Workers at the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service Center (USCIS) in Chicago were fed up with pay cuts and insults from supervisors. They began organizing last August, and on October 18 they voted nearly unanimously for UE in a National Labor Relations Board Election to UE. They then got down to the work of building their new union, UE Local 1118, and preparing to negotiate with the company, federal contactor FedConsulting Inc. (FCi). They succeeded again, and on February 5 they ratified their first contract, a three-year agreement that reverses the pay cuts, provides yearly raises, and establishes fundamental union rights in the workplace.
"We knew that UE had organized FCi workers in other states," said Delores Phillips, a leader in the organing campaign and amember of the bargaining committee. "Once we started organizing for our union, workers in Vermont and California stepped up to help us. This support was excellent." Through organizing and negotiating, the Chicago workers were able to secure a contract modeled on what workers at the St. Albans, VT (UE Local 208) and Laguna Niguel, CA (UE Local 1008) service centers had already achieved. Workers at all three locations are employed by FCi.
At the start of bargaining workers showed their support for the negotiating committee by wearing stickers that said "We are worth more", and in other ways let the company know they were united in the fight for better wages, benefits and working conditions. At the Christmas holiday break, the company was still stubbornly holding to a position of 1 percent annual wage increases, and refusing to restore the wage rates it had cut when it took over the center from the previous contractor last Spring.
Union members formed a contract support team which organized action on a plan to push the boss to pay more. Workers turned up the pressure on the company the week of January 28. Armed with stickers that showed "$.19" crossed out, and a petition signed by almost all of the 40 workers, they marched on the site supervisor's office. Their message was that the company's offer was not enough. Workers at the California and Vermont centers showed their solidarity by wearing stickers that simply said "Chicago." Congressman Danny Davis (D-Chicago) sent the company a letter supportive of the union's goals. By Friday, February 1, the employer was feeling the heat and ready to negotiate.
Unity and militancy paid off in a good agreement. The company agreed to restore wage rates that had been in effect under the old contractor, plus a 1.95 percent wage increase each year. The contract spells out workers' rights to vacation, holidays and bereavement, and contains more reasonable work rules on sick days, personal days, leaves and absences. It provides worker protections including strong seniority language, recognition of stewards, a good grievance procedure, and no discipline without just cause.
The UE bargaining committee consisted of Wandaly Vargas, Delores Phillips, and Elnora Logan. They were assisted by UE International Representatives Kim Lawson and Mark Meinster, and Field Organizers Leticia Marquez Prado and J Burger.