AFSCME Under 35 Members United in Demanding Jobs, Not Cuts
by Kate Childs Graham and Pablo Ros | February 01, 2013
Day of Action participants in Arkansas.
Day of Action participants in Wisconsin.In recent months, no matter what news we watch, no matter what news we read, we’ve heard about the showdown on Capitol Hill over the budget. Corporate-backed politicians are standing in the way of any reasonable solution to fix our economy. Instead, they propose cuts to Social Security, cuts to Medicare and cuts to Medicaid.
We want jobs, not cuts. We want the richest two percent of Americans to pay their fair share, not cuts. We want closed loopholes for corporations, not cuts.
Now, across the country, union members and allies are mobilizing online and at their congressional district offices to send their representatives that message.
This week AFSCME asked its members under the age of 35 – AFSCME’s Next Wave – to participate in a coordinated online effort called a Thunderclap. Think of it as an online flash mob. Nearly 6,000 participated with a combined social reach of more than 1.5 million. Thousands of messages of support were posted automatically to Facebook and Twitter. They read:
We need #JobsNotCuts. Don't cut Social Security/Medicare/Education. Make corporations & top 2% pay their fair share.
We also held a Next Wave “teletownhall” in which 16,000 young AFSCME members under the age of 35 participated, and got a chance to talk with Sec.-Treas. Laura Reyes about the importance of protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
“More than six million people under 35 are unemployed and many of them rely on programs like Medicaid just to make ends meet,” Reyes told call participants. “If Congress cuts Medicaid, millions would be at risk of losing life-saving home care and millions more young people will be at risk of losing health care.”
A poll of call participants found that a large majority (86 percent) are counting on Medicare and Social Security to be around when they retire, and 80 percent say their family is concerned about cuts to Medicare.
This week, thousands more are attending more than 100 events across the country in a National Day of Action—led by the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, ATF and HCAN with the help of other partner organizations. Events include a meeting with Congressman Gary Peters in Detroit, leafleting in Indianapolis, rallying in West Palm Beach and more. Find an event near you. If there isn’t one, plan your own.
It’s going to take all our voices to end this showdown.
AFSCME Solidarity Provides Relief after Deadly Accident
by Pablo Ros | February 01, 2013
Corrections officer Anthony Vega (in wheelchair) is surrounded by his family, friends and colleagues after returning to Puerto Rico. (Photo courtesy SPUPR/Council 95)
Earlier this month, Juan Rosario Ramos and Anthony Vega, both corrections officers and members of Alianza Correccional Unida (ACU) Local 3500/Servidores Públicos Unidos de Puerto Rico (SPUPR), AFSCME Council 95, survived a traffic accident that took the lives of three others.
Ramos and Vega were part of an extradition team on its way to a private prison in Cushing, Okla., when their van was hit head-on by a Jeep that veered left of center. The two received medical treatment, and a few days later were able to fly back to their loved ones in Puerto Rico.
Today, the two officers, as well as SPUPR and its leadership – Council President Annette Gonzalez and ACU Pres. Juan González – say they are grateful to the AFSCME brothers and sisters in the region who helped out during this difficult time by providing emotional support and resources, including clothing, lodging, and transportation. They included William Bryles, president of AFSCME Local 2406 in Oklahoma City.
“To SPUPR, the support provided to our colleagues by our AFSCME brothers and sisters in the U.S. was very important,” said Erick Caraballo, an ACU coordinator. “It was especially meaningful at a time when our colleagues were in a delicate state of health and going through a difficult time as a result of this incident. Their support shows the great solidarity that exists between AFSCME brothers and sisters. This solidarity unites us regardless of region, city or territory.”
Vega received emergency medical treatment before coming back to Puerto Rico, where he will undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation. Ramos, who sustained injuries to an arm and shoulder, is also recovering.
Governors Who Reject Medicaid Expansion Will Harm Workers, Families
by Kyle Weidleman | January 31, 2013
During the next two years, states have several opportunities to expand health care coverage for currently uninsured citizens under the Affordable Care Act. But despite hefty financial subsidies from the federal government, some of the same governors who have called for an outright repeal of the act are now distorting the facts to justify denying health care to hundreds of thousands of residents in their states.
