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Monday, June 24, 2002

Pride — Unity — Strength: We've got it all!

"AFSCME: In the Public Service" is more than the theme of our 35th International Convention. It's also us — 1.3 million-plus members who perform public services too varied to list. Almost 7,000 AFSCME delegates, alternates and guests — the most ever — have gathered here to revel in our successes and to steel ourselves for the difficult tasks ahead.

There's much to celebrate — primarily that more than 100,000 workers organized with AFSCME since our last Convention, making us one of the largest and fastest-growing unions in the AFL-CIO. Our growth is important because it means strength and more power, and that's something we'll need for tough budget battles to preserve public services and make gains at the bargaining table.

We're confronted daily with reminders of our struggle. Here in Las Vegas, for instance, thousands of workers — members of Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 (both affiliates of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees) — were recently poised to launch the first city-wide hotel/casino strike in 18 years. While they agreed on five-year contracts with major Strip hotel operators, a settlement has not yet been reached between the unions and downtown hotels.

There is also good news. Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) says he strongly supports the right of public workers to collectively bargain. That would bring the 3,300 members of the State of Nevada Employees Association (SNEA)/AFSCME Local 4041 — including a large contingent in corrections and growing numbers in the Department of Human Resources — closer to winning dignity in the workplace and would inspire more state employees to organize.

During our Convention, we will focus on three AFSCME priorities:

  • Tuesday:

    Building strength by exercising political power. In this election year, our grassroots base of mobilized members will make the difference in who controls the Congress and 36 governorships.

  • Wednesday:

    Power in the workplace. We'll hear how AFSCME members are building power at work by mobilizing to take bold actions.

  • Thursday:

    Winning justice in the workplace and growing our union through organizing. AFSCME's organizing successes didn't happen by accident. Since delegates to our 1998 Convention directed the union to reinvigorate organizing drives, the union has dedicated more resources than ever before to supporting workers' efforts to stand up for dignity and justice.

Those are the week's main tasks. But first, we'll allow ourselves time to show pride in our country and our union. Get ready to be energized. It's going to be a great week!

 

A union union

Only in Las Vegas! Sunday's Delegates' Reception showed the AFSCME family in action as AFSCME President McEntee walked Amy Finseth down the aisle to wed Local 2822 (Council 14) Chief Steward David Troy. "We were already planning to get married in Las Vegas," said Troy. "So when President McEntee came to the Twin Cities, I asked if we could do it at the Convention." The answer was a resounding "Yes" and a wedding reception with thousands in attendance.

 

Vegas! seein' and doin'

You know about the gambling, the shows and more. Here are some tips on less-known activities for you and the family.  

  • Best free show:

    The Rio Hotel & Casino's Masquerade Show in the Sky — Themed like a New Orleans Mardi Gras, with alternating performances on stage and musical floats overhead that you can actually ride; seven times a day right in the casino, but get there early for standing-room only views. On West Flamingo Road.

  • Best unusual free show:

    Fall of Atlantis Fountain Show — Roman statues come ÒaliveÓ hourly in this laser-light spectacular. Children of Atlas fight for control of Atlantis; the battle features a rain of fire and a huge winged beast. It's on the Strip, at the far end of the Caesars Palace Forum Shops.

  • Best walks:

    Along Fremont Street, downtown Las Vegas; after dusk, a dazzling pedestrian promenade overhung with 2 million-plus lights offers five different and spectacular sound-and-light shows between 8:30 and midnight (free). Along the Strip, check out such free shows as Treasure Island hotel's pirate-ship battle, every 90 minutes between 5:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.; the continuously erupting volcano at The Mirage hotel, which erupts continuously; and the Bellagio hotel's dancing fountains, every half hour with slightly different timetables for weekends and weekdays.

  • Best kids' show:

    Circus Circus theme park. Features roller coaster, children's rides (including a water flume) an arcade and circus acts inside the casino. n Best Animal Exhibit: Tiger Habitat, home of Siegfried & Roy's Royal White Tigers plus a huge dolphin pool. At The Mirage.

  • Best view:

    The Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower, tallest free-standing observation tower in the country and tallest building — period —west of the Mississippi. 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South (the Strip). A very long walk; better to cab it, especially at night.

