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Teamsters Joint Council Raises Funds For Striking Kane County Workers
(ST. CHARLES, Ill.) – On their fourth week of manning the strike lines at the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Courthouse, striking Probation Officers and Youth Counselors have received some much needed financial support for health care payments from Teamsters Joint Council 25.
Teamsters Local 330 striking workers faced loss of insurance coverage as employer health care contributions have ceased since the strike began and members therefore would have lost insurance coverage beginning June 1st, but Joint Council 25 has raised enough money for the strikers to cover the cost of insurance.
“We are family here in the Teamsters Union,” said Terry Hancock, President of Joint Council 25. “The response was immediate when I asked our local union affiliates for assistance in funding health insurance payments for the members on strike. We successfully raised $52,000 – enough to cover employer contributions for the month of June.”
The solidarity shown by members of the labor and faith communities has been substantial. Food and beverages have been supplied on the strike line on a regular basis. Now with the funding for insurance payments, the Kane County Probation Officers and Youth Counselors on the picket line know that they are supported.
“These are dedicated essential employees who maintain the minimum educational requirement of a bachelor’s degree and many have master’s degrees,” said Dominic Romanazzi, President of Teamsters Local 330. “They have been out here on the picket line day after day while they would much rather be working to serve and protect the community. The elimination of health care coverage would have hurt family members of the Probation Officers and Youth Counselors who are committed to serving the public and making the community safe. I thank the Joint Council for all of their support!”
“Shoulder to shoulder we win,” Hancock told the strikers at a rally this week. “Stay together and walk together.”
Teamsters Local 330, based in Elgin, Ill., is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25.