May 14, 2009

LOBBY DAY – Members of New York’s DC 37 get ready to meet lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Photo Credit: Jon Melegrito

Standing 700 strong, an army of AFSCME leaders and activists from across the country headed to Congress on Wednesday during the second day of the union’s 2009 Legislative Conference. Their mission: Help restore America’s economy, guarantee quality, affordable health care for all and rebuild the Middle Class by making it easier for workers to form a union.

Before the leaders headed to the Capitol, AFSCME International Sec.-Treas. William Lucy said they should “remind elected officials that you helped put them in Congress. Let them know the issues that are important to you and other members of the union.”

Members also heard from Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, who applauded activists for their efforts.

Fired up, AFSCME members from across the country then met with lawmakers and their aides to explain – in their own words – why Congress must invest in:

• Public services that Americans can count on in good times and bad. That means ensuring that federal stimulus funds are spent as intended – to maintain and create jobs at the federal, state and local levels.
• Comprehensive health care reform that guarantees a choice of coverage, including the choice of a new public health insurance option.
• The Middle Class, which means passing the Employee Free Choice Act. The legislation will allow workers who want to form a union to do so without being harassed and intimidated by employers. Vice President Joe Biden told AFSCME members on Tuesday that he and President Obama support the bill.