Village of Oak Park Clerical and Technical Workers Speak Up for Living Wages

Unit members attended the Village of Oak Park Board meeting last night to show concern regarding the status of bargaining and the low retention rate within the workforce. Workers have been bargaining for one year and low wages and affordability remain a continual issuing of bargaining.

“We maintain and/or improve the quality of life for the people who come to Oak Park to live, work, and play. All of this driven and performed by union workers. We want to have a better quality of life as well for our families,” said Cassandra Adediran, Community Relations Coordinator, Steward, and Bargaining Team Member. “We’ve shown time and time again that we know our jobs and we do them well. So much so that people keep coming back to us. We may be considered low on the totem pole, but we are not small people. We matter and we care. And retention of good employees is key.”

“Currently, 50% of the workforce we represent have left within five years. That is an astronomical turnover rate,” said Shea Marshall, SEIU Local 73 Director of Schools and Municipalities. “The problem we have is that many of these workers don’t make enough to live in the Village. They don’t make enough to pay rent or buy groceries or simply work here. What we want is for these folks to make a good living wage. We’ve been bargaining for a year now and we are asking you to support these workers and support the Village.”

“Today marks my one year anniversary working for the Village. I am the only Animal Control Officer that the Village has successfully retained for one year since 2022. I am the fifth Animal Control Officer since 2022,” said Kyle Fortner, Animal Control Officer. “I am a one person team covering all of Village animal compliance. In 2025, I fielded 3,214 phone calls. Calls for service, stray dogs, injured and nuisance wildlife, animal bites, abandonment, neglect, barking complaints, capturing and transporting rabies samples, and more. And calls for administrative functions, running the road and abatement program, and licensing for the village’s more than 1,200 animals. Bee keeping inspections, animal facility inspections, adjudication hearings. I trained the Oak Park Police Department in animal handling and set our police officers up for success. I keep our Village in compliance with state mandated rabies quarantine procedures. My expected take-home pay in 2025 for a two week pay period was $1,344. One paycheck from the village is not enough enough to afford my monthly rent. This position, as well as as many other positions within the village, are high workload and low paid, falling well below market averages. Working for the Village is not sustainable for me. I urge the board to reconsider how much value our team brings to the Village and if it is a priority to keep staff like me who care about the quality of our mission working for our community.”