Dear brothers and sisters, please keep in mind the limited amount of tickets available for the 9/3/08 Astros at Cubs game with a special pre-party in the upper deck. Remember, the money we raise (above and beyond the cash laid out for tickets and party) goes to fund the three $2000 scholarships we give to law students who clerk for us each year. Get the cubs/astros game flyer here.
We have been patiently waiting for the County to provide us with copies of our current collective bargaining agreement so we can distribute it to the membership. The contract was ratified in June of 2006 and expires in November of this year. But the language regarding contract printing in the signed contract doesn’t have any teeth:
Section 14.11. Contract Printing:The County agrees to arrange for the printing of this Agreement in such numbers so as to provide a copy for every attorney currently in the office and those likely to be hired with while this Agreement is in effect.
Needless to say, it doesn’t say when itneeds to be printed.
In the meantime, we are providing the “redlined” version here for our members to review. Just click this link : 2004-2008 contract
Here is the text of the complaint filed by Council 31 in the Burnette v. Stroger matter:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION
THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, COUNCIL 31
vs.
TODD STROGER
COMPLAINT
Plaintiff complains against Defendant as follows:
1. The Plaintiff in this action is Council 31 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (”AFSCME Council 31″). Council 31 is a statewide labor organization representing over 70,000 members in the State of Illinois. Council 31 represents several hundred employees in the Office of the Cook County Public Defender (”the Public Defender”), including those in the classifications of Assistant Public Defender I, II, III and IV. Council 31 also represents investigators and other support staff employees of the Public Defender whose services are essential for the Office to implement its statutory mission.
2. The employees represented by AFSCME have designated Council 31 to be their exclusive bargaining representative with respect to the wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. AFSCME Council 31 therefore has standing to bring this lawsuit on their behalf.
3. The Assistant Public Defenders represented by Plaintiff AFSCME are responsible for representing indigent defendants who have been accused of crimes and in certain civil matters. Accordingly, the Assistant Public Defenders represented by Plaintiff AFSCME who work for the Public Defender handled approximately three hundred thousand felony and misdemeanor cases for poor defendants last year. The Assistant Public Defenders represented by AFSCME are organized into approximately 15 different divisions and work out offices in Chicago, Markham, Bridgeview, Skokie, Maywood, and Rolling Meadows. Similarly the investigators employed by the Public Defender and represented by AFSCME handled over 150,000 assignments last year.
4. The Office of the Public Defender is an independent agency within Cook County government. It is currently headed by Edwin A. Burnette. The powers and obligations of the Office and of the Public Defender are defined in 55 Illinois Compiled Laws, Section 5/3-4000 et. seq. In particular, 55 ILCS 5/3-4008.1 provides that the “compensation of and the appropriate number of assistants, clerks and employees [in the Office of the Public Defender] shall be fixed by the County Board and paid out of the County Treasury.”
5. The Defendant in this action is Todd Stroger. Stroger is the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. As President he has the responsibility to implement the annual budget enacted by the Board of Commissioners and to properly administer several departments in Cook County, including the Office of the Public Defender.
6. The 2007 budget enacted by the County Board of Commissioners appropriated funds for 465 Assistant Public Defender I, II, III and IV positions in the Office of the Public Defender.
7. Immediately after the appropriation measure was enacted, Defendant Stroger withheld funding for 34 positions within the Office of the Public Defender. These positions included 13 Assistant Public Defenders represented by AFSCME, 4 Assistant Public Defenders who were supervisors and/or managers and 17 support staff. This refusal to honor the appropriation ordinance caused the layoff of 13 Assistant Public Defenders and 13 support staff. These layoffs were illegal because they contravened the budget appropriations measure enacted by the Cook County Board of Commissioners. These layoffs were implemented in April 2007.
8. In addition to causing the layoffs set forth in the preceding paragraph, Defendant Stroger has refused to allow the Public Defender to fill vacant positions. The result has been that the total number of attorneys in the office has decreased by 42 positions since the end of 2006. This number includes 32 lawyers who are in the classifications represented by AFSCME and 10 supervisor/managers. Defendant Stroger’s refusal to allow the filling of vacant positions has also resulted in a decrease in the number of investigators and support staff.
