Cook County forest preserves will remain open if Teamsters strike, officials say

Cook County forest preserve officials said Monday that its properties and facilities will remain open in the event of a threatened strike by about 200 workers who maintain its sites and equipment.

Teamsters Local 700, which represents truck drivers, laborers and mechanics for the forest preserves, authorized a strike late last month, after rejecting what the district labeled its “last, best and final offer.” A date for a potential walkout has not been set.

In a statement after the vote, Local 700 President Ramon Williams said union workers have received pay increases at a slower rate than the forest district’s non-union employees.

“The Forest Preserve District will tell you that it values these workers, but its own pay scale says something different,” he said. “It advances everyone else ten times faster than the people doing the hardest, dirtiest, most essential work out in the preserves. Our members voted to authorize a strike because they are done being told to wait their turn for a raise that never comes.”

If a strike occurs, forest preserve sites will remain open and district operations will prioritize the health and safety of the public, and the ecological health of the land, district officials said Monday.

District General Superintendent Adam Bianchi said in a statement Monday 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. With the offers, a person who joined the district as a laborer in June 2021 will have 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