AFSCME Local 3464

09/24/2024

Brothers and sisters of the union, past members, and friends of the page. I want to give a shout out to our President Anthony Walraven for his hard work and dedication to our members. His sacrifice to our members to fight for better wages and good working conditions has been relentless and we thank you and appreciate you more than you know good sir! 🙏 today he stepped down from his roll and will be taking a new job elsewhere. Good luck on your future you will be greatly missed!! And a shout out to our new President Matthew Hayes! Both are pictured below!

06/29/2024

“It's how you balance resources with the goals and desires of the council, and that's going to be a big challenge, obviously,” said Urich. “We have some headwinds with pension costs that are growing, and we have the challenge of a potential $4 million hole with the with the grocery tax that we're facing in the future. So, those are things that we're going to have to deal with.”

-City Manager Patrick Ulrich

On January 1st, 2026 the State of Illinois will stop collecting the 1% tax on groceries that it currently charges. That money is collected and then passed directly on the municipality where it is collected. Peoria, as a home rule city, has the ability to collect the tax itself.

To be clear, we pay this already. To call it a tax increase is absolutely disingenuous. And a 4 million dollar a year hole will not just hinder the city, it will devastate public services. Peoria is just starting to dig itself out of a 20 year hole of public service cuts, austerity, and extremely myopic thinking in terms what the city is supposed to provide. Since 2008, hundreds of positions have been laid off or eliminated.

We see that all across the public services. Code enforcement inspectors that can no longer do regular rental inspections because there simply isn’t enough of us, 911 dispatchers working 60-70 hours a week, entire parts of our city underserved with a staff that’s overworked and underpaid.

We got there because of double talk about what local government should provide and it’s not just a pass through for real estate developers. The city needs to make up this shortfall by either keeping the grocery tax or ideally, coming up with a more progressive way to provide revenue.

Simply put, the people of Peoria cannot afford another massive cut in Public Services.

Highlighting aspects of the key priorities in Peoria’s five-year strategic plan, Mayor Rita Ali touted better things to come in her State of the City address Thursday night.

06/28/2024

Solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters of IUOE Local 399 out on strike against Illinois American Water. They are out on the picket line on IAW’s water treatment facility on Galena Road where they normally work. They are fighting to make sure folks that are responsible for the safety of our water supply have proper training. They are fighting for better lives for their families. We stopped by to offer our support and drop off water to the picket. We stand with our brothers and sisters in their fight.

Illinois American Water is not a mom and pop water company. They are part of a multi-billion dollar multinational corporation based overseas and owned by hedge funds. We have some of the highest water bills in the state. It’s time for them to treat their workers fairly and time for them to take safety seriously. It’s time for them to settle with Local 399.

06/19/2024

Last week we received confirmation from the City of Peoria that a grievance we filed concerning members of our local not getting paid correctly on their overtime had been resolved in our favor. As a result, 87 members of our local (both active and former) as well as hundreds of other city employees will be getting back pay going back three years. The City will be paying around 180,000 dollars to affected employees that should have been paid to begin with.

This is what the power of collectively organizing allows us to do. It allows to protect ourselves, fight back, and make sure we are treated fairly. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in this, thank you to the City for handling this promptly, and thank you to the hardworking members of our Union and all municipal employees of the City of Peoria who constantly are asked to do more with less, who are overworked, and who now will get paid what the law demands for their overtime away from their families and loved ones.

06/01/2024

Welcome to our new local brothers and sisters!!!!

🎉 Let’s give a warm welcome to the newest members of our AFSCME family: Illinois Central School Bus drivers of Bartonville! 🎉

The 52 drivers made it official yesterday after an overwhelming majority of them voted YES to form their union with AFSCME Council 31.

04/30/2024

Thanks to Councilwoman Bernice Gordon-Young for speaking to Library members of our local about issues we have in the Peoria Public Library system. We lose talented staff to smaller library systems in the area because they pay more, morale is low because working conditions are getting worse and the very people who make the Library work aren’t listened to. Our budget has been stagnant for over a decade while the cost of everything goes up.

We appreciate Councilwoman Gordon-Young’s insights and as a former member of our Union working out of the City’s ECC, we appreciate her taking the time to listen to the workers of the Peoria Public Library.

04/28/2024

Today is Workers Memorial Day, where across the Country, local AFL-CIO affiliates gather to honor and remember our brothers, sisters, and siblings who have died across their area who passed away on the job. Whether due to accident or inadequate safety measures and safeguards, each one of these deaths is a tragedy.

On October 24th of 2023, Christopher Neff, aged 49, was killed while retrieving road debris from an accident on Rt. 29. He was a long time member of Laborers’ Local 165.

On May 23rd, 2023, Chris James, 48, a long time member of AFSCME Local 46 died at East Moline Correctional Center as he was trimming trees from a bucket truck at the facility.

On April 8th, 2024, Sgt. Andrew Faught, 27, was killed in a car accident while responding to a tactical call at Lawrence Correctional Center. He was a member of AFSCME Local 494.

Our thoughts, prayers, and solidarity go to our brothers and their families, as well as to all workers in the country who lost their lives at work this year. The best way to honor them is do as Mother Jones said; “Mourn the Dead. Fight like Hell for the Living.”

Fight to make sure that all workers make it home to their families and loved ones at the end of their shift. Whatever the job.

04/09/2024

Happy Librarians Day to our brothers, sisters, and siblings in the Peoria Public Library. Your work in the community is so very, very important and you help Peorians in so many ways. We are all proud to stand with you in your struggles and are so deeply thankful for the solidarity you have shown our other members in their struggles.

Solidarity forever.

03/15/2024

Members of Local 3464 met with Councilmembers Mike Vespa and Andre Allen last night at the Lincoln Branch to talk about our concerns with the state of the Peoria Public Library.

Low morale, understaffing, and budgets that have been stagnant for 15 years. Our members have been working miracles with duct tape and shoestring and we will continue to advocate for the Library system our community and our library staff deserve.

03/01/2024

Last night members of Local 3464 working at the Peoria Public Library met with Peoria City Councilman Charles Grayeb to talk about our concerns about library funding, high turnover in the library system, and the still extremely
low pay that many of our members experience.

We deeply appreciate Councilman Grayeb’s willingness to meet with us, give us advise, and letting us know that we have his support. Our local and its members will not stop fighting for a better library system and for economic security and dignity in the workplace for our members and all working people.

01/18/2024

Yesterday, a sister in our local, Ashley Price, lost all her belongings in a house fire. Her and her husband have three children who are now staying at a local hotel. If you have anything you can spare, please consider showing solidarity with our sister in her time of need.

This is Ashley. Her and her family were met with tragedy on the early morning of January 17, 2024. Ash… Tracy Gardner needs your support for Price house fire

12/25/2023

Merry Christmas to our brothers and sisters and all of their loved ones. Thank you for all the work you do to make the lives of the people of Peoria better. May all of us experience joy, love, and fellowship today. And a special thanks to our members who are working today, because serving the public is often a 24 hr a day, seven day a week proposition.