Public Employee Press

AFSCME conference: organizing for victory in ’08

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

With the goals to set the national agenda and choose a winning White House candidate in 2008, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees held its “Take Back America” leadership conference in Washington, June 18 through 20, and 2,000 activists from across the nation participated.

“We are ready to change America and stand up for what’s best for this country,” said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee. “We Make America Happen” is the union’s new slogan, “because we are the American workers who have dedicated our lives to making our nation live up to its promises,” he boomed.

AFSCME, DC 37’s 1.4 million-member national union, is asserting labor’s voice in the national dialogue — setting as top concerns for American voters in 2008 such issues as public sector jobs, a swift end to the war and a safe return of troops from Iraq, protecting Social Security and pensions, universal health care and the right to organize.

The three-day conference featured a forum with five presidential candidates: U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barak Obama, Congress member Dennis Kucinich, and New Mexico Gov. BillRichardson. MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews moderated the forum, which MSNBC broadcast. AFSCME’s invitation to the Republican candidates went unanswered.

AFSCME’s multi-pronged agenda also includes raising $35 million for PEOPLE, the union’s grass roots political fundraising program through its Most Valuable Participant, or MVP, program. This new PEOPLE initiative asks members to give $2 a week, or about $100 annually.

Nurse Judith Arroyo, president of Local 436, pledged $100 a week to PEOPLE. “In my work I see firsthand the impact budget cuts have: I see seniors who have to decide between food and medicine, and it hurts,” she said. “I believe in leading by example and that the cause is worth it.” Several DC 37 members pledged to sign up co-workers and friends as PEOPLE MVPs.

Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the House of Representatives, recounted labor’s 2006 political successes, included electing labor-friendly candidates, gaining a Democratic majority in Congress and realizing the first minimum wage hike in a decade.

On June 19, about 1,500 conference attendees braved 102-degree heat to rally on the Washington Mall for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to organize and join unions without fear of intimidation or harassment from the employer. The bill passed in the House of Representatives, but as PEP went to press, President Bush threatened to veto it.

In a wrap-up session, McEntee and AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy took questions from the audience. McEntee said unions have the people power to take back America. “We are going to do what it takes to win,” he said, “so no court in America can take our victory away.”