URBANA, IL (Chambana Today) – A crowd of green gathered in front of the Champaign County Courthouse on Tuesday in a demonstration following a near-unanimous vote to strike. The group was made up of county employees represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) who have been without a contract for over 170 days.

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An agreement that the union previously had with the county expired at the end of 2024, and county representatives and the union are yet to come to an agreement on a new contract. As a result, late last month, 90 percent of eligible employees voted to authorize a strike, and 96 percent of votes cast were “Yes” to authorize a strike if necessary.

Through various chants, AFSCME members demanded fair wage increases and affordable health insurance. The chants were led by Dave Beck, the regional director of AFSCME Council 31, through a megaphone.

“We need to let the county board and the county leadership know that we are deadly serious,” Beck said. “Three weeks ago, the members of Local 900 voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike. They are ready to walk. They are ready to shut this [expletive] down.”

Local president Cecelia Phillips spoke to Chambana Today and said that her job at the county clerk’s office, as well as jobs at animal control, the highway department, and other county departments would shut down if a strike is to take place. She says that there has been long stretches such as this one without a contract before, but that she’s not optimistic a resolution will be found soon.

“I don’t know what’s taking so long, honestly, because they are not making us a priority,” Phillips said. “They want our animal control wardens to go out and wrangle bats and not give them vaccinations for rabies, like, that’s crazy.”

Matt Cross, 44, also an employee of the county clerk’s office, pointed to the county being difficult to negotiate with, and gave a similar ultimatum.

“The county administration is stubborn and digging in their heels on certain things,” he said. “If we go on strike, the county shuts down.”

Champaign County Auditor George Danos was present at the demonstration, as was County Clerk Aaron Ammons, who was holding a green sign that read, “FAIR CONTRACT NOW!”

Aarons, who is not a part of the negotiation process, also spoke to Chambana Today, offering insight into what might be delaying the process and why he was present.

“What I’m hearing is that health care deductibles are one of the major sticking points that both sides are kind of stuck on,” he said. “I think there’s a few negotiations or mediations that are coming up where hopefully they’ll be able to work it out. I’m out here because I support the workers. I’m a former union president of SEIU Local 73 Chapter 119 and I support workers because it’s an act of self-determination for them to fight for fair wages and benefits they deserve.”

Arnold Black, 51, has worked at the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) for 19 years. On a Tuesday afternoon that saw the weather reach nearly 100 degrees, Black said that unity was keeping members cool even in the hot weather.

“This is our AFSCME family,” Black said, motioning to the crowd of people. “Although we’re different locals and we do different jobs, we stand up in solidarity together. So if it’s injustice against one, it’s injustice against all. Even in 95-degree weather.”

Black said that should workers go on strike, his office, like the highway department, animal control, and other Champaign County departments, would be empty.

“That means that the work would not be done,” he said “And because they have such a specialty, it would be hard-pressed for the county to find people to step in immediately to do the job, just like in my job working for DCFS, you can’t take an average person and put them in what I do because there’s training and education that you have to have.”

He explains that a strike authorization vote and actually going on strike are two different things, with one being a warning and the other an ultimatum. He said: “You gotta get the members to buy into a strike, but that’s the last thing that the union wants to do is to go on strike. That’s the last step that we take.”

Two more planned mediated negotiation sessions are set to take place. AFSCME has been clear in stating that if an agreement is not found, a strike could be imminent.