Staffing agency: Not wanted in Joliet

It’s been nearly three years since temporary staffing agencies have been an issue in Joliet, but they became an issue again this week.

The City Council on Tuesday turned down a proposed staffing agency on Larkin Avenue.

Actually, the council didn’t even vote on it because no one was willing to second a motion to approve a special use permit needed by Partners Personnel to open a staffing agency at 232 S. Larkin Ave.

Partners Personnel provides employees to a variety of companies including Costco, according to a staff memo to the City Council.

But Councilwoman Bettye Gavin at a Monday pre-council meeting asked for a refresher on whether or not the city had imposed a moratorium on staffing agencies, an indicator that the proposal could be in some trouble.

The city never did impose a moratorium on staffing agencies.

But the council in November 2018 voted against special use permits requested by two staffing agencies amid a call for a moratorium by Warehouse Workers for Justice.

Roberto Clack, former executive director for Warehouse Workers for Justice, at the time described the council no votes as a “big deal” because it acknowledged what his organization called a problem in the way staffing agencies treated warehouse workers in the Joliet logistics industry.

Warehouse Workers for Justice argued that the many staffing agencies in the Joliet area supplied workers at low wages and helped companies avoid paying benefits.

City Manger James Capparelli on Tuesday provided the council with a look-back at what it had done, saying no formal moratorium was in place.

Capparelli said the city required a special use permit for staffing agencies because of the potential issue of large numbers of prospective workers at the locations waiting for buses to take them to jobs.

“This particular case sidesteps that by not having folks on the premises,” Capparelli told the council. “It’s more or a headquarters.”

City staff recommended approval for the special use permit for Partners Personnel, siding with the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The zoning board back in 2018 first began raising questions about the numbers of staffing agencies that were coming into the city. But the zoning board in August recommended approval for the permit needed by Patrners Personnel.

According to the staff report, Partners Personnel provides employment opportunities paying between $17 and $25 an hour for jobs including forklift drivers, machine operators, and office administration. The company does not offer day-labor positions and provides healthcare plans for eligible employees, according to the staff report.