9. The impact of the decrease in the number of attorneys has been to increase the caseloads of the remaining Assistant Public Defenders. Consequently, the caseloads of the Assistant Public Defenders now greatly exceed the recommended caseloads for Public Defenders as established by recognized standard setting agencies such as the American Bar Association. The Assistant Public Defenders assigned to felony courtrooms now have caseloads which average 60% more than the caseloads recommended by national standards. The Assistant Public Defenders assigned to misdemeanor courtrooms now have caseloads which average more than 400% than the caseloads recommended by national standards.
Count I
(Relief for Illegal Layoffs)
This Count is brought by AFSCME on behalf the Assistant Public Defenders and the support staff employees of the Public Defender for their unlawful layoff. AFSCME realleges and incorporates by reference Paragraphs 1 to 9 above as Paragraphs 1-9 of this Count. It seeks reinstatement and damages for the support staff employees who are still laid off from the Public Defender and damages in the form of back pay for the support staff and the Assistant Public Defenders who have now been recalled to work.
10. The decision of Defendant Stroger to withhold the money appropriated by the County Board for the Office of the Public Defender caused the layoffs of 13 Assistant Public Defenders and 13 support staff employees. The actions of Defendant Stroger contravened the appropriations measure passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners and state law.
11. All of the Assistant Public Defenders represented by AFSCME and all but 2 of the support staff represented by AFSCME who have been laid off have now been recalled to work. Wherefore, AFSCME seeks the following relief on behalf of its members and requests the Court to take the following action:
a) declare that the layoffs ordered by Defendant Stroger violated the appropriations measure and state law;
b) order the reinstatement of the employees who are still laid off;
c) order the payment of back pay to employees for the period they were illegally laid off; and
d) order any other relief the Court deems equitable and just.
Count II
This Count is brought by AFSCME obtain an order to require Defendant Stroger to promptly take action to allow the Public Defender to fill vacancies in his Office. AFSCME realleges and incorporates by reference Paragraphs 1 to 9 above as Paragraphs 1-9 of this Count.
10. Defendant Stroger has a legal duty to honor the appropriation for the Public Defender by the Cook County Board of Commissioners under state law.
11. Since the beginning of the 2007 budget year, Defendant Stroger has prevented the Public Defender from filling vacancies in his office for positions for which funds were appropriated by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in the 2007 budget ordinance. The actions of Defendant Stroger have therefore violated his legal duty under state law to honor the appropriations of the Board for the Public Defender.
12. These actions of Defendant Stroger will continue unless halted by this Court.
13. These actions by Defendant Stroger have caused the caseloads of the Assistant Public Defenders represented by AFSCME to increase substantially.
14. This increase in caseloads has undermined the ability of the Assistant Public Defenders represented by AFSCME to carry out their constitutional, statutory and ethical obligation to effectively represent their clients. It has also made their jobs more difficult and time consuming without any concomitant increase in compensation.
15. Sufficient funds exist in the Treasury of the County of Cook to honor the appropriations ordinance enacted by the Cook County Board of Commissioners for the Public Defender.
Wherefore, Plaintiff requests that this court order the following relief:
a) declare that Defendant Stroger has violated his obligation to honor the appropriations of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and that he has a duty to allow the Public Defender to promptly fill vacancies that occur in his Office;
b) order Defendant Stroger to allow the Public Defender to promptly fill vacancies in budgeted positions and to cease actions that interfere with the efforts of the Public Defender to fill such positions; and
c) any other relief the Court deems equitable and just.
FIRST DEFENSE LEGAL AID
Cordially invites you to join us
in honoring our
2008 First Defender
LOCKE BOWMAN
Clinical Associate Professor of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
Director, MacArthur Justice Center
Thursday, May 29, 2008
generously hosted by
Jenner & Block LLC
330 North Wabash Avenue
40 South Lounge
Chicago, Illinois
5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served
Sponsorship Levels
$5,000 • Platinum
$3,000 • Gold
$1,000 • Silver
$ 500 • Bronze
$ 250 • Supporter
Individual Donation
$50
Student / Public Interest Donation
$25
Do not hesitate to pass along this invitation to other supporters!
