Cook County forest preserves will remain open as Teamsters launch strike, officials say
Cook County forest preserve officials said Monday that its properties and facilities will remain open as about 200 workers who maintain its sites and equipment go on strike.
Teamsters Local 700, which represents truck drivers, laborers and mechanics for the forest preserves, went on strike Monday, after rejecting what the district labeled its “last, best and final offer.”
“Our members would rather be out in the preserves doing the work they take pride in, but the District left them no choice,” Local 700 President Ramon Williams said in a statement Monday afternoon.
“It pays them a fraction of what every comparable public employer in this region pays for the same work, it advances its non-union staff ten times faster up the pay scale, and it would rather hire outside contractors than fairly pay its own people,” Williams added. “Our members are done being treated as the least-valued workers in Cook County.”
Earlier Monday, district officials announced that forest preserve sites will remain open during the strike and operations will prioritize the health and safety of the public, and the ecological health of the land.
District General Superintendent Adam Bianchi said in the announcement that the agency appreciates the work Local 700 members do “to keep the Preserves a place that is a gem in Cook County.”
“Working within our current and long-term fiscal restrictions, the Forest Preserves has made offers to the union that continue to provide a compensation package that is at and above what is competitive in the labor market,” Bianchi added. “We are confident that we can negotiate with the union to find a solution within our confines.”
Last year, the district said, it offered the union a contract extension that included a 2% raise in January 2026, another 2% in July 2026 and a 4% raise in July 2027, plus a $2,500 one-time payment for full-time employees. More recently, the district included a paid 30-minute lunch break, broader overtime pay rules and a $1,250 one-time payment for seasonal staff, officials said.
Six unions at the forest preserves accepted the exact or similar terms as last year’s offer to Local 700, according to the district.
However, the union says its workers earn “dramatically less” than their counterparts at comparable public employers, and their wages trail those paid by the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways, the Chicago Park District, the city of Chicago, the Illinois Tollway, and the Illinois Department of Transportation.
“Even while telling its workforce there is no money to close these gaps, the District brought in outside contractors to perform bargaining-unit work, spending public money on outside labor rather than fairly paying the skilled workers it already employs,” the union stated Monday.
The district argues that the offers rejected by the union would see a worker who joined the district as a laborer in June 2021 would see their salary jump from $47,278 to $65,045 — a 38% increase — and also receive payments totaling an additional $6,500, the district said.
“At the same time, the Forest Preserves can’t increase revenue except by raising fees to the public, cutting services and restoration work, or raising property taxes with a referendum,” the district’s statement reads.
ckeeshan@dailyherald.com