  • Best museums:

    Imperial Palace Auto Collection, which displays 200 of its 800 cars — among them Presidential vehicles — at the Imperial Palace Hotel on the Strip. Liberace Museum, which houses all the glitz that made the performer famous, as well as his pianos, cars and more. On East Tropicana Avenue at Spencer. Neon Museum, where old Vegas signs go when they die; open around the clock, but best seen at night; downtown on Fremont Street. World of Coca Cola, everything you may want to know about the potion plus a tasting of soft drinks from around the globe. Look for the huge Coke bottle on the Strip.

  • Best roller-coaster rides:

    A scary one operates on top of the Stratosphere; a tamer version (the inside/outside "Manhattan Express") at the New York New York hotel.

  • Other attractions:

    Star Trek: The Experience — "see, touch and live the exciting world of Star Trek." At the Las Vegas Hilton. Scandia Family Fun Center — miniature golf, go-carts, bumper boats, batting cages, arcade. Just south of Sahara Avenue. at the corner of Rancho Drive and Sirius Avenue. Wet & Wild Theme Park — 15-acre park with rides, slides, chutes, floats and a flume. On the Strip next to the Sahara Hotel.

Boycott...

...all events, restaurants and the like at the Aladdin and Venetian hotels. Both are anti-union — both fight workers' efforts to organize, and they have not had union contracts for years.

News you can use

  • Your AFSCME Advantage drawing ticket will be at the Information Booth, Registration Desk and We Are Family Booth — or, as a last resort, in the AFSCME Advantage souvenir plastic bags at the Advantage Booth. Enter the drawing for a $750 credit to your AFSCME Advantage credit-card balance or a $350 gift card. A daily prize will be held at the close of each day's Convention session and will be announced at the following day's session. The last drawing will be on Thursday.

  • Purchase tickets for the first-ever AFSCME awards dinner — "Star of Excellence" — at the Awards Dinner Booth located near the Convention registration area. Tickets are just $10.

  • Delegate roundtables will begin on Tuesday following recess of the day's Convention proceedings. All of the roundtables will be held in various meeting rooms at Bally's.

  • Retirees of the State of Nevada Employees Association will meet Monday at noon in Bally's Room 1834A.

  • Nurses will check your blood pressure — free of charge at the booth operated by AFSCME's United Nurses of America in the Burgundy Room at the Paris.

  • Rally in behalf of HERE's Las Vegas culinary workers will be held on Wednesday, after Convention adjournment, at the Fremont Street Experience. Please indicate your willingness to participate by filling out a form available at the Registration Desk and Information Booth. Shuttle buses leave from the Flamingo Road entrance to Bally's.

  • The AA meeting room — Association 1 at Bally's — will be open daily.

Tuesday workshops: Strength — Power of politics

All workshops are held in Bally's Las Vegas rooms from 7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m.

  • Member Power Through Political Action

  • Member Power Through Political Action (in Spanish)

  • Winning Legislative Campaigns

  • So You Want To Run For Political Office? 

  • Ask and You Shall Receive

  • Show Me the Money

  • Understanding Campaign Finance Reform

  • Welfare Reform Crunch Time  

  • The Politics of Social Security 

  • Good Record Keeping 

  • Building Our Pension Power

Committee meetings

All committees will meet in Bally's Las Vegas rooms upon recess of Monday's Convention session.

  • Appeals

  • Constitution

  • Corrections and Law Enforcement

  • Credentials 

  • Economic Affairs

  • Elections

  • Hospitals / Health

  • Legislation  

  • Officers Report 

  • Organizing

  • Political Action  

  • Resolutions  

Retirees — Focused on the issues

Bally's Las Vegas Ballroom erupted with applause several times when President McEntee told the Retiree Council's annual meeting that government "should control the price of prescriptions so everybody gets a fair deal." The 200-odd members who attended heard the results of a survey confirming that the issue of affordable and accessible prescription drugs still stands uppermost in voters' minds. The focus-group findings were gathered by pollster Celinda Lake. Vowing to make their votes count in November, the retirees voiced approval when she said that drug companies are "dominated by vultures" and that politicians are their "paid-off, silent observers and sidekicks."

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