Under the act, states are empowered to set up health care purchasing ‘exchanges’ to make it easier for individuals to buy affordable coverage or they can allow the Federal government to run an exchange instead. The act also gives states the ability to expand Medicaid coverage to currently ineligible low wage workers at no cost for the first three years. States also have the ability to expand Medicaid coverage to currently ineligible low wage workers. States also have the ability to opt out of the Medicaid expansion.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will fund Medicaid coverage that will cover millions of working families who would not otherwise have health insurance. The federal government will pay the full cost of the expansion for three years and 90 percent of the cost thereafter. Unfortunately, several governors have already said they will refuse to participate.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence turned down the assistance that would help insure nearly 400,000 Hoosiers. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is considering leaving 564,000 Michiganders without an option for affordable health insurance. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has rejected the expansion that would cover 78,000 state residents. And Ohio Gov. John Kasich has refused to make a decision, keeping uncertain health care coverage for 600,000 Buckeye State residents.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has gone so far as to manufacture wildly inaccurate figures to explain why he will not cover 1.2 million Floridians under the act. Scott reported that the Medicaid expansion would cost his state $26 billion over 10 years—even though he knew the number was hugely inflated. The actual figure was later revised downward by nearly 90 percent.
Playing fast and loose with the numbers is nothing new to Scott. Before he was governor, he ran a for-profit hospital system defrauded government health programs—including Medicaid—by more than $1.5 billion.
While these short-sighted governors play political games, millions of working families will continue to be denied affordable healthcare. AFSCME member and our allies will continue to fight for health care coverage that is affordable and accessible to all.
One-Man March for NYC Child Care Gains Support
by G.L. Tyler | January 30, 2013
DC 1707 executive director Raglan George, Jr., (center) vows to protest Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s damaging Early Learn program until it’s gone.
Every Monday afternoon, Raglan George, Jr., sandwiches himself between two picket signs with slogans like “New York City working families need child care,” then makes his way back and forth in front of New York City Hall.
He calls it his One-Man March for Child Care, and he’s been doing it ever since Mayor Michael Bloomberg implemented his harmful Early Learn Program last fall.
Known as “Rags,” the DC 1707 executive director and AFSCME International vice president is starting to get some company on his picket line. In recent weeks, New York City Council members lined up with him, as did supporters from the New York City Central Labor Council and the New York State AFL-CIO.
On his weekly marches, George exposes Early Learn’s multiple flaws. Early Learn was implemented without a pilot program, environmental impact study or a hearing from the City Council. Some 5,000 children were immediately removed from the program. The city recently revealed that another 5,000 eligible children will not receive services because more than 70 of Bloomberg’s handpicked vendors could not pass muster with the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Until Bloomberg came into office 11 years ago, New York City’s comprehensive child care network was acclaimed, and it included day care, Head Start and an extensive after-school program.
Under Early Learn, the mayor yanked kindergarten classes out of day care centers, and now the city’s kindergartens have waitlists. More than 1,000 unionized day care center workers and Head Start workers were fired under Bloomberg. The city refuses to pay back wages that may total between $10 million to 15 million for both terminated and employed workers. Many of the vendors selected as replacements for the fired staff had no child care experience.
George says he’ll be marching for the duration of the fight. Bloomberg’s term ends in late 2013 and he looks forward to electing a new mayor who understands the needs of the city’s children and the rights of workers.
G.L. Tyler is DC 1707’s Political Director.
Millennials Want to Protect Social Security and Medicare
by Kate Childs Graham | January 25, 2013
The Millennial Generation – those aged 18 to 29 – have never had to live without a social safety net. Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs have been around their whole lives. So it shouldn’t be surprising that young adults favor preserving programs like Social Security and Medicare over cutting the deficit. In fact they do so 48 to 41, according to a poll recently conducted by Pew Research Center.
Melinda Pearson, a Next Waver and Local 4001 (Minnesota Council 5) member, put it this way, “Cuts to Social Security and Medicare are simply wrong. Access to medical care, regardless of your income, should be a basic right. Retiring with dignity should also be considered a right. We pay into the Social Security system from the time that we begin working. It should be there for all of us when we come to the sunset of our lives.”
In the coming weeks, young AFSCME members will join together with members of all ages to call upon Congress to protect Medicare and Social Security. If you are 35ish or under, join our tele-town hall this Monday, January 28, to learn how you can be involved in the fight.
