Teamsters File Labor Charges Against Illinois' 16th Judicial Circuit Court

Teamsters File Labor Charges Against Illinois' 16th Judicial Circuit Court

Labor Unrest Mounts For Court’s Underpaid Officers and Juvenile Counselors

November 27, 2002

(Elgin, IL) – Teamsters Local 330 in Elgin, Illinois filed unfair labor practice charges against Illinois’ 16th Judicial Circuit Court today. The charges stem from actions taken by court management to interfere with and interrogate some members of the bargaining unit, which includes probation officers and youth home counselors.

“The 16th Circuit Court will learn that there are consequences to be paid for interrogating its hard working employees,” said Dominic Romanazzi, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 330. “These workers are fed up with the treatment they’ve received and will no longer sit by idly and be passed over, ignored or taken for granted.”

Probation officers in Kane County are required by the state to have four-year college degrees with a base salary of $27,000 a year, which tops out at $40,000 a year with 11-15 years of experience. Local 330’s records show that there are a number of officers in the unit who have worked for 15 or more years and still do not make top-level pay. The 114 Teamster members are requesting an across-the-board $3,500-a-year salary adjustment to make up for years of systematic underpayment.

Members of the bargaining unit voted on Friday November 22 to reject the court’s most recent contract offer and authorize a strike beginning next week.

Contract talks with the court began in October of 2002 and have progressed very little. The union agreed to federal mediation on November 26, yet the court said no and refused to negotiate further.

“The County Board has acknowledged that they have established a contingency fund, and it may be used to provide the salary adjustment our members are seeking,” Romanazzi said. “It makes no sense that the Chief Judge would risk leaving sexual offenders, thieves, drunk drivers and other violent criminals unchecked and unsupervised when this whole situation might possibly be alleviated by making a simple funding request.”

Teamsters Local 330 represents more than 2,000 workers across Northern Illinois.