: “Malcolm X College” by Daniel X. O’Neil is licensed under CC BY 2.0