GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA, NFP ForestParkReview.com Vol. 104, No. 38
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F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
Union workers frustrated by contract talks
Naming Proviso East’s new stadium Page 6
Forest Park’s new PR firm Page 9
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AIRBOARD
Good-faith delays in salary hikes during COVID now ignored, says union By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Tensions between the Village of Forest Park and the labor union representing a significant portion of its workforce spilled into the public during the Sept. 13 village council meeting. Last year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3026 agreed to postpone the scheduled 2.5 percent pay raises as the village saw several of its revenue sources drop during the COVID-19 pandemic and future financial prospects remained uncertain. During the council meeting, AFSCME Local 3026 President Katie Murphy said that a year later the village is offering a 1 percent raise, which the union felt was paltry given their earlier concessions and the fact that, she argued, the member salaries were low to begin with. In a follow-up interview, David Marlow, the union negotiator, cited the fact that the village recently increased salary ranges for most supervisors, saying that a similar raise would only be fair. Village council members didn’t respond to Murphy’s comments during the meeting, and Moses Amidei, village administrator, subsequently declined to comment on the matter, citing ongoing contract negotiations. AFSCME Local 3026 represents village’s clerical workers, as well as custodians, event coordinators, See UNION on page 10
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Jack Gallagher, 10, of Forest Park, gets air on his skateboard at the Forest Park Skatepark on Harrison Street. More pictures on page 12.
D91 students and staff reflect on 9/11 20 years after attack, students not yet born feel pain and hope By TOM HOLMES Contributing Reporter
Two weeks ago, District 91 students in all grade levels participated in a virtual assembly to commemorate what happened in this country on Sept. 11, 2001. Eric Beltran, assistant principal of
IN Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 THIS Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ISSUE Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Forest Park Middle School, closed the program by playing taps as 9/11 scenes were projected on hundreds of student computers in each individual classroom. He said teachers told him that student reactions were very powerful with some students close to tears. Nurys Uceta-Ramos, D91’s family and
John Rice: Leisure vs. recreation PAGE 3
community outreach manager, planned the assembly which lasted 25 minutes, with a goal of reaching students’ hearts as well as their heads. In an interview with 10 eighth graders, students revealed that they were familiar with the basic facts of that
Tom Holmes: Secularization and its discontents PAGE 14
See 9/11 on page 12
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