Thousands in Philly Demand Fairness from Mayor Nutter
by Erick Sanchez | January 24, 2013
Thousands of Philadelphia city workers and supporters rally in Independence Park.
Philadelphia – AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders, District Council 33 Pres. Pete Matthews and District Council 47 Pres. Cathy Scott were joined on Saturday by other labor leaders to fire up thousands of city workers in Independence Park, calling on Mayor Michael Nutter to respect workers’ rights and think about working families, not corporate profits.
This was one day after 500 protested Nutter’s harmful policies outside of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, DC, where Nutter was chairing the meeting.
On the holiday weekend honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Saunders spoke of the slain civil rights leader and called for a better Philadelphia for all workers. King’s dream of a just society that protected the rights of working families is under attack in the City of Brotherly Love.
Since taking office, Nutter has gone out of his way to cut taxes for the wealthy while asking for more and more sacrifices from the city’s public workforce. He’s demanded that workers exchange their retirement security for a tiny wage increase, while at the same time demanding that they give the city more power to put them out of work for weeks on end without pay.
“How can he pretend to tell other Mayors how to run their city when he can’t even negotiate contracts with City workers here in Philadelphia,” Scott asked.
Matthews added: “This mayor continues to disrespect the hard work city workers do. He refuses to treat them with the dignity they deserve and honor the words he campaigned on.”
Saunders told the gathered crowd about King paying the ultimate price for standing with workers, the men of AFSCME Local 1733 in Memphis, where he was slain while speaking out for sanitation workers’ rights.
“Mayor Nutter considers himself a man of the people – but in reality, he’s a man of only certain people: the top 1 percent,” President Saunders said. “He advocates for the wealthy, not the workers. He supports the corporations, not the cops. He champions the people with a lot, not the folks with too little. Dr. Martin Luther King knew that civil rights and workers’ rights were connected.”
Who Are the “Working Poor”?
by Clyde Weiss | January 22, 2013
It’s shameful. About 10 million “working poor” families – 47 million Americans in all, half of whom are children – currently live near poverty.
That’s according to a new report by the Working Poor Project, using the most recent data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Their findings mean nearly a third of all working families are struggling – up from 28 percent in 2007, at the start of the Great Recession.
“The total number of people … could reach 50 million in the next few years. That’s roughly equivalent to the total number of people living in California, Oregon and Washington combined,” say the report’s authors, Brandon Roberts, Deborah Povich and Mark Mather.
A family of four is considered to be living below the poverty line if they make less than $22,811.
The increase of poverty in America is familiar to AFSCME, which is why we are dedicated to preserving the economic safety net – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – in the face of corporate-backed efforts to undermine it through reckless budget cuts.
Here are more sobering numbers from the Working Poor Report, “Low-Income Working Families: The Growing Economic Gap”:
- In 2011, there were 23 million children in low-income working families.
- In 10 states, the share of low-income working families increased by 5 percentage points or more between 2007 and 2011.
- The richest 20 percent of working families took home nearly half (48 percent) of all income, while those in the bottom 20 percent received less than 5 percent.
In Anti-Nutter Rally, AFSCME Members Support Sisters and Brothers in Philadelphia
by Pablo Ros and Gregory King | January 18, 2013
The rally took place outside the Capital Hilton in DC, where Mayor Michael Nutter was chairing a meeting of the National Conference of Mayors. (Photo by Pablo Ros)
Washington, DC – Five hundred AFSCME activists, members of other labor unions and progressives met today to protest Mayor Michael Nutter’s policies of favoring the wealthiest 1 percent at the expense of the working middle class.
Showing solidarity with their sisters and brothers in Philadelphia, the crowd marched in front of the Capital Hilton hotel, where the Philadelphia mayor was chairing a meeting of the National Conference of Mayors. Holding signs that read “No More Mayor for the 1 Percent” and “Let’s Build a Better Philadelphia for ALL,” protesters called attention to Nutter’s repeated refusal to act in the best interest of all Philadelphia workers and citizens.
Since taking office, Nutter has gone out of his way to cut taxes for the wealthy while asking for more and more sacrifices from the city’s public workforce. He’s demanded that workers exchange their retirement security for a tiny wage increase, while at the same time demanding that they give the city more power to put them out of work for weeks on end without pay.
