WHEREAS:

Much of our members’ hard-earned dollars are being used to fuel the attacks on public employees, and workers across the board, through ALEC; and

WHEREAS:

AFSCME has long opposed the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its methods. Working with a large coalition of investors, civil rights groups, unions, environmental activists and others we have successfully persuaded companies such as Google, Yahoo, IBM, Coca-Cola, and dozens of others to withdraw from ALEC based on its positions that undermine environmental protection and worker and civil rights. As a result of our coalition effort, ALEC has suffered losses of over one-third of its income; and

WHEREAS:

ALEC actively attacks unions and worker protections in a systematic, coordinated and state­by­state process by funding candidates in exchange for promises of introducing cookie-cutter legislation written by these ALEC­supporting corporations and their legal staff; and

WHEREAS:

ALEC also supports racist, anti­immigrant and homophobic legislation such as the so-called Truth in Sentencing, Stand your Ground, and voter ID laws that keep minorities disproportionately in jail longer, support the private prison industry, and fuel hatred of immigrants, racial and sexual minorities; and

WHEREAS:

Our union has stood up for the rights of minorities time and again, but we seem to be funding the enemy by investing in these ALEC corporations; and

WHEREAS:

Funding our extinction, by financially supporting these ALEC corporations, is a futile exercise and one we have permitted for far too long in the name of a profitable retirement over helping people who need it; andWHEREAS:

We could choose to explore investing a portion of our retirement into cooperative investment groups, start a union cooperative investment group ourselves, or invest in community investment funds that could be used to build a more fair and just economy based on people over profit; and

WHEREAS:

We could choose to explore investing in green energy technologies to aid in accelerating the needed shift toward a sustainable future instead of relying on the increasingly shortsighted carbon technologies that have been so profitable for so long.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

AFSCME reaffirms its commitment to obtain corporate withdrawal from ALEC in order to starve the ALEC beast. We must continue to engage ALEC’s corporate donors and exercise our leverage as investors and consumers to deny ALEC funding. Corporations that continue to participate in ALEC will be exposed and will suffer damage to their reputation and their bottom line.

SUBMITTED BY: Jason Heilbrun, President and Delegate

Korie Erickson, Secretary and Delegate

AFSCME Local 88, Council 75

Oregon