November 21, 2023

The IL AFL-CIO Update: Your Illinois Labor Digest

Dear friends:

It is a busy week with the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner.

Our union siblings in vital industries like grocery, retail, aviation, and transportation have been hard at work to help us prepare for a magical holiday season and get us to and from our destinations.

First responders like fire fighters and paramedics, delivery and truck drivers, hospitality workers, and so many others have been working diligently behind the scenes to keep us safe and make the holidays happen.

On Black Friday, retail workers will have one of the busiest days of the year. As the "official" start to the holiday season, we urge you to remember that kindness is what the season all about and to treat all workers with dignity and respect.

There is a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. UAW members ratified historic contracts at Ford, GM and Stellantis, and SAG-AFTRA members are voting on a potential, three-year contract following a 118 day strike.

On the ground in Chicago, UNITE HERE Local 1 restaurant workers from the Signature Room at the 95th floor of the John Hancock building were illegally laid off in late September.

Management failed to provide Signature Room employees with the legally required notice per the federal WARN Act and instead, shut its doors with no recourse for these individuals.

These workers have launched a campaign asking to go back to work if a new restaurant opens in the space. Sign your name to the petition here.

Let's continue doing what the labor movement does best this holiday season: standing in solidarity with each other.

We wish you a happy Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing you soon.

In solidarity,

Tim Drea & Pat Devaney

President, IL AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer, IL AFL-CIO

P.S: If you find yourself doing a last minute Thanksgiving grocery run, remember that you can buy Union Made with the AFL-CIO's guide to a Union-Made in America Thanksgiving.

Paid Leave for All

The Paid Leave For All Workers Act goes into effect January 1, 2024. This legislation guarantees that workers in Illinois can earn up to 40 hours of paid time off per year that can be used for any reason, at the employee’s discretion.

The Illinois Department of Labor has several resources to help assist employers and employees with the ins and outs of this new legislation.

The Illinois Department of Labor is hosting a series of webinars to educate employers and employees on the new law. The department will also host a Paid Leave for All Workers Webinar that is labor specific on December 6^th at 3pm. Please register here, and visit the department's website to read the FAQ's on the new law.

The Illinois AFL-CIO visits Harvard Law School

The Illinois AFL-CIO was invited to Harvard Law School's Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Throughout the weekend, we joined labor experts from across the country to identify the most pressing issues our movement faces.

Samantha McClain, Illinois AFL-CIO Chief of Staff, discussed her work as State Director on the Workers' Rights Amendment in the context of state constitutional amendments as a vehicle for change.

Individuals from the Northeast to the South to the West Coast referenced the important work we are doing here at home in Illinois with examples like the recent Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act, Paid Leave for All and the Workers' Rights Amendment as opportunities to protect workers and create an economy that works for everyone.

Labor 2024: Political Update

IBEW Local 641 business manager Jarrett Clem is running in the Illinois House 104^th district. The district primarily includes Danville area to outskirts of Champaign. Clem is an elected community college trustee.

The 104^th is a swing district on paper with Biden taking 51 percent of the vote and the Workers’ Rights Amendment with 56 percent. No Republican has formally announced for the open seat, held by Rep. Mike Marron who is not running.

In the open DuPage County-based House 45^th, Democrat Marti Deuter has jumped in the race to replace Rep. Jenn Ladisch-Douglass.

Deuter is an Elmhurst alderperson. The suburban district leans Democratic with Joe Biden taking 57 percent of the vote in the last presidential election.

We applaud President Biden’s announcement of the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally, a framework that will reshape how U.S. government agencies conduct international diplomacy by putting workers’ rights and standards at the center.

New Global Labor Directive Is a Game Changer for Workers in the U.S. and Around the World

Across the globe, working people are united in our fight against growing corporate overreach and abuse, low wages, attacks on organizing, the absence of strong benefits and poor working conditions. This new strategy is a major victory for workers everywhere and underscores that workers’ rights are essential to our country’s national and foreign policy, and national and economic security.

This framework will leverage diplomacy to promote internationally recognized labor rights and worker organizing; create measures that enable swift responses to violence and threats against trade union leaders, activists and organizations; improve the capacity of U.S. agencies and foreign missions to engage with workers and their representatives to improve the lives of working people; and enhance and enforce fair trade practices. The directive recognizes that no matter where we live, all workers deserve dignity and respect on the job.

We need a global economy that puts working people at the center, and we look forward to collaborating with the Biden administration to implement and execute the strategy with our partners and allies at home and abroad.

Your Union At Work

The adjunct faculty who are members of the Columbia Faculty Union (CFAC, IFT Local 6602) at Columbia College Chicago were forced to strike on October 30 to stand up for what students need and faculty deserve.

They need your help in this important fight! SEND THIS PREWRITTEN LETTER to the chair of the Columbia College Board of Trustees. Help us fill his inbox with messages of support for students and educators!

The Union Sportsmen's Alliance held their annual southern Illinois conservation dinner on November 16. The event raises funds for conservation projects where union members live, work and recreate.

Employees of the Niles-Maine District Library have their first union contract.

In addition to laying out costs for health care, ensuring predictable schedules, and providing for a fair process to resolve disputes between workers and managers, the contract also creates the library’s first-ever paid parental leave benefit.

Meet Kim Stewart, UFCW Local 881, Shop Steward, Jewel-Osco Employee

What is your job, union and local?

