WHEREAS:
From the Memphis sanitation workers of 1968 to the Philadelphia sanitation workers, Kaiser Permanente nurses and health care professionals, Illinois State University workers and University of California workers of today, AFSCME members have a proud, rich and inspiring history of striking and winning contracts that support working families and protect public services; and
WHEREAS:
While not all workers have the right to strike, all benefit from the victories won by striking workers; and
WHEREAS:
That worker’s decision to strike and remain on strike is made easier by the solidarity of their co-workers, family, community and other unions, and the material assistance that a strike fund can offer, which can never replace a paycheck, but can mitigate some of the hardship; and
WHEREAS:
Strikes are rare and a last resort, and are thus necessary when undertaken; and
WHEREAS:
A worker’s decision to strike is made without any promise of winning, but entirely on a refusal to accept the guarantee of less by not striking, and a brave commitment to a possible better future. The decision requires serious consideration of the hardships they may face from striking, such as the inability to pay rent and bills or the loss of their health care; and
WHEREAS:
Striking is a sacrifice, but no one should be threatened by their employer with losing their home or health care; and
WHEREAS:
During extended strikes, some employers terminate or threaten to terminate employer-sponsored health insurance coverage as a tactic to increase economic pressure on workers and their families, placing access to necessary medical care and prescription medications at risk; and
WHEREAS:
Solidarity is a verb.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME International shall work with and support interested affiliates in creating a strike and hardship fund for the purpose of projecting our fierce, historic commitment to doing whatever it takes to win, by making material support available to workers who face real hardship from going on an extended strike; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME shall support the right to strike where lawful; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
This hardship assistance is meant to help ensure that AFSCME members can meet their basic needs for food, housing and health care while remaining on strike; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
In an economy that is rigged against working people, AFSCME shall advance and support, where appropriate, federal, state and local legislation and public policies that provide striking workers with access to unemployment insurance benefits and the continuation of health care coverage during a lawful strike, giving us a fighting chance at winning — for our families, the communities we serve and the generations that follow.
SUBMITTED BY:
Charmaine Morales, President and Delegate
UNAC/UHCP, NUHHCE, AFSCME Local 1199
Michael Avant, President
Kathryn Lybarger, Executive Vice President and Delegate
AFSCME Local 3299
California