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March 14, 2005Windy City blitzAFSCME's biggest-ever organizing blitz — on behalf of Chicago-area family child care providers and in competition with SEIU — has reached a successful conclusion. A recent executive order by Illinois Governor Blagojevich (D) permits collective negotiations for some 50,000 providers — low-wage individuals who are paid with public funds but treated like independent contractors (no benefits, workers comp or Social Security). AFSCME recently sent more than 200 members, International and affiliate staff into the field for home visits to assist Council 31, which is running the card blitz. Under the process specified in the executive order, a union gains a place on the representation-election ballot if 10 percent of the providers sign that union's cards. And although SEIU tried to keep us off the ballot, we believe the providers should be able to decide their representation for themselves. The result: approximately 8,000 cards signed for AFSCME and submitted to the American Arbitration Association. A blunt responseActivists in Missouri won't let the repeal of an executive order stop them from organizing. A unit of nearly 900 craft and maintenance workers from the Department of Corrections voted 317 to 178 to form a union with Council 72. The election was the first involving state employees after Governor Blunt (R) in January repealed an executive order that had granted them the power to bargain collectively. Meanwhile, his department heads have declared their intention to invalidate existing contracts, and the council is poised to go to court to prevent that from happening. Oklahoma: Turning back the clock ...The House of Representatives voted, mostly along party lines, to repeal a law that permitted at least 7,000 public employees to bargain collectively over wages and benefits in 11 municipalities with populations greater than 35,000 as well as the Oklahoma City Zoo. The 59-39 vote, which was expected, sends the bill to the Senate. If it passes there, the next stop is the desk of Governor Henry (D), who signed the law just last year. On the legal front, AFSCME is appealing rulings by two county judges that the law is unconstitutional. And zoo employees are vowing to appeal to the state supreme court a district-court ruling that the bargaining law does not cover employees of a public trust (the legal entity that operates the zoo). Strong majorities of the employees at the zoo and in the cities affected have chosen to be recognized by AFSCME. ...Bad guys sent homeThree commissioners in Enid — one of two cities appealing Oklahoma's collective bargaining law — now know the power of the Green Machine. All three supported repealing the collective bargaining law, and all were defeated in elections last week. City employees showed their determination to build a union by going door to door, distributing leaflets and telephoning on behalf of candidates who support their efforts to form an AFSCME union. About 280 are in the bargaining unit, which the city has thus far refused to recognize. United we standThe 246 unclassified, part-time employees of Carson, Calif., have approved a first-ever collective bargaining agreement without a single dissenting vote. The workers include recreation-center assistants, bus drivers and maintenance employees represented by Local 809 (Council 36). They voted 96-0 for a contract that was then approved by the city council. The agreement includes: a pay increase of 8 percent over three years, plus an extra salary step worth 5 percent; a solid grievance procedure; agency shop; and other significant benefits. Facing the challengeIn "The Organizing Challenge for Unions and the AFL-CIO," AFSCME proposes actions the labor movement needs to take to increase its influence — specifically focusing on increasing membership and political power. Among the proposals: Expand the Strategic Campaign Registration program so unions can successfully launch large campaigns in their core jurisdictions without inter-union competition; focus the federation's Voice@Work campaign on the right to organize; increase political action to win bargaining rights in new jurisdictions and create multi-union collaborations in key industries where a clear mutual interest exists. The full report is available online. Defending Social SecurityFor the first time, AFSCME is urging a company other than an investment firm — drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc. — to publicly disavow its support for Social Security privatization. In a letter, President McEntee asked Pfizer to withdraw its membership from the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a coalition of corporations and trade associations backing Bush's privatization scheme. McEntee made the request on behalf of both the union and the public employee benefit programs that contract for the manufacturer's products. Save the dates
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