AFL-CIO launches ‘Modernizing the Movement’ initiative

The AFL-CIO is launching an initiative to upgrade Central Labor Councils and the U.S. workers represented by groups such as the West Central Illinois Labor Council.

Approved at the labor federation’s national convention, it’s starting as a pilot project, Illinois is one of six states at the forefront of the plan, along with Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey and Texas.

“There’s going to be change,” said Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea, visiting the West Central Illinois Labor Council meeting at the UAW hall last month.

“It’s hard to change after 66 years,” he added. But “you have to change to get better. We have not changed much since the AFL and CIO merged in 1958, and think about what the labor movement looked like then and what it looks like now.”

“Modernizing the Movement” will organize around principles expressed in its Value Statement.

The key areas the plan is focusing on are Alignment, Effective Political Programs, Crisis Response & Management, Strong Legislative Advocacy, Community Engagement, and Organizing & Mobilization.

Drea said organizing labor in Illinois showed its potential power in organizing and mobilizing to approve the state’s Workers’ Rights Amendment referendum in 2022.

“Between 16% and 17% of Illinois workers are union,” he said, “but we get about 22% of the vote. For the Workers’ Rights Amendment, we got 58% of the vote for passage.”

Some of that campaign’s energy came from the state’s 21 Central Labor Councils, but their influence varies from place to place. Some CLCs represent six or more counties; some are a single county.

“In a few cases, we want to help put some life into them and improve them,” Drea said. “West Central Illinois is a major player. We appreciate you. We know your involvement is a labor of love.”

Along with the key areas are updating day-to-day structures, so the AFL-CIO is suggesting clarifications to by-laws, annual reports and the political-endorsement process.

“We want transparency for affiliate [unions],” he said. “And we have to get on the same page.”

Drea anticipates the first changes will be enacted in the second half of this year, and the pilot project will finish in about 18 months.

A possibility is to have a few union staff statewide committed to the effort, Drea said.

“If we could get staff from affiliate [international unions], that would be a Godsend,” he said.

In other business, the Labor Council heard from two candidates.

* Morgan Phillips, of Lostant in LaSalle County, is seeking the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Representative from the 105^th District. The daughter of an American Federation of Teachers member, Phillips said she wants to concentrate on better conservation assistance for farmers and to “vote for the future – to consider how actions today will affect our future beyond the next election.”

* Retired UAW member Marci McCann introduced herself as the Democratic candidate running against Republican incumbent Republican Nate Hoerr in District 8 on the Peoria County Board District 8. It’s McCann’s first attempt at running the public office.

Peoria’s AFSCME school-bus staffers reach agreement

 Peoria Local 3716 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees late last month reached a Tentative Agreement with Peoria Public School for a three-year contract that includes yearly wage increases of 5%, 4.5% and 4%, finally settled with the involvement of PPS Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat.

Facing pay and insurance costs behind the rest of the District’s workers, AFSCME met at the bargaining table about 15 times, according to Nick Richards, a Staff Representative with AFSCME Council 31.

“We’d been going back and forth on different issues but were met with great resistance [from PPS’ negotiators],” Richards said.

The difference may have been a conversation between Local President Tim Sullivan and Desmoulin-Kherat.

“The last time, there was a feeling there wasn’t enough,” Richards said, “especially for wages for the drivers and monitors. The union really helped [the District] during COVID, and the superintendent appreciated that and said to contact her if it would ever help. So we made that call, had a sidebar-meeting and conversation, and slowly closed the gap [in bargaining].”

The proposed settlement – which at press time had no ratification vote scheduled – also includes some retroactive pay and a $1,000 retention bonus payable in June, said Richards, who added that another key was improvement in health insurance.

“We’ll now fall in line with the rest of the district,” he said.

Before, the district paid $5,279 for a single worker, and that was increased to about $6,300. PPS formerly paid $8,146 for family coverage, and that will become about $15,000. Also, the district will pay about $10,000 for a single worker and a spouse. A 2% annual increase also is built in.

