SEIU Local 73 Members Demand Action from Illinois Legislators

Hundreds of SEIU Local 73 members and their families descended on the Illinois State Capitol Building to demand legislators pass legislation directly impacting their jobs and their livelihoods including:

• Passing HB 1654 to allow K-12 support staff and Higher Education workers to collect unemployment insurance over the summer when schools are closed.
• Fulfilling their promise fully fund all school districts by 2027 as stated in the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act.
• Pass HB 2711/SB 2 the Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act and fix Tier 2 pensions.
• Invest in University of Illinois workers’ wages and benefits rather than administrator salaries and capital development.

“We have hundreds of members here today from CPS, UIC, Secretary of State, and many other units, to let our legislators know we support the people who support us,” said Dian Palmer. President of SEIU Local 73. “It’s time for the general assembly to show us they support our members by passing these bills, fulfilling their promises, and investing in our members.”

“School staff like me are forced to do with less or try and find temporary work every summer,” said Lois Wilson, CPS School Bus Aide. “House Bill 1654 will allow us to collect unemployment when school is out for the summer and end the cycle of questioning how we will make ends meet until school starts again.

“I’m a Tier One pension state employee, and I am out here fighting to pass the Faire Retirement and Recruitment Act for my co-workers,” said Alexa Steele-Robinson, Public Service Representative at the Secretary of State Marion Facility. “They deserve to retire with dignity and not have to wait until they’re sixty-seven years old. It’s time to fix Tier Two now!”