AFSCME’s State Battles Summit Opens

by Jon Melegrito  |  June 06, 2011

Washington, DC – More than 500 AFSCME activists from throughout the country gathered at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill today for the opening of a State Battles Summit – three days of intense education about fighting the unprecedented right-wing attacks on public service workers and the basic right of collective bargaining.

Placing the Summit’s purpose into perspective, AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee said in his keynote address:

“We face a well-funded and well-coordinated campaign to vilify public employees, to make them the enemy, and to provide corporate-backed politicians with the cover they needed to privatize jobs and hand out public services to campaign contributors. In state after state, our members face brutal attacks. They have suffered along with millions of other working Americans during the economic crisis. …

But what happens next is up to us. Let’s mobilize and organize. Let’s continue to take the lead. Let’s give our members the ability to win this fight and build a better future for themselves, for their communities and for this country that we love.”

In the next three days, AFSCME activists will hear directly from those who have fought on the front lines in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York and other states to save the Middle Class from corporate interests, Wall Street bankers and the politicians who push their agenda.