The experience of unionizing for circuit court psychologists in Chicago: Teamsters Local 743.

Abstract

This article describes the process of unionization for a group of public-sector psychologists. After administrative changes in the Circuit Court of Cook County's Forensic Clinical Services increased interest in unionization, the psychologists chose a union to represent them, identified contract goals and a negotiation strategy, and organized a contract campaign to pressure management for concessions. Since unionization, the psychologists have made significant movement toward achieving some of the contract goals, especially with the initiation of the contract campaign. The psychologists also faced and addressed problems related to the size of the bargaining unit, some fears and anxieties among the members, and the slow pace of negotiations. Their experience illustrates how collective effort, such as involvement in organized labor, can lead to more professional working conditions for psychologists and to better quality care for the public.Psychologists employed by the Circuit Court of Cook County's Forensic Clinical Services are currently involved in negotiating their first union contract. This article discusses what the experience of unionizing has been like for these psychologists and the early gains that have resulted.The bargaining unit currently consists of a total of 12 members who perform court-ordered psychological evaluations. Many different topics are addressed in the evaluations, including fitness to stand trial, insanity, child custody in divorce cases, transfer of juveniles to the adult jurisdiction, and treatment recommendations for adults and juveniles involved in the court system. Some evaluations consist of interviews along with a review of background records, whereas others require extensive psychological testing. Beginnings of the Union DriveAlthough one of the senior staff psychologists, Paul Fauteck, undertook informal efforts to interest psychologists in unionizing as early as 1988, it was recent events in the department that created a serious interest in the benefits of union membership among the staff, some of whom had worked for the department for over 20 years without attempting to organize. In late 1993, the chief judge's office opted to administratively merge the Clinical Services Department at juvenile court with the Psychiatric CATHERINE E. WILSON is a member of the psychologists' contract bargaining committee of Teamsters Local 743 and is a clinical psychologist at Forensic Clinical Services, Circuit Court of Cook County, in Chicago, IL. She is a graduate of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. I THANK Paul K. Fauteck and Michael C. Rabin for their support of this article. Special appreciation is extended to Gordon Schulz for his helpful comments. Views expressed in the article are those of the author and not those of Cook County or the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Psychology and labor unions working together.

“…Another way for psychology to better leverage the influence of organized labor is by forming more psychologist unions. Fitzgerald (1997), Safarjan (1997), and Wilson (1997) provide examples. Although these unions represent initiatives by psychologists employed in institutional settings, the time may have come for psychologists in private practice to consider unionizing.…”

“…Diverse views from experts in both labor and management are provided in the article by Dvoskin et al (1997). Actual experiences of psychologists who have formed labor unions in different work settings, and the lessons they have learned, are described in the articles by Wilson (1997), Safarjan (1997), and Fitzgerald (1997). Finally, Feder (1997) offers an example of psychological expertise enabling a major labor union to address larger social issues in an innovative way.…”