Opposition to Nutter’s 1 percent favoritism also will be broadcast loudly tomorrow at a rally in Philadelphia, where AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders will join other union members in calling on the mayor to stand with workers.
“Instead of standing up for workers, Mayor Nutter thinks nothing of waging class warfare against the hard-working men and women who provide vital services for the residents of the City of Brotherly Love,” Saunders said. “For more than four years, he has refused to negotiate a contract with the city’s public workers. He’s shut down schools and libraries, and has made it clear that he is willing to stand with the wealthy corporations and individuals in Philadelphia and give little or nothing to working families and their communities.”
Nutter’s most recent move: patting workers on the back with one hand, offering them a 2.5 percent wage increase, while picking their pockets with the other hand, taking thousands of dollars from workers with threatened cuts in overtime pay and forced furloughs.
AFSCME DC 33 Pres. Pete Matthews and DC 47 Pres. Cathy Scott called out Nutter’s disingenuous plan, pointing out that it’s not a raise when you take away more than you give.
Philadelphia’s public employees have pulled together to help their city find real solutions to the budget problems that have faced many American communities during these years following the Bush Recession. In Philadelphia, they already provided the city real savings. And they have gone four years without a pay increase – saving the city even more.
But Mayor Nutter won’t be satisfied until the city’s workers earn less and give up the retirement security they have worked for throughout their careers in public service. We must show our solidarity with our sisters and brothers; and Mayor Nutter’s policies for the 1 percent must be stopped.
In Memoriam: Norm Gleichman
by Clyde Weiss | January 18, 2013
Norm Gleichman
AFSCME mourns the loss of Norm Gleichman, deputy general counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who helped our two unions foster labor peace and organizing growth through “no-raid” and representation agreements.
Gleichman, 58, died Jan. 11 while on vacation with his family in Mexico.
A resident of Takoma Park, Md., Gleichman joined SEIU in 2002, having worked previously at the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and then as general counsel of the Federal Mine Safety and Review Commission during the administration of Pres. Bill Clinton.
At SEIU, Gleichman’s responsibilities included supervising legal issues involving the union’s advocacy on behalf of working families, and fighting income inequality. An expert on inter-union relations, he also helped bridge relations with AFSCME, especially in growing union strength through joint organizing efforts.
With his guidance, the two unions reached a “no-raid” agreement in 2005 that neither union would attempt to raid, decertify as a union or otherwise interfere with existing representation rights. The agreement also established a joint committee to address issues of union density and jurisdiction, and created a joint "Unity Local" of child care providers in California and Pennsylvania.
In 2010, that cooperation extended to Missouri, where approximately 12,000 home care attendants united in the Missouri Home Care Union, a partnership between AFSCME Council 72 and SEIU.
“Norm was invaluable in helping AFSCME and SEIU bridge the gap between our two great unions,” said AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders. “He worked tirelessly on behalf of workers seeking strength on the job through union representation. We will miss his expertise and his friendship.”
Register Now for Dynamic Legislative Conference
by Clyde Weiss | January 15, 2013
The 2013 AFSCME Legislative Conference takes place in Washington, DC, from Feb. 11-13.
A high-energy program focusing on federal, state and local battles to protect the working middle class will bring together AFSCME members from across the country for the 2013 AFSCME Legislative Conference in Washington, DC.
From February 11-13, fired-up activists will strategize and organize at a series of workshops on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), retirement security, the threat of privatization, taxes and budgets, attacks on workers’ rights and immigration fairness. Attendees will head to Capitol Hill to lobby their lawmakers on these and other issues, and hear from AFSCME leaders, including Pres. Lee Saunders and Sec.-Treas. Laura Reyes. Key allies will be on hand to discuss best practices of partnerships – something AFSCME considers crucial as we face the fights ahead.
In addition, members will learn about AFSCME’s PEOPLE program to build political strength to fight for the working middle class.
They also will hear from other union leaders during a moderated panel on union solidarity. Panelists include Communication Workers of America Pres. Larry Cohen, American Federation of Teachers Pres. Randy Weingarten, SEIU Pres. Mary Kay Henry, and Sean McGarvey, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
AFSCME members who want to attend can download the registration form here.
