SCI Funeral Directors Authorize Strike

Funeral directors and drivers represented by Teamsters Local 727 overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike against Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International

this evening.  The strike is set to begin the morning of Tuesday, July 2, 2013. CI, which uses the Dignity Memorial brand name, operates 16 funeral homes with 59 employees in the Chicagoland area.  The employees voted in a secret ballot election to reject SCI's June 30 "last, best and final offer".  In a vote immediately following the rejection of the offer, employees voted to strike. "In 40 years as a funeral director I've helped thousands of people through some of the most difficult times in their lives.  Striking is not something I ever thought I would have to do," said John Liberatore, a director at Piser Funeral Services in Skokie.  "We will not picket any funeral we arranged prior to this vote.  For any future arrangements, we have created a website and a hotline to help our families connect with a community-friendly company while the strike is ongoing." In preparation for a strike, Teamster-represented funeral directors established a website