Please make checks payable to “First Defense Legal Aid” and send to:
First Defense Legal Aid | 6400 South Kedzie Ave.| Chicago, IL 60629 (773) 434-4162 | Email: fdlegalaid@gmail.com
Or go to our website and donate using your credit/debit card:
http://www.first-defense.org/AboutUs.htm
About First Defense Legal Aid
First Defense Legal Aid (”FDLA”) is an innovative program that protects civil rights by offering free 24-hour legal representation and advice to any individual taken into Chicago Police Department custody. The Program’s services cover the initial and most critical stage of police detention: immediately after arrest until the time when a public defender has been assigned by the court system. Volunteers are trained to handle emergency calls by determining the nature of the call and whether a station visit is necessary to represent the individual in police custody. If a station visit is necessary, FDLA volunteers will interview the arrestee, inform the arrestee of his/her constitutional rights, provide the arrestee with bond information, and serve as a link between the arrestee and his/her family.
Our History
First Defense Legal Aid began in 1995, as a program of the Chicago Commons Association. It was originally named the “Police Custody Hotline Program”, but the name was quickly changed to First Defense Legal Aid at the request of community residents. FDLA became an independent corporation in 2002, and a 501(c)(3) organization in 2003.
Board of Directors Advisory Board Honorary Board
Sulaiman M. Qazi Jeff Brown Locke Bowman
Chairman Patricia Smith Carol A. Brook
Michael Wilson Richard Dvorak Edwin A. Brunette
Treasurer Craig Futterman Kenneth L. Cunniff
Carolyn Gold Aberman Scott Levy John Fitzgerald
Secretary John Lyke Richard S. Kling
Dev Parikh Andrea D. Lyon
Harriet McCullough Zenaida Alonzo Terence F. MacCarthy
Sean P. MacCarthy Shaena Fazal R. Eugene Pincham
Scott T. Kamin Theodore Woerthwein Randolph N. Stone
Jonathan Peck Wayne Novak Scott Turow
Kristine Neal Michael Finn
Jessica Hunter Tony Hill
Nikol M. Miller Elfreda Dockery
Staff
John Hayes
Executive Director
Julia Sportolari
Development Director
Local 3315 will be having its annual golf outing on July 24, 2008 at Eaglewood in Itasca. This was the place where we held our outing last year and were having an excellent time — until of course the tornado laden weather hit the area. This year we will be hoping for better weather. The outing includes 18 holes of golf with a cart, dinner, drinks and a myriad of door prizes. Our annual chair is Brother George Grezeca of the Homicide Task Force. More details about tee times and costs for guests as these details become available. Please mark your calendars (or correct them) for this annual gathering of members on the links.
The Jack Carey Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce the next fundraiser. Cubs v. Houston, September 3, 2008, Wrigley Field. More information on tickets and exclusive pre-game festivities when they become available. Mark your calenders!
As the Local did for members with last names from A-M in September of 2007, it will host a two hour cocktail reception following the second day of the mandatory MCLE at McCormick Place for members with last names N-Z.
All members at the seminar will receive two drink tickets which can be redeemed for the drink of their choice: beer, wine, pop , water and mixed drinks. The bartenders will also accept cash if you run out of tickets.
* Room E450 (one floor up from where the main seminar room.)
* March 7, 2008 5pm-7pm
Please drink responsibly.
The local has uploaded a new seniority list that it received from Council 31 in Springfield last month. Please take a look at it. If you believe there is an error, please send an explanatory memo to Nik-ki Whitingham, who is now the personnel director, and don’t forget to forward a copy to the union.
The union is pleased to inform the membership that the following laid off attorneys are being notified to present themselves for a physical exam so they can return to work and be recalled from layoff. Those union members are:
Mychal Luther,
Christopher Nathan,
Loveleen Ahuja,
Roseanne Scarimbolo,
Takanya Nixon,
Jerry Byerly, and
Dolorita May.
If your name appears above and you have not been notified, please contact Mary Maldonado immediately in personnel.
We expect the attorneys who pass the physical to start back to work on August 20, 2007.
The AFL-CIO is having a presidential candidate forum on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at McCormick Place West. Tickets are free but are going fast. If you would like to attend, please call brother Paul Bellendir (HTF) at 773 869-6310 and leave your name, phone number, and email address on his voicemail. The deadline is July 9, 2007 so please pick up the phone and call. We would like at least fifty members to attend this forum as there is space for as many as 7000 attendees. You cannot attend the event without a ticket.