The previous contract expired last June.

'Court jester' calls BS on Trump

More than 40% of union households voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, but it’s hardly inevitable that 2024 will see that happen again.

First, although Trump has claimed to have an approval rating among Republicans of more than 90%, in virtually every GOP primary, between 25% and 40% of ballots were for someone else, points out long-time conservative Republican, prosecutor, Marine and commentator Ron Filipkowski.

Also, his support by union households, according to exit polling by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research was 43% in 2016 and 40% in 2020, so it fell – before organized labor’s resurgence in recent years.

Lastly, Trump has done so much in the last four years.

And sometimes it takes a “court jester” to call BS on the powerful.

This month, after Super Tuesday’s primaries in 16 states, late-night TV comic Seth Meyers offered a reminder of the 77-year-old White House contender:

“Donald Trump is now the presumptive GOP nominee for president, again, for a third time, despite the fact that he’s a twice-impeached, four-time criminal indictee and racist, who has been found liable for fraud and sexual abuse, banned from doing business in the state of New York for three years, owes over half a billion dollars in fines, took millions from foreign governments while he was President, tried to extort a foreign country to interfere in an election in 2020 and encouraged another to help him win in 2016…

“actively undermined the nation’s response to a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and let a deadly disease spiral out of control, is about to go on trial for breaking campaign finance laws by paying hush money to cover up an affair during the 2016 campaign …

“orchestrated a months-long coup attempt that culminated in a violent insurrection to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and install him as an unelected dictator, stole classified documents and obstructed attempts to get them back, has never once won the popular vote and has been routinely rejected by a majority of Americans in election after election …

“spews deranged conspiracy theories about everything from climate change to immigration, to vaccines to windmills, glitches on three-syllable words, two-syllable words and one-syllable words, cheats at golf, can’t spell his own name, his wife’s name or the words ‘indicted,’ ‘education,’ ‘unprecedented,’ ‘stolen,’ ‘Denmark,’ ‘Kentucky’ or ‘tap’ …

“and is, on top of everything else, the single weirdest and most off-putting human being on the face of the f***ing planet – and this is the same planet Ted Cruz lives on, so that’s saying something.

“I’m sorry but this, this guy, this guy’s not a real person. He’s a glitching [Non Player Character] from a video game. He makes less sense than a f***ing Sim. If you put four walls around him without a door, he’d just forget to eat and pass out. Soon we’re gonna see him at a rally just running headfirst into a wall.”

 

Hopefully, it will be a blue wall built by everyday Americans.

 

Post Office plan doubted at officials' presentation

A Feb. 21 presentation by U.S. Postal Service officials brought together Democrats and Republicans, labor and management to voice concerns and skepticism about a 10-year, $40 billion plan that could drastically change USPS in the guise of upgrading the system.

The plan (“Delivering for America”) could include upgrades, but the presentation had a disconnect with the likely result of moving operations to suburban Chicago and how workers would be affected.

USPS officials shared a summary of the plan, stating that “the business case supports transferring some mail processing operations to the South Suburban Processing and Distribution Center” in Bedford Park, Ill.

Some tension stemmed from differences between business’ profit-oriented private sector and the historically public service, and also the enthusiasm of business vs. the impact on communities and workers.

The USPS says it’s still gathering public feedback, but the overwhelming consensus by the 100 or so in attendance was that the plan is a “done deal.”

U.S. Reps. Eric Sorensen (D-17^th District) and Darin LaHood (R-16^th District), in an open letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, objected to the proposal.

“While we are pleased to hear that USPS is planning to invest in new equipment and upgrades to the Peoria facility, any proposal that would jeopardize timely mail delivery, diminish customer service, or risk local jobs is unacceptable,” they wrote. “Our constituents rely on the services provided by USPS, and our local postal service centers are important cornerstones of our community.”  

