AFSCME in Chicago -- Our Future, Our Voices

by   |  August 10, 2006

We just completed the first-ever AFSCME town hall meeting, "Our Voices, Our Future." Thousands of AFSCME members, in small groups, discussed the challenges facing our union. Through the use of a high-tech network of laptops, we were able to submit our thoughts and come to consensus on ways to build a stronger union with a more active membership and on how to improve the image of public service workers. Tammy Wallace, a state employee from Indianapolis, IN drove three hours -- taking the day off from work -- to kick off the meeting with these words of encouragment: "In Indiana, we lost our collective bargaining rights with the stroke of the Governor's pen .. so as you work today to come up with ideas and plans to make our union stronger, think of me -- the rank and file member who works everyday, who needs this union, who can't afford to see us fail." At the end of the meeting, we had a preleminary report on the results of the town hall. In a few days we'll have the full report and will post it at www.afscme.org.