December 23, 2020 Library workers in Oak Lawn, Illinois, are newest AFSCME members Nearly 80 workers at Oak Lawn Public Library in Illinois are now part of the AFSCME family. We welcome them. Read More
December 15, 2020 New Chief Safety Officer position makes prisons safer The Illinois Department of Corrections is working with AFSCME corrections unions to fight the coronavirus pandemic as one. And the results are promising on many levels. Read More
April 06, 2020 IL Child Protection Investigator Makes the Rounds Despite COVID-19 Risk For this Illinois child protection investigator, telework and social distancing are not options. Read More
October 18, 2019 AFSCME Stands with Striking Chicago Public School Teachers CTU represents 25,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and clinicians. They are demanding that newly elected Mayor Lori Lightfoot deliver on her campaign promises. Read More
August 16, 2019 Meet the 2019 Winner of the Gerald W. McEntee Scholarship This year’s winner of the Gerald W. McEntee Scholarship juggles a full-time job, graduate studies and union activism. Read More
June 24, 2019 New Era in Illinois: State Workers Secure Fair Contract In an unmistakable sign that a new era has dawned in Illinois, state workers have secured a fair, new contract from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration. Read More
May 23, 2019 Council 31 Members Make Gains in the Fight for Workplace Safety AFSCME Council 31 members who work for Illinois’ Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice successfully used their union contract. Read More
May 02, 2019 Illinois State Workers On Proper Step After Illegal Freeze State workers in Illinois are getting step increases they were denied under former Gov. Bruce Rauner, thanks to the current governor, J.B. Pritzker. Read More
April 08, 2019 Solidarity prevails in Rockford privatization fight When members of AFSCME Local 1275 (Council 31) stood as one and said no to outsourcing, their employer – Rockford, Illinois, Public Schools – backed down. Read More
March 20, 2019 More Courts Agree: Attacks Against Public Service Workers Are Going Too Far Courts are increasingly putting a stop to mounting attacks against public service workers, this time to recover previously paid fair share fees. Read More
November 09, 2018 Victory over Rauner in Illinois Was Proof of AFSCME’s Strength Gov. Bruce Rauner was not a friend of working people. So working people worked hard to make sure he was denied a second term. Read More
November 07, 2018 AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders Hails Pro-Worker Victories in Midterms AFSCME President Lee Saunders praised union members for defying wealthy special interests and electing many pro-worker candidates to state and federal offices in the mid-term elections. Read More
November 01, 2018 Fierce Unity and Determination Mark Contract Win for Southern Illinois County Workers Members of AFSCME Local 2464 (Council 31), county workers from Southern Illinois’ Jackson County, won a new union contract with fair pay and affordable health care. Read More
July 23, 2018 Mark Janus Quits Public Service Job to Serve Big-Money Special Interests He announced he is quitting his state job as a child support specialist to join the Illinois Policy Institute as a “senior fellow.” Read More
July 10, 2018 ‘A Form of Identity Theft’ When a corporate front group misused an AFSCME Council 31 member’s photo, she called the group out on it. Read More
July 06, 2018 New Member Explains Why She Joined Her Union After the Janus Ruling A must-read column from a new member of AFSCME Council 31 who explains why she converted from being a fee payer to a full union member – after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. Read More
June 29, 2018 Don’t Believe the Lies, AFSCME Remains Strong The corporate interests who brought you the Janus ruling are launching their next phase. Read More
June 27, 2018 Supreme Court Sides with Billionaires Over Working People The U.S. Supreme Court today sided with powerful CEOs, billionaires and corporate special interests against public service workers and everyday working people by issuing an adverse ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. Read More
June 06, 2018 ‘We Wouldn’t Have Anything If It Weren’t for Our Union’ Only by joining together in a union can public service workers stand up to those who want to take away their fair pay and benefits and wreck their retirement and health care security. Read More
May 23, 2018 How the Plaintiff in Janus v. AFSCME Benefits from His Union Mark Janus, the plaintiff in the Janus v. AFSCME case, benefits from his union. So what convinced Mr. Janus to join this destructive lawsuit? Read More
March 27, 2018 UCAN Workers Win a Union These workers in Chicago joined together to form a union with AFSCME Council 31. Read More
March 23, 2018 Illinois Supreme Court Rejects Rauner Appeal on Steps Illinois Supreme Court rejects the governor’s appeal of a case AFSCME won at a lower court requiring the payment of step increases. Read More
March 07, 2018 Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case threatens worker freedom and safety The Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 Supreme Court case threatens worker freedom and safety. Just ask Council 31 member Randy Clover. Read More
February 13, 2018 We Mourn the Passing of Sister Pamela Knight We mourn the loss of Sister Pamela Knight, a child protection investigator for the state of Illinois. The Council 31 member died after being attacked while doing her job. Read More
February 07, 2018 Public Service Workers to Supreme Court: Don’t Silence Our Voices AFSCME and other public-service unions urge the Supreme Court not to silence the voices of workers. Read More
November 02, 2017 Violent Assaults on Staff Increasing in Illinois Prisons, Youth Centers Assaults on staff in state correctional facilities have increased by 51 percent in the last two years. Read More
October 04, 2017 IL Child Protection Investigator Attacked on the Job An Illinois child protection investigator, and a member of Council 31, was brutally attacked on the job and is in a coma. Read More
August 07, 2017 Springfield Housing Authority Workers Fight for Fair Wages, Better Contract The fight for a fair contract continues at the Springfield, Ill., Housing Authority. Read More
July 19, 2017 A Game Show Jackpot Will Change His Life – But Not His Public-Service Job Why were Illinois sanitation worker Delvar Dopson and his wife competing on the NBC show “The Wall,” and what will they do with the jackpot they won? Bet you can’t guess. Read More
July 12, 2017 Illinois Finally Has a State Budget Walking back from the brink of fiscal chaos, Illinois finally has a state budget after two years of operating without one. Read More