PEP, March 2009: School for struggle

By JANE LaTOUR

The economic and political crisis union members are facing topped the agenda of the political action and delegate training conference held by Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 from Jan. 30 – Feb. 1 in Rye, N.Y.

Local President Eddie Rodriguez pumped up the 150 activists and Clerical Division staff with an impassioned appeal. “Our fight is to save jobs. Together, we have to send a strong message to Albany,” he said. “And we have to take everything we learn here to our work locations and share it with the membership.”

As the conference got underway Jan. 30, tabloid headlines screamed the threat to members, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg talking of cutting 23,000 public-sector jobs.

Ralph Palladino, 2nd vice president, outlined the local’s plans for the sessions: “We want this conference to be interactive. We have a fight on our hands and we will have to use everything we learn here to win it,” he said. DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams told the conferees that their commitment to organizing and political action is even more important now.

Jim Cullen, state director for AFSCME, DC 37’s parent union, stepped into the sudden vacancy left when Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy was called to an emergency meeting in Washington on the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package. The union’s battle to protect jobs and services is “part of our fight for social justice,” said Cullen. “The forces that want to take us back to the past just don’t get it. After eight years of the rich getting richer, the public voted them out.”

Local 1549 Executive Vice President Lenora Gates introduced keynote speaker Lillian Roberts, the executive director ofDC 37, as the person “responsible for the benefits we enjoy today.” Roberts emphasized the critical nature of the times: “Right now the haves are trying to destroy the have-nots,” she said. “We can’t let that happen.”

Bronx Food Stamps Shop Steward Herbert Foster, who missed only one out of 25 questions on a quiz on politics and the economy, felt the conference prepared him for the struggle ahead. “There’s a lot of trickery in politics. We have to be up for the fight.”
“The conference enlightened me. It gave me a lot of ammunition and tools to use to enlighten my co-workers,” said Kenneth Johnson, a new shop steward at the 311 Call Center.

Action-packed agenda
Activist Natasha Isma, who participated in the MetroPlus organizing drive and the February Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus, said she plans to attend the union’s March 31 Lobby Day in Albany. “This year, more than ever, people need to be active in politics,” she said.
The conference hit a high note when Donna Brazile – national political strategist, author and professor – spoke on Saturday, noting that public-sector workers are on the front lines in the current crisis. “The Bush administration didn’t practice compassionate conservatism — that was just a slogan to get them elected,” she said.

The panel that followed her address included Minna Elias, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, State Sen. Eric Adams, Assembly member Carl Heastie, City Council members Letitia James, Rose Mendez and Melissa Mark-Viverito, and LaRay Brown, senior vice president of the Health and Hospitals Corp. All pledged to join DC 37 in the fight for a progressive urban agenda.

Workshops led by Local 1549 Political Action Committee Vice Chairs Alma Roper and Carmen Flores, AFSCME’s Yolanda Medina and DC 37’s Zita Allen provided training on health care and child care issues and strengthened skills for explaining the importance of members’ jobs to the public.

“The more we educate ourselves, the better we can educate our members. We need to make them aware of how the political issues affect them,” said Natasha Isma.