April 13, 2006 – IAM members from LL 48 and District 8 have been picketing in front of the Oak Park, Illinois city hall to let the public know their tax dollars are being poured down the drain by city management that refuses to honor their IAM contract.
After pressure from a coalition of unions and recent elections putting Trustees on the board who believe in honoring union contracts, there is good news for city tax payers, voters and union members: the city manager has announced he is resigning and moving out of state.
The Oak Park legal department continues to waste money fighting the union. For example,the village recently spent nearly $400,000 on an outside law firm to deal with workplace issues. With three full time attorneys and two employees in the Human Resources Department, the IAM believes this is a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.
The harassment of IAM members hasn’t stopped, either. Just last week, Oak Park management called in police to escort one of our members out of the building who was being placed on paid suspension for job performance. This type of treatment of our members is totally uncalled for and so the picketing will continue with increasing support from the Oak Park Trustees, the community and other labor unions.