I am a DriveUp and Go shopper at Jewel-Osco in Melrose Park, IL where I have worked for fifteen years. I have also served on the front end as an assistant manager, checker and on the back end in the produce department and general merchandise.

What is your role in the union?

I am a proud member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881. At our store, I serve as the shop steward and I also sit on the local’s executive board.

How has the union impacted your life? What would you like people to know about being a union member?

We have a very good, strong union. I love and am grateful for Local 881.

The union has impacted me in so many positive ways. The local saved my job when Jewel terminated me for taking an extended maternity leave.

Together, we were able to build a case and demonstrate that I followed all the proper protocols. I was later reinstated.

My work in the local has also helped me build relationships and use my voice. I am constantly learning from my fellow union leaders and appreciate the opportunity to show others what the union difference looks like.

What is it like to work in the grocery industry during the holiday season?

It’s intense, hectic, and enjoyable at the same time! I love interacting with customers and building relationships with regulars. We help the holidays come alive for these individuals and strive to go the extra mile to make sure they have what they need for the perfect holiday meal.

It can also be extremely stressful to work in a grocery store around the holidays. Customers are time crunched and often on a short fuse. The store personnel do their best to handle the high volume of shoppers. However, it requires extra patience, compassion and meeting people where they are at during a time when both our customers and store personnel are under tremendous pressure.

When situations arise, I do my best to keep my composure and deescalate the situation because I want to focus on serving the customer by helping them meet their holiday shopping needs.

Can you walk me through a typical work-day during Thanksgiving week?

On Monday, I began at 5am after commuting nearly an hour to work.

The first thing I do is sign in on the computer and make sure all the DriveUp and Go orders have been closed from the prior day. On Monday, the computer system decided to crash and it took us another hour and a half to get it up and running.

While the team was navigating the technology issues, the phone was already ringing with customers calling for refunds and special orders.

Once we got the computers fixed, I was able to go back to my shopping – this involved picking orders for individuals and coordinating with the deli, bakery and other departments to fulfill customer requests.

Right now, there are more customers in the store than is typical. When I am picking an order, customers will frequently stop me and ask for help. It’s important that we assist them. It’s also pertinent to recognize the invisibility that comes with roles like mine. Customers will often see me working in the aisle, and they fail to realize that I am working for another customer who is behind a computer screen and have a deadline to meet.

We are also short staffed (and have been since COVID) which adds an extra layer of tension because customers want to be served. Customer service is a significant pillar of the grocery industry, and it is helpful to acknowledge that my colleagues and I are also human beings. We can only be in one place at one time and look forward to serving our customers as soon as we are able to do so.

UFCW talks about how “members make the holidays.” What types of things do you do at work to prepare for the season and make it special for your customers?

It’s important to remember that people are under a lot of pressure this time of year.

We do not always know what is going on in their lives or what meaning the holidays have for them.

I approach this by treating people with respect, developing a human connection with them, and simply trying to bring ease into their day and a smile to their face.

You mentioned that you enjoy your job. Tell me more about that.

I love starting the day by putting a smile on someone’s face. We live in an age where people are glued to their screens and smart devices.

Human interaction is becoming an anomaly, and I enjoy helping people remember the joy of interacting with one another and building relationships.

As a customer service professional, it is a pleasure to pick out a great order for my customer. I want to share my tricks of the trade and find them the best product that will allow them to have a great experience with our store.

What are your thoughts about self-checkout?

It’s tough! Self-checkout is not new, and it has become increasingly popular since the pandemic.

We are facing several issues with it. For example, the system is prone to errors and the self-checkout clerks end up doing the same amount of work that they would if they were on a checkout line.

A key labor issue with self-checkout is that you have one person serving eight people, all at the same time. Customers are also reluctant to ask for and accept help, which can make things difficult, especially when you need to keep the line moving.

What about COVID - what was it like to be an essential worker during the pandemic and how did your union help you navigate it?

It was very challenging. At the time, my husband was battling cancer and I did not know what risk I posed to him after interacting with the public all day.

At the beginning of the crisis, the company was initially reluctant to let us wear masks and did not want to provide PPE.

UFCW fought for us and made sure that we had plexiglass shields, PPE, and other essentials to stay safe and healthy during a time of great uncertainty.

When the George Floyd uprisings took off, many of us were afraid of looting and having to evacuate the store. The Melrose Park police department required us to close our doors.

In the end, the Melrose Park store was fine, but many of our colleagues working at stores in other locations were displaced when their stores were ransacked. The union ensured they were placed in another store and compensated when those stores were in the process of reopening.

Are you able to spend the holidays with your family or will you be at work?

I am blessed and do spend the holidays with my family. However, many people working in the grocery industry do not have that privilege.

A lot of workers will finish their shift at 4pm, and they still need to commute home following an exhausting, full day of work during one of the busiest days of the year.

How do you take care of yourself and prepare yourself for the holiday rush?

Self-care is critical! Our labor is physical, mental and emotional.

We are on our feet all day long, lifting heavy products and handling many types of personalities – both with each other as colleagues and our customers.

Most of us start work very early or work late and have a long commute on top of that.

Getting enough sleep, eating healthy, exercising, and treating myself to things I enjoy like a massage are critical for my mental and physical well-being.

Illinois AFL-CIO | 217-544-4014 | contact@ilafl-cio.org | www.ilafl-cio.org