On Nov. 8th, 2004, employees of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) conducted a protest against the anti-union policies of the management. This protest occurred outside of the CUPHD Satellite Office on N. Randolph St. in Champaign, Illinois, prior to the monthly meeting of the Champaign County Board of Health. The employees have been conducting monthly protests since July of this year. About 25 people participated in the protest earlier this week. During November of last year, the employees of CUPHD voted to join the labor union, AFSCME, and have been negotiating with management on a new labor contract since January of this year. Some employees complained that the negotiations were proceeding too slowly.

The employees conducted a protest along the street while holding protest signs. During this time, some of their representatives spoke with members of the local media. They chanted various slogans, including "Union Busting is Disgusting," "Contract Stalling is Appalling," and "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Dave King has Got to Go!" Several passing cars slowed down near the protestors and honked their horns in support.

Child Dental Clinic

One area of concern is the operation of the Child Dental Clinic of CUPHD. During June of this year, the sole dentist resigned from her position to attend school. Shortly later, the management laid off two dental hygienists who were members of the bargaining committee for AFSCME. The dental hygienists expressed the opinion that they were unfairly laid off by management because of their participation in union activities. They stated that when dentists had left their positions at CUPHD in the past, they were never laid off. The two dental hygienists have a combined work experience of 35 years at CUPHD and have worked under 14 different dentists during those years. The dental hygienists are protesting in the photograph below on the right.

The management stated that the dental hygienists were laid off because they had little to do until another dentist was hired, even though a new law in Illinois allows dental hygienists to provide some services without the immediate supervision of a dentist. These service include cleaning of teeth and dental x-rays. Recently, CUPHD has hired 2 new dentists for the child dental clinic. One dentist will work full-time, while the other will work part-time as a dentist and part-time as an administrator of the clinic. The child dental clinic is expected to reopen and provide dental services beginning in January of next year. This clinic has been closed for several months since late June of this year.

CUPHD has also hired 2 new dental assistants for the clinic. Unlike the dental hygienists, who have more training and are licensed to practice their profession by the State of Illinois, the dental assistants cannot clean teeth and take dental x-rays, nor are they licensed by the State of Illinois. Because the management has not rehired the dental hygienists, many union members regard this as evidence of an unfair labor practice, and have filed a complaint with the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

Seyfarth Shaw Law Firm

Another area of concern is the amount of money that CUPHD been spent on the Chicago law firm, Seyfarth Shaw. This law firm has acquired some notoriety for its anti-union practices, and it is currently pursuing a lawsuit to have the recognition of the labor union overturned. This is widely regarded by many employees at CUPHD as an attempt to break the union. During the first 9 months of this year, CUPHD has paid Seyfarth Shaw a total of $81,830. It is expected that total legal costs will exceed $100,000 by the end of this year. Furthermore, this law firm has been sending billing statements to CUPHD that are not itemized, which makes it difficult to determine if CUPHD has been overcharged for services. This information was obtained by filing a Freedom of Information request, and is based on CUPHD's own documents. Below is a bar graph showing the legal costs of Seyfarth Shaw on a monthly basis.

The management of CUPHD has stated that the retainment of Seyfarth Shaw is necessary because of the labor union. However, representatives of labor have stated that the legal costs of Seyfarth Shaw are excessive and resemble "a bottomless pit." They don't think that it is necessary to hire an expensive Chicago law firm to review a simple labor contract, when a local attorney could be hired to do the same thing at a fraction of the cost. They think that this money should have been spent on providing health services to members of the community.

Board of Health Meeting

After the protest, many employees, their supporters, and members of the local media attended the November meeting of the Champaign County Board of Health. This occurred in a conference room at the Satellite Office of CUPHD on Randolph St. in Champaign. Attending the meeting were about 6 members of the board, which included Linda Cross, Carole Elliot, and Dave King. There were about 30 people in the audience, which filled the conference room beyond its capacity. Some members of the audience were forced to stand or sit in the hallway. Linda Cross presided over the meeting and called it to order. After the roll call, members of the public were formally invited to make comments. Claudia Lennhoff, who is the Executive Director of Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC), stood up and identified herself before the board. She requested that the Board of Health undertake the following actions:

1) Restore full services to the Child Dental Program, including dental services at the Urbana School Health Center.
2) Reinstate the two dental hygienists who were laid off from their jobs.
3) Terminate the services of the law firm Seyfarth Shaw and its lawsuit against recognition of the union, which was making less money available for health care services.
4) Conduct an evaluation to determine if Dave King should continue as administrator of CUPHD.

Ms. Lenhoff stated that the evalutation of Mr. King should include input from employees and members of the community. The speech of Ms. Lenhoff was followed by loud applause from members of the audience. None of the board members responded to Ms. Lennhoff's comments, and proceeded with their agenda as though nothing had happened.