Days later, before a USPS meeting in Champaign, Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-13^th) and Mary Miller (R-15^th District) also wrote a joint letter to DeJoy sharing similar concerns and questions, calling the proposal “incredibly troubling.”

“Delivering for America” also proposes moving Champaign operations to Beford Park and a Chicago regional plant, Springfield work to St. Louis, and Milan/Quad Cities operations to Des Moines.

Doug House, an aide to Sorensen, whose 17^th District stretches from Peoria and Bloomington through the Quad Cities to Rockford, expressed disappointment that the meeting at the Peoria Public Library was scheduled midday on a workday. He also shared concerns about on-time delivery, especially for medications and Social Security checks; election mail ballots, causing [Postal Workers’] families to be uprooted, and said Sorensen was “seeking assurances” about disruptions, wholesale failure or unforeseen consequences of its implementation.

“USPS has lowered its delivery standards from 1 day to 3, 3 to 5,” said House, asking, “When will they get a handle on this? 

“Peoria was recently recognized as one of the most efficient depots in the nation. Why change how it’s working now?” House added. “Peoria has been a recipient of mail from other depots that have become overwhelmed during peak mail seasons. Now you’re moving mail from Peoria and Milan to those very depots that have not been keeping up? This makes no sense.”

Some see an ulterior motive in the dramatic overhaul.

“This whole 10-year plan is to privatize the postal service,” said Bud Toft, President of Local 854 of the American Postal Workers Union. “Postmaster General DeJoy has attacked the postal service by ending delivery standards, ending or limiting the amount of mail transportation by air, thus delaying the delivery of mail, [and] closing distribution facilities – trying to consolidate many distribution centers into one.

“All this is an effort to sway public opinion of the service,” he continued, “allowing Congress to privatize under a new law. This would end the unions’ contracts, which would allow new owners to hire low minimum wage part-time workers so their profits would be higher.”

For its part, the USPS claims that the plan will be more effective, will keep Peoria’s State Street plant open – noting that “there will be no career employee layoffs as part of this initiative” – and have no effect on service.

USPS official Tim Norman said “Delivering for America” would modernize lighting and flooring, get new vehicles and sorting equipment, and improve overall working conditions, none of which relate to consolidation.

“It’s just a better way to do things, more efficient, and it also saves cost as far as transportation and logistics,” he said, offering no evidence to bolster that assertion.

Brian Wagner, immediate past President of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, said, “USPS officials will want postal customers to believe since respective postal retail services are not [immediately] impacted, customer delivery will not be impacted. This is a false narrative.

“If the implementation of the Peoria plant operational changes are implemented, mail deposited in Peoria to be delivered in Peoria could take at least 3-4 days to be delivered,” he continued. “Currently, local mail (Peoria to Peoria or to surrounding communities) takes on average two delivery days). Moving Peoria operations four hours away, one-way, most likely will double the current mail.”

The plan also would force postal workers in outlying communities to start their workdays much earlier by driving to Peoria, Wagner said, and it’s virtually silent on options for worker technically not laid off but reassigned to relocate 150 miles north to Bedford Park, and undergo training for new positions.

“This is one domino,” Wagner said. “There’s more coming.”

 

 OTHER COMMENTS

“I believe they are not transparent, and they have already planned to do what they want way before they did this so called review and public appearance. It is clearly obvious by the time they set the meeting.”

- Bud Toft President of Heart of Illinois Local 854 of the American Postal Workers Union

 

“Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s leadership, things will likely only get worse. Why? Because of DeJoy's 10-year plan to further slow down mail delivery, eliminate thousands of jobs, and raise postage prices. DeJoy is a GOP mega-donor Louis DeJoy hand-picked by then-President Trump to run the USPS [who] spent most of 2020 trying to sabotage this vital public service – imposing outrageous restrictions on postal workers, removing mailboxes by the truckload, and more – in service of Trump’s plot to silence mail-in voters during the election.

