Sec.-Treas. Saunders at Netroots Nation: Rebuilding the Progressive Movement
by Mike Carvalho | June 20, 2011
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas were among Netroots Nation attendees who showed their support for collective bargaining rights.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand and expect that this is going to go away,” AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee A. Saunders told the crowd at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis during Saturday’s keynote focusing on the attacks on America’s middle class.
In a discussion with Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell moderated by Ari Melber of The Nation magazine, Saunders called on progressive online activists at the annual conference to join with unions to “rebuild a progressive movement in this country to fight back and make our voices heard like never before.”
“These folks [attacking working Americans] are like the flu. They will come back at us every single year. They are not going to give up, and we’ve got to be just as dedicated, just as committed to moving a progressive agenda in this country.”
WEAC Pres. Bell said efforts in Wisconsin are now focused 100% on the recall elections taking place later this summer. “All day, every day until we take back the Senate, ” she said. “Because I actually believe we ought to have three branches of government, not just one.”
Sec.-Treas. Saunders told attendees the fight is about more than collective bargaining rights in the state of Wisconsin.
“It’s about the direction we believe this country must move. Are we going to continue to move forward, and will we fight to move forward for decent wages, decent benefits, a decent education, health care for all? Or are we going to listen to those who want to continue to decrease the numbers in the middle class and hurt working families? We’ve got to stand up like never before and we’ve got to fight like never before to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Watch the video, below, for more starting at the 15:40 mark:
The keynote discussion capped an increased presence at the conference for AFSCME, one of the premier sponsors of Netroots Nation 2011. AFSCME sponsored the opening reception where attendees heard opening remarks delivered by New Media Director Tracey Conaty and watched a video about the struggle for workers’ rights, “Memphis to Madison.” Sessions including “Reclaiming Our Middle Class State by State” and “Bloggers Unite! How the Netroots Rallied in Wisconsin,” gave AFSCME staffers an opportunity to share thoughts on strategy and cooperation in our ongoing battles.
Visitors to AFSCME’s table in the exhibition hall watched videos from Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and across the country, and had the opportunity to pick up a replica of the “Collective Bargaining Is the American Way” sign from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced Saturday that the next Netroots Nation conference is set to take place in Providence, RI, home of AFSCME Council 94, from June 7-10, 2012. Event organizers moved the 2011 conference from Providence to Minnesota in support of workers at the Westin hotel locked in a labor dispute.
