TEAMSTERS LOCAL UNION NO.

7OO
Atlttlated wnh Inwnatlonal Btott7thood of Teams'r''s
1300 West Hlggins Road, Suite 301 Park Ridge, lllinois 50068
Telephone: (S47) 939.97fl)
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Fax: (847) 518.6495
GHEVANCE FORM
Grievance #
14 Union 113
Court Services Deputv Sheriffs R Teamsters Local 700
Art. XIV Sec. 14.2 All OtherApplicable
lasis of Grievance i (Attach additionat denentation, if any. Erytain violation of the nntrrct aN the rendy so@ht.)
Pursuant to Article XIV Section 1 4.2" The Employer agrees that employees will not be
assigned to any known unsafe operation or to operation of unsafe equipment" "The
Employer will continue to make reasonable
provisions for Health and Safety matters."
Attachment to be considered
part of this Grievance.
(See Attached)
t
Please See Attached
Date
Receiving Supervisor Signature:
Date:
unio n Bepresenra,*
ff:T:,Hffi
:mployefs Response
Date:
Advanced to Next Step-: YES NO
Date:
Grievant's Signature:
Emdo!/YDesignee's Signatur;
Date:
Date:
Employe/s Response
Grievant's Signature:
Employe/3/Desi gnee's Si gnature:
Advanced to Nextstep :
Advanced to Ne)d Step
_:
YES
YES
NO
NO
Grievant's /Union Represenlative's lnitials:
Grievants /Union Representative's lnitials:
Date:
Date:
HEALTH AND SAFETY GRIPVANCE
COURT SERVICES DEPARTMENT. COOK COT]NTY SHERIFF
Contract Violations:
The bargaining agent hereby files a grievance in behalf of all Court Service
Deputies over ongoing and continuing chronic understafftng at all of the Cook County
Courthouses and other work facilities within the work
jurisdiction
of the bargaining unit.
Staffrng levels at the facilities have declined substantially in the past years to the extent
that certain facilities are operating with extremely unsafe and hazardous staffing levels.
The percentage decline through retirements, wrongful terminations, resignations,
transfers, deaths, promotions, and other means, over the past years has resulted both in
unsafe operating levels that are below national standards, as well as led to concrete
instances of bargaining unit members injured by detainees, members of the public, and
others as a direct and proximate cause of widespread understaffing. The total percentage
decrease in bargaining unit members is approximately 16 percent between 2010 and the
present, exclusive of members on administrative leave, on leave of absence, on disability,
or otherwise not present in the workplace. On information and belief, including deputies
in the latter categories will substantially impact the overall percentage decrease in active
deputy sheriffs since 2010. Further, some facilities have staffing levels so low that they
are at or below responsible operating standards, including, but not limited to, Juvenile,
Domestic Violence, Police Courts North and South, Skokie, Rolling Meadows,
Bridgeview, Markham, and certain Civil Process and Evictions units.
As a result of the above, bargaining unit members are required to perform
numerous tasks that put them into dangerous circumstances, including, but not limited to,
having to escort, or provide security for, more than 20 detainees by themselves, having to
process multiple arrestees by themselves, having to staffvehicles by themselves in the
civil process units, having to transport high-risk offenders with other detainees by
themselves.
As a further result of the above, numerous deputy sheriffs have suffered actual
injuries resulting in them taking extended medical leaves of absence. The bargaining
agent has numerous such examples to present in the processing of this grievance, and
examples ultimately willing to testi$.
The foregoing examples all present ongoing and continuous violations of the
health and safety provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, an abuse of the
managerial rights clause, a violation of the implied workjurisdiction and staffrng level
guarantees implied in the wage, recognition, and seniority clauses, and an improper
circumvention of the agreed-upon bidding procedure. Such also evidences improper
outsourcing of unit work to at least non-members, supervisory staff, and others. All such
sections and any and all other applicable sections have been violated by the above noted
facts.
Remedy and Relief Sought:
l. Cease and desist from maintaining unsafe staffing levels throughout all bargaining
unit facilities.
2. Immediately arrange for the hire of a new class of deputy sheriffs so as to bring
staffrng levels back to historic and safe levels.
3. Make-whole all deputies wrongfully injured as a direct and proximate cause of the
dangerous understaffing.
4. Rescind all discipline given to unit members stemming from chronic
understaffrng.
5. Post apologies in all facilities in open and plain view of unit members addressing
the understaffing, injuries resulting therefrom, reparations being made for such
injuries, and what measures are being immediately taken to rectiff the staffing
crisis.
TEAMSTERS LOCAL 7OO