- Aaron Scherb, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs at Common Cause

 

“The Peoria facility employs 120 people [and “Delivering for America” would be moving] “good-paying, high-quality jobs from downstate Illinois.”

- From the letter by Republican Darin LaHood and Democrat Eric Sorensen

Peoria judge trims attorney’s fees in County Auditor case

Addressing requests for fees submitted by Justin Penn – representing former County Auditor Jessica Thomas – Judge Stewart Umholtz on Jan. 29 decided Penn’s rate was “reasonable,” but the judge disallowed all fees and costs related to two complaints added later.

“They’re denied,” Umholtz said.

Peoria County’s Auditor office was changed by the County Board in a 16-2 budget vote in 2021, after which Thomas sued to restore the office and its funding. In November 2022, 70% of voters casting ballots abolished the office.

Penn had been appointed in 2022 due to a conflict of interest with the Peoria State’s Attorney’s Office. Thomas’ first attorney left the case and two State’s Attorney lawyers recruited for the role from Marshall and Stark Counties also had conflicts.

A separate action was brought in September 2022 by Thomas and community advocate Karrie Alms, objecting to the referendum asking voters whether to eliminate the Auditor office. That was dismissed in May 2023 by the Appeals Court, which ruled that Thomas no longer had standing since voters abolished the office.

The original lawsuit and appointment of a special prosecutor didn’t include issues about the referendum. Before being reassigned to Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Judge James Mack in November of 2022 issued a preliminary injunction maintaining Thomas’ status quo and granted Penn’s request to add Counts 12 and 13, pertaining to the referendum.

Representing Peoria County, attorney Lisa Meador had objected to the extra complaints, saying that Thomas and her lawyers “have known for months that that office could be eliminated” and were seeking to add a different issue to the lawsuit that was about restoring the Auditor’s budget and duties.

“Now they’re challenging the language and effective date and the constitutionality of the referendum,” Meador said. “Plaintiff fully recognized that she could not seek appointment of a special prosecutor to prosecute her personal claims.”

Perhaps anticipating an unfavorable ruling by Umholtz, Penn said not granting his fees and costs for Counts 12 and 13 “would put the plaintiff on the hook for private attorney fees.”

Nevertheless, Umholtz said, he had an “obligation to strictly and narrowly construe [the law].

“There is a method to expand the special prosecutor authority, but not by a court’s determining an amended complaint can be filed,” he said. “The law requires me to interpret the [special prosecutor] order carefully. There has to be certainty, based on specific facts.”

Umholtz’ order, filed Feb. 2, said, “The parties are directed to submit a final order with the amount of attorney fees to be paid consistent with this order within 21 days, at which point the Court will also dismiss the case with prejudice and terminate the matter.”

Penn’s December 2022 petition in fees and costs was $42,087.50; in January he requested an additional $83,452.50, for a total of $125,540.

On Feb. 12, Peoria’s Acting County Administrator Shauna Musselman told the Community Word the difference between what Penn sought and what the judge approved is about $40,000.

“Given that Plaintiff’s counsel is out of town for the next few weeks this is only an estimate,” she said. “We will work with Mr. Penn when he returns to finalize the amount.”

In other business Jan. 29, Umholtz officially dissolved the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Mack.

America's malls are changing

As a Baby Boomer, I was never a “mall rat.” After school or on weekends, I’d meander past Doc’s Newsstand, the sporting-goods aisle at Firestone, a clothing store, Ben Franklin’s, and either the drug store for a cherry Coke or the diner/soda shop Grab-A-Snack if I wanted to hear a jukebox – all around the small-town square a few blocks from home.

The closest near-mall was the Town & Country Shopping Center 45 miles away in Quincy.

However, as a Peorian in my late 20s and early 30s, I often spent time at Northwoods Mall. So when I heard that Northwoods was losing another anchor store due to a bankruptcy, I realized I hadn’t visited the commercial space for years and wanted to see what some people’s hand-wringing was all about.

