As Evanston City Council begins the thorny task of fixing next year’s unbalanced budget, about 300 non-union employees have served notice that they want to unionize — one way or another.

Aldermen will vote Monday night on whether to voluntarily recognize the unionization of most of the city’s remaining non-union employees by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

However, union organizer Kathy Steichen said even if City Council does not approve the proposal, AFSCME could gather enough signatures to gain recognition through the standard petition process.

Thomas Edstrom, supervising counsel for AFSCME, stunned many aldermen and Mayor Lorraine H. Morton when he raised the issue during the citizen comment portion of the Dec. 16 council meeting. Edstrom asked them to recognize the new union quickly, warning that long-term organization efforts could be “detrimental to productivity.”

The city currently employs 874 workers, about 300 of whom do not belong to a union and would be eligible. AFSCME already represents about 170 employees throughout the city. Police officers and firefighters belong to their own unions.

City relations with non-union employees tensed last winter when annual raises were reduced to lower levels than usual to help balance the budget. Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said this broke the council tradition of matching non-union raises to those received by union members through their contracts.

“We created a caste system,” Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said. “It didn’t do anything for morale and hurt productivity.”

Unionization would remove those employees’ raises as a variable during the budget season, because the contracts are renegotiated every few years, setting raises in stone.

If aldermen recognize the union voluntarily, employees can bypass the lengthy process of filing a petition for an election to occur. Instead, the state Labor Relations Board would verify that a majority of the employees want to unionize.

“Voluntary recognition is a kick-start,” said Ald. Joe Kent (5th), who supports the proposal. “This gets them in gear to start rolling right away.”

City manager Roger Crum said if the workers fail to gain voluntary recognition, the city will not try to block the unionization.

Crum said this week that he was not surprised by the unionization effort.

“We had heard it was going on from many city employees,” he said.

Organizers have attempted to unionize the rest of Evanston’s city employees, but were unable to garner enough interest. Librarian Martha Quinn said this time, the unstable economy prompted workers to unite.

“The economy has spoken to people,” she said. “People have realized it isn’t just a given that things will go well. … They need to have a collective voice in what happens in these hard times.”

Efrain Berrocal, a technical support specialist at Evanston Public Library, said he first became interested in forming a union when he heard that other unionized city employees might receive higher wages for the same kind of work he performs. A union, he said, “would empower us to close that gap, if there’s any.”

Even if the employees form a union, however, they would not immediately receive pay packages on par with union members.

“The unions will have to bargain,” Crum said. “Nothing is automatic.”

That means any unionization will not affect this year’s budget, he said.

Steichen said she thinks the council will probably recognize the union voluntarily.

“We wouldn’t have the vote take place if we weren’t confident,” she said.

Bernstein, she said, has been particularly supportive.

Steichen said a union could address many worker concerns besides pay, including job security, policy-making, uniform standards and grievance procedures.

“Right now, people are left to fend for themselves,” she said.

Ruth Tolbert, a registered nurse with the Evanston Department of Health and Human Services, said she has attempted for nine years to unionize city employees. She said she thought some workers were receiving better treatment than others.

“There were no standards for policies and procedures, and the management heard what it wanted to hear,” she said.

Kent predicted that even if aldermen have mixed feelings about the issue, they will probably approve the voluntary recognition proposal.

“I don’t see it as a tool to take anything away from the city,” Kent said. “I see it as a tool that would strengthen our employees.”