Issues

June 2005

Get ready for the AFSCME Women's Conference!

On July 8th-10th, 2005, AFSCME will hold its Eastern Region Women's Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. During the conference, participants will build their skills to help grow the union and improve women's economic security. About 1,000 AFSCME women are expected to attend. Some of the workshops planned for this year's conference include: Protecting our Future — Fighting for Retirement Security; Rising in the Ranks — Running for Union Office; and Women Building Unions — A Historical Perspective. In addition, AFSCME is also holding a pre-conference Institute that will focus on Strategic Campaigning to get women more involved in Politics, Organizing, PEOPLE, Legislative Advocacy, and Collective Bargaining campaigns.

AFSCME's Western Region Women's Conference will be held November 4-6, 2005 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California.

For more information check out the AFSCME Women's Website.

Women's committee rallies for workers

Women's Committees are an invaluable tool for building the union. All around the nation, these committees are developing leaders, encouraging political activism, and generating support for key bargaining issues. On Wednesday, June 8, the Women's Committee of AFSCME Local 3674, along with 80 protesters, gathered outside of the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse in Baltimore, MD. AFSCME members and other employees protested the severe working conditions in both courthouses that have caused health problems for many employees, such as skin rashes, eye, ear, and sinus infections; asthma, and even cancer. Employees have complained about foul odors, rodent infestation and other problems.

According to Arthur "Pat" Kelly, President of AFSCME Local 3674, AFSCME's National Women's Advisory Committee (NWAC) meeting held in Washington D.C. this April inspired her and her Women's Committee to organize the rally. Following the NWAC meeting, Local 3674's Women's Committee decided to address the courthouse employee's complaints. They increased their membership and spearheaded the rally.

We urge you to join your local or council women's committee and get involved! If your local or council doesn't have a Women's Committee, get information on how to start one.

Congress continues to resist social security privatization plan

During the past few weeks members of the House and Senate met to discuss bills on Social Security reform. The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee are taking the lead on the issue. Legislators are working together to resolve differences between potential House and Senate legislation before a bill is passed by either chamber.

Despite the high priority of Social Security on the President's national agenda, several members of Congress refuse to support any bill that jeopardizes the economic security of America's working families. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said he would negotiate only if the President publicly disavows private accounts, which Bush has conceded will not improve the program's solvency. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), also on the Finance Committee, stated that she cannot support privatization.

In the House, Republican leaders recently introduced a privatization plan in the Ways and Means Committee. The plan would take money from the Social Security surplus, which is the amount of Social Security funds not needed to pay current benefits, and use it to create individual accounts. This plan, however, does nothing to address the problem of Social Security solvency and actually exacerbates the nation's fiscal picture by depleting the trust fund sooner than expected. Furthermore, by taking money away from Social Security, the plan would force deeper benefit cuts for everyone in the future — this would greatly affect women, who depend on Social Security as their #1 source of income in retirement.

Keep up the pressure! Privatization will be a harsh blow to women's economic security. In fact, 56 percent of Americans believe that the President's plan to privatize Social Security would cut retirement income for seniors, and 63 percent said the proposals would not improve the long-term financial stability of the Social Security system. Despite public opposition, President Bush continues to push Congress to pass Social Security privatization legislation. It is critical that our legislators know our position when they are called upon to support legislation. We encourage you to take action and let your leaders know that privatization hurts women and working families!

Get more information on how Social Security Privatization hurts women. 

Senate confirms controversial judges despite strong opposition

Individual rights and protections are in jeopardy after the Senate has now confirmed six of President Bush's judicial nominees to the US Circuit Court of Appeals, the second highest court to the US Supreme Court.

Following months of debate and harsh criticism, the US Senate confirmed President Bush's three most contentious judicial nominees, Janice Rogers Brown, William J. Pryor, Jr., and Priscilla Owen. Civil and women's rights organizations and unions, including AFSCME, opposed these nominations because of the detrimental impact these appointments would have on individual rights and protections. These judicial confirmations are important because of the power the courts have to decide on sensitive issues such as women's rights, abortion rights, worker's rights, and gay rights. Justices Brown, Owen, and Pryor have extensive track records of impeding these rights. Their future rulings will have a vital impact on the lives of American workers.

Janice Rogers Brown currently serves as California Supreme Court Justice and has been confirmed to a lifetime appointment on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Senate also confirmed Priscilla Owen, who now sits on the Texas Supreme Court, to a lifetime seat as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which handles appeals of cases from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. William J. Pryor, Jr., Alabama Attorney General, was confirmed by the Senate for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over federal cases in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

Commission will determine Medicaid cuts

As reported in the May issue of the AFSCME WomENews, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established a Medicaid Commission. The commission has a deadline of September 1, 2005 to determine how to cut $10 billion from the program. The commission also will develop long-term proposals by December 31, 2006, which could mean increased co-payments, cuts to benefits, and reductions in pharmacy payments.

The commission was originally intended to be a bipartisan effort. However, the HHS Secretary has appointed all of the voting and non-voting members of the committee. As a result, many groups, including Congressional Democrats and the National Governors Association, have refused to participate. Furthermore, there are no voting members on the commission who represent the interests of program beneficiaries or health care providers. Proposals developed by the commission will have serious implications for beneficiaries, especially women, and will greatly affect state budgets.

Currently, Medicaid funding is over 40% of the Federal money that states receive. It is the number one source of federal grant funds to the states. With the proposed cuts to Federal funds, states will have to make up for the shortfall by limiting eligibility to Medicaid, cutting services and jobs paid for by Medicaid, taking money from other areas of the budget, or a combination of all three. Recent economic troubles in the United States have caused more people to rely on Medicaid. With the rate of employer-sponsored health care coverage dropping and people's increasing inability to afford coverage on their own, Medicaid helps working people access needed health care.

Women, comprising almost 71 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries ages 19 and older, are twice as likely as men to qualify for the program because they earn less money and are less likely to have jobs with employer-sponsored health insurance. Even individuals with employer-sponsored coverage are not always able to afford it for themselves or their families. Consequently, nearly one in ten women in the United States has health care coverage through Medicaid.

Stay tuned! The Women's Rights Department will keep you updated on developments with the commission and changes to the Medicaid program that will hurt working women and their children. It is critical that we come together to protect benefits for working families.

WomENews is produced by the Women's Rights Department and written by Quinci Moody, Harream Purdie, and Amy Vance.

 

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