City of Chicago Workers Demand Answers From Mayor, City Council on Stalled Contract

City of Chicago workers, represented by SEIU Local 73, called on the Mayor and the City Council to intervene and assure they will not lose their negotiated wage increases and pandemic pay at a press conference at City Hall.

“The Mayor has the authority to honor the agreement we negotiated and has chosen not to,” said Dian Palmer, President of SEIU Local 73. “We are calling on the Chicago City Council to investigate why the join bargaining relationship between our unions has not yet been severed and to expedite this process so that City workers receive the raises and pandemic pay they were promised.”

SEIU Local 73 represents more than 800 City of Chicago workers in Traffic Control, Parking Enforcement, and Aviation Security, among other fields. These workers, whose contracts expired on June 22, 2022, have shown remarkable patience, waiting for their negotiated contract to be ratified. Unfortunately, their contract is tied to the IBEW Local 21 contract, whose President, Paul Wright, is not allowing a ratification to be held. This delay is causing significant financial and emotional stress for our workers, who are now uncertain about their future. If an agreement cannot be reached before the end of the year, negotiated pandemic pay for our workers will be in jeopardy due to the deadline on ARPA funds. Negotiated raises will be in jeopardy due to the City’s budget crisis.

“The time is now to step up and do right by the workers of the City of Chicago,” said Alderman Matt Martin (47th Ward). “I think it’s unconscionable that we’ve been waiting over a year and a half for a contract, that to be clear, has already been negotiated. It is ready to be signed. And if we can’t move forward in one direction, then let’s sever that, and make sure we can move forward by providing the dignity and stability that every single Chicago worker needs and wants right now. You have my commitment that this contract will be taken care of by the end of this year. Because when we make promises in Chicago we live by them.”

SEIU Local 73 has petitioned the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB) to sever the Joint Bargaining relationship between the IBEW and SEIU Local 73 for the City of Chicago Unit 2 bargaining unit. SEIU Local 73 has also called on the City of Chicago to agree to allow us to sever the IBEW/SEIU relationship. This would enable SEIU Local 73 members to receive negotiated wage increases and pandemic pay while preserving the IBEW’s right to keep fighting.

“My name is Karen and I want to speak to the manager!,” said Karen Lindberg, Parking Enforcement Field Supervisor. “I’ve been a city worker for 28 years. We’re struggling like everyone else to pay our bills. Because of the actions IBEW Local 21 President Paul Wright, our contract and pay raises are in jeopardy. We demand an investigation into why our contract cannot be severed. We and our families will remember this at the ballot box in the next election.”

“This is the hardest working people in the City of Chicago. We deserve our pay raises,” said Aviation Security Officer Aurelius Cole. “We want the mayor to settle our contract. And if he won’t do it, then we are demanding the City Council hold an investigation about why we can’t get our contracts signed now.”