Around 50 state of Illinois workers and their supporters demonstrated in front of the Department of Children and Family Services building on East Main Street in Galesburg during the noon hour on Thursday. They handed out informational flyers to passersby.
They were joined by thousands of colleagues who rallied at other demonstrations around Illinois, calling for a new contract between the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and the state. The current agreement expires at the end of the month.
Silverstre Diaz organized the rally in Galesburg. He is the steward for AFSCME Local 2615 and works as a case worker for the Department of Human Services.
Silverstre said he wanted to make sure state services remain available to people who rely on them.
“To disrupt those services would get rid of extremely vital situations. Between DCFS helping children, (and DHS's) help (to) individuals with medical and food. To disrupt those is unfair to the people of Illinois,” Silverstre said.
Silverstre said he knows cuts could be imminent. But he said the focus is on keeping services available.
The union workers were joined by members of the Galesburg Education Association, which is the teachers union in the Galesburg School District.
Dave Sharper, GEA President, said negative ramifications are possible if the two sides cannot reach a deal that's fair to workers.
“If it is successful to diminish their wages, their benefits -- all aspects affect the communities they live in. If it doesn’t get stopped, it trickles on to other organizations and other unions and other community members. So we’ve got to stand united to put a stop to that because we’ve already had enough cuts,” Sharper said.
Sharper said he feels a tough battle is ahead for the unions. Governor Bruce Rauner has been critical of organized labor.