It was a wistful visit.

Now owned by the Kohan Retail Investment Group, the Great Neck, N.Y., company that has 45 U.S. malls, including 14 in the Midwest, Northwoods celebrated its 50^th anniversary last summer. Its private-company owner has had a “checkered history,” as reported by the Times-Republican newspaper in Marshalltown, Iowa, where Kohan has the Marshalltown Mall.

“Most of the disputes revolve around nonpayment of utility bills, property taxes and mortgage payments,” wrote T-R editor Robert Maharry.

Nevertheless, Northwoods manager Julie Revallo expressed surprise at last month’s announcement by the RoomPlace furniture store that it will close at some point.

Today, Northwoods is markedly different than years past, but there are no Illinois tumbleweeds bouncing through a virtual ghost town (like Galesburg’s Sandburg Mall, which closed in 2018).

Stopping at Northwoods on a winter day, there were familiar sights, such as seniors enjoying a walk and a sense of community, illusion or not. But I missed spots I recalled: KB Toys, Coach House Gifts, Swiss Colony, Hardee’s, Fannie May, Garcia’s Pizza…

I’d bought a suit at Bachrach, a sofa at Montgomery Ward, eyeglasses at Sears, and clothes at Eddie Bauer; all gone, I’d lunched at Skewer Inn’s salad bar, sat at a book-signing at Waldenbooks, rang a bell for the Salvation Army “Red Kettle” campaign, and spent more than a few quarters playing Asteroids or Battle Zone at Aladdin’s video arcade.

Gloria Jean’s Coffees and Auntie Anne’s survive, in new locations, and, seeming to aim for a teen hangout customer base that no longer has JR or Musicland, FYE offers new and used music, movies, video games, and more (although it seems to have more candy than an explosion at a Casey’s). But Sears is empty as are at least four other spaces.

Of course, Northwoods isn’t unique. The global real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. says mall vacancies are at their highest level in 15 years, and that’s after decades of decline. In the mid-’80s, there were about 25,000 U.S. malls, according to Business Insider, before the 2008 recession, a 50% drop in holiday mall shopping between 2010 and 2013, some 7,000 retailers shutting down in 2017 alone, and the pandemic dramatically increasing e-commerce.

Through the decades, shopping evolved. In Peoria, downtown was hurt by Sheridan Village and other shopping centers, which in turn felt the effect of an indoor alternative at Northwoods. Plus, the International Council of Shopping Centers reports that between 48% and 73% of younger consumers still gravitate to malls’ communal experience. Obviously, there are differences between Boomers (born 1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), Millennials (1981-1996) and Gen Z (1997-2012), so it’s understandable that savvy mall managers are adjusting marketing and atmospheres to compete.

Furthermore, successes exist. Last summer, market analysis from Coresight Research found foot traffic in “top-tier” malls was up 12% from 2019 to 2022. (Coresight defines “top-tier” malls as those located in affluent areas “where a typical shopper has an annual income of over $200,000,” with newer brands and luxury retailers.) And lower-tier malls can be stable, too. The Quad Cities’ Northpark and Southpark Malls, owned by the public company Macerich, seemed busy at a recent visit, with food courts full of families and crowds throughout. And entrepreneurs are repurposing former malls: Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Va., is being converted to a medical center; The Avenue in downtown Milwaukee is being redeveloped as a multi-use space featuring apartments and “co-working” offices; and, ironically, Amazon is turning shuttered malls in Baton Rouge, La., and Knoxville, Tenn., into distribution centers.

Maybe it was a mistake to return to retrace old steps in a new time. The sense of a convenient substitute for a town square was artificial anyway. It’s tempting to remember novelist Thomas Wolfe’s title “You Can’t Go Home Again.” On the other hand, he also wrote, “Look Homeward, Angel.”

My real hometown is different, too, but alive and thriving.