After a brief review of organizing models and the current legal environment for public employee organizing, the recent successful campaign of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to organizing Illinois state court reporters is chronicled here into five distinct but interrelated stages. Throughout this five-year campaign, which culminated in a successful representation election in Cook County and the union's first collective bargaining agreement, the union relied differentially on traditional organizing campaign tactics, as well as comprehensive and legislative-political campaigns. Although Illinois had a comprehensive public sector law, this case demonstrates public employee organizing campaigns will continue to be hard fought.
Boykin, Renia, Illinois Court Reporter, International Human Rights Day rally , Chicago, December 10, 2003.
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Bronfenbrenner, Kate, and Tom Juravich .1995. Union organizing in the public sector: An analysis of state and local elections. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
3.
---. 1998. It takes more than house calls: Organizing to win with a comprehensive union-building strategy. In Organizing to win: New research on union strategies, ed. K. Bronfenbrenner , S. Friedman, R. W. Hurd, R. A. Oswald, and R. L. Seeber.Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
4.
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.2002a. State's court reporters lose bid to unionize. January 17, 1.
5.
---. 2002b. Senators back court reporters on union. May24, 3.
6.
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.2003a. High court blocks unionization of court reporters. November 20, 1. ---. 2003b. Court reporters gain ground in union bid. March 28, 1.
7.
---. 2003c. Court reporters press for union representation. October10, 1.
8.
---. 2003d. Justices revamp rules on court reporters. October22, 1.
9.
---. 2004a. Court reporter union seeks statewide representation. July26, 1.
---. 2004c. Reporters to be asked for views on union. April15, 1.
12.
---. 2004d. Illinois Supreme Court. May14, 3.
13.
---. 2004e. No need for `poll' on court reporter union. April 23, 2. Letter to the editor from court reporterJohn J. Tominello.
14.
---. 2005a. Change in state court means no union for reporters. January25, 1.
15.
---. 2005b. Bill would give court reporters new bosses. May17, 1.
16.
---. 2005c. Guv signs law easing union for court reporters. July5, 1.
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Felker, L.1986. Public sector labor relations in the states and municipalities: The impact of union legislative environment. Public Personnel Management15 (1), Spring: 41-50.
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Fantasia, Rick, and Kim Voss.2004. Hard work: Remaking the American labor movement. University of California Press.
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Human Rights Watch.2000. Unfair advantage: Workers' freedom of association in the United States under international human rights standards. New York.
20.
Hurd, Richard W., and Sharon Pinnock.2004. Public sector unions: Will they thrive or struggle to survive? Journal of Labor Research XXV (2), Spring: 211-21.
21.
State of Illinois Supreme Court, decision In re Local 1220, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, No. 91949.
22.
Aoic et al. v. State and Municipal Teamsters, Chauffeurs and Helpers Union, Local 726, International Brotherhood of Teamsters , AFL-CIO, et al. (167 Ill. 2d 180, 657 N.E.2d 972, 1995).
23.
State of Illinois Supreme Court, In re the Administrative Regulations: a Comprehensive Document Governing Court Reporting Services for the Illinois Courts, M.R. 19051.
24.
State of Illinois Supreme Court, re Collective Bargaining, M.R. 19565.
25.
The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL).2004a. Court reporters pursue collective bargaining rights. April 25, 11.
26.
---. 2004b. Court rules in favor of reporters. July3, 8.
27.
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. http:www.bls.gov/oco/ocos152.htm (accessed November 10, 2005).
28.
Wasserman, D.S.2006. Collective bargaining rights in the public sector: promises and reality. In Justice on the job: Perspectives on the erosion of collective bargaining in the United States, ed. R. N. Block.Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
