Publications

November 19, 2004

Unbowed and Ever Proud, AFSCME Looks to the Future

Although the Presidential election dealt a serious blow to progressive causes, AFSCME is far from defeated. In fact, we're ready to resume the battle in behalf of working families. The enormous effort put forth by our union, its members and staff was reflected in a historic voter turnout and, in several battleground states, resounding victories.

We mounted an unprecedented get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort. Some $48 million was spent on political activities this year, including $15 million in political action funds, making us one of the top five PACs in the nation. Eight million GOTV phone calls were made to targeted districts. Seven million pieces of direct mail and leaflets were distributed, and 15,000 AFSCME members in 16 key states volunteered 1.7 million hours.

Our concerted efforts in the battleground states of Oregon, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine and New Hampshire brought state victories for Sen. John Kerry. We can also boast of successes in various elections in such states as Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada. In Colorado, for example, Democrats took control of the legislature and sent to the Senate Ken Salazar, a pro-worker Democrat who joins Florida Sen.-elect Mel Martinez as the first Latinos to join that body in three decades.

Members in cities throughout the country participated in GOTV rallies, making our AFSCME-green T-shirts and banners prominent in newspaper photos and television coverage of campaign events. In several non-battleground states, member volunteers traveled to neighboring battleground states to help knock on doors and make calls — a show of commitment in which we can all take pride.

Oklahoma saw a very different kind of victory just before Election Day. The legislature passed a law giving municipal employees in large cities (those with populations over 35,000) the right to form unions, effective Nov. 1. So on that day leaders of AFSCME organizing committees in five of those cities filed petitions for recognition. Some 1,130 workers are eligible in those cities; many others will be eligible when the law is applied to other cities in the future. Oklahoma proceeded to go for George Bush as expected, but those municipal actions stood out as beacons of progress.

AFSCME members and staffers cannot and will not rest. Our challenge now is to bring the issues of working families — increasing the minimum wage, providing affordable health care to every American, protecting Social Security from efforts to privatize it, and more — front and center on the national agenda. Regardless of who sits in the White House or controls Congress during the next four years, it is our responsibility to continue the fight ... and to win it.

Routing the rivals

In Doña Ana County, N.M., nearly 200 workers from two separate bargaining units formed unions with Council 18. Both victories were landslides: 69 juvenile/adult officers in the county jail elected AFSCME, while four voted for a rival union. In the blue-collar unit, 51 of 52 votes were cast in support of the Green Machine.

2 for 4

Separate organizing campaigns brought nearly 60 Connecticut employees into Council 4. In Bridgeport, 35 supervisors from the housing authority emerged victorious via card check. In Chester, Deep River, Essex and Regional School District #4, 24 school workers — custodians, secretaries, network technicians and RNs — signed on by a vote of 15 to 7.

Battle brewing

Missouri Gov.-elect Matt Blunt (R) pledged immediately to turn back the clock on thousands of state workers. Blunt's target: bargaining rights granted by Governor Holden (D) via executive order in 2001. Repealing that order, the new chief executive said, will be "one of the first acts I take." But first he may have to deal with a Council 72 legal challenge, which relies partly on the fact that the union has signed contracts in place through June 2006. Another plus for the union's case: a court ruling supporting AFSCME's collection of fair-share fees.

Telling the truth

In the town of Manitowoc, Wis., Local 913 (Council 40) members walked an informational picket line in front of a state health and rehabilitation facility. Their goal: to enlighten the public about the decline in the center's quality because lowered wages, hours and benefits have increased staff turnover. Some 80 employees in the kitchen, laundry and housekeeping areas have been working without a contract. Local Pres. Mary Reno noted that Extendicare Health Services Inc., which took over the facility on Jan. 1, cut wages and benefits, "forcing good caregivers out" while "compromising our ability to provide a level of care our residents deserve."

Way to go, Joe!

Joe Aresimowicz, Connecticut Council 4 service representative for corrections, handily defeated Republican incumbent state Rep. Bob Peters in the Nov. 2 elections. Aresimowicz, 31, is a member and past president of Local 3145 (American Red Cross) and also a three-term town councilman in Berlin.

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