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Coroner and union supporters warn Champaign County of staffing crisis, urge bargaining with AFSCME Local 900
Summary
Champaign County Coroner Laurie Brower and union supporters told the county board that understaffing and unresolved labor negotiations are straining services and personnel; speakers urged the board and administration to negotiate with AFSCME Local 900 and consider additional funding for positions.
Laurie Brower, Champaign County coroner, told the county board that her office is “very understaffed, and it’s getting critical,” and urged the board to consider additional funding to restore staff hours and relief for deputies on duty.
Brower said the office is operating with reduced paid staff hours and estimated “about 60 hours a week that the county didn’t have to pay for that we staffed,” adding that the current schedule leaves “1 deputy on per shift at a time” and “doesn’t allow for time off” or guaranteed breaks.
The coroner’s remarks came during the public-comment portion of the June meeting and were followed by remarks from Alan Axelrod, a former AFSCME Local 900 employee, and Ursula Bridal, who identified herself as a University of Illinois employee and local union leader. Axelrod described his experience with county employment and urged the board to “stand up for AFSCME Local 900,” saying bargaining and political will are needed to retain staff. Bridal urged the finance and labor committees to return to the bargaining table in “good faith,” warning that the county’s core services are “running on fumes.”
Why it matters: County public-safety and case-processing functions depend on sustained staffing in offices such as the coroner’s, public defender, courts, and jail. Speakers said staffing gaps affect both employee well-being and service delivery.
Details and discussion: Brower said a December meeting with county administration produced an agreement that staff should be paid for all hours worked, but she described that outcome as having the unintended effect of reducing available staffed hours. She said she had requested additional funding, but the request “was turned down.” Brower asked the board to “at least sit down and talk about it.”
Axelrod, describing a past grievance process, said he declined over $2,000 in back pay so that he could speak without a nondisparagement agreement and urged the board to listen to union members about improving county services. Bridal said her local achieved a recent contract at the university through sustained bargaining and urged the county to do the same, calling AFSCME members “the duct tape that’s keeping this thing together.”
Board response and next steps: No formal action or vote on staffing or bargaining policy occurred during the meeting. Several board members later debated procedural matters and closed board communications; there was no committee referral or formal direction recorded in the public minutes on the coroner’s request or the union comments.
Ending: Speakers requested that labor and finance committees take up the issues and that administration continue discussions with affected offices; the board did not adopt new funding or a bargaining outcome at the June meeting.
