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Thursday, June 29, 2000Rally Leaders Warn Mayor As Deadline Draws NearScores of union members marched on City Hall to demand that Philadelphia Mayor John Street use the city’s $200 million surplus to give the workers a raise. “John Street does not realize that you are the city of Philadelphia,” boomed Pres. Gerald W. McEntee before an enthusiastic rally crowd late Tuesday afternoon. Municipal employees have tired of administrators who ask them for sacrifices to rescue Philadelphia from financial ruin. “The mayor seems to be taking us for a joke,” declared Philadelphia Council 33 Pres. Pete Matthews. “He doesn’t realize that if we don’t negotiate and get this contract straight by Friday, there’s going to be a real big problem in this city.” Another rally speaker, Sec.-Treas. Bill Lucy, advised the mayor: “We will get a fair contract for these workers, or we will move you [out of office]!” One of Street’s proposals would fund a sports stadium for professional teams at 12th and Vine Streets. McEntee addressed that idea by saying, “Mayor John Street, you are not going to build a stadium on the backs of the city employees of Philadelphia.” Tom Cronin, president of Philadelphia’s Council 47, added: “There are more screen doors on a submarine than there are people in Philadelphia who want this stadium. ... So, Mr. Mayor, let’s go to work on the important issues. No more hocus pocus — now it’s time to focus.”
Organizers Ask Locals and Councils, 'Will You Help Us?'As a top priority of AFSCME, organizing deserves a first-class convention demonstration. And on Wednesday, it got one. Billed as an organizing parade, it got the day off to a roaring start. Against a throbbing backdrop of the O’Jays’ hit “Love Train,” IVP Henry Nicholas, president of NUHHCE/ AFSCME Local 1199C, recited a long series of AFSCME’s organizing victories within the last two years. Organizers boogied right along with the delegates. Bruce Raynor, secretary-treasurer of UNITE, lambasted corporate America, its penchant for shipping manufacturing jobs overseas, and the devastating effect that has had on American workers. Raynor cited the impact on the families of 80,000 unionized General Electric employees put out of work and declared: “That’s economic violence, and something must be done about it. The only force that stands in the way of that is the American labor movement, and the movement gets its power one way: from organization.” Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the National Labor Committee, treated his audience to a show-and-tell of horrors that graphically illustrate the need for unions and their protections. Holding up such items as Keds sneakers, a purple Teletubby and even a Republican party pin, all made in overseas sweatshops, he recounted stories of grindingly hard work done for long hours and low-low pay under dismal conditions. Kernaghan saluted AFSCME “for having the guts to stand up against corporate greed” and added, “AFSCME, you’re the backbone of America.” Other speakers also implored the delegates — and through them their locals and councils — to devote more of their budgets to “organizing the unorganized.” Sec.-Treas. William Lucy urged a standard contribution of 30 percent of the budget. (A resolution to that effect was subsequently adopted.) The Convention applauded five organizing “heroes”: Raymond Jones, Philadelphia-area NUHHCE/1199C; Christine Dandrow, OAPSE/Local 4; Judy West, California Council 36; Jorge de Jesús, PASO; and Leonora Johnson, Illinois Council 31. Typifying their feats was the achievement of de Jesús, SPU/AFSCME and his colleagues, who won exclusive representation for 8,000 Puerto Rican clerical and administrative workers and, “for the first time in our lives, negotiated a contract for ourselves.”
All's Fair at the 'Unfair'The “UnFair” — a carnival of games and education on the evils of privatization – opened Wednesday afternoon to the delight of AFSCME members and their children. “Who’s next, ladies and gentlemen? Step right up. We need strong men and strong women to fight these evil people!” cried the barker. Greg Devereux, executive director of the Washington Federation of State Employees/Council 28, met the challenge. Raising a large mallet over his head, Devereux crashed it down “against the privateers.” The ball rocketed skyward. Ding!!! “Always willing to fight the privateers,” Devereux said, modestly. Glancing around at the UnFair, he enthused: “I think this is a great way to show the membership that privateers are everywhere and we need to combat them at every turn.” “The People Wheel of Fortune” spun while Frankenstein greeted wary guests to the House of Horrors, where privatization’s evil ghost lurked. The Mad Scientist demonstrated a dry ice shower, and children popped basketballs into a hoop. The spotlight was on Joshua Johnson, president of Local 2979 (Maryland, Council 67). Johnson sat on stage at the game, “Who Wants to Be a Privatization-Fighting Millionaire?” With his two partners, he struggled to answer a tough, “$500,000” question: From a survey of local governments, how many have contracted out their trash collection? Sweat poured from Johnson’s brow. OK, it didn’t, but the pressure was on as the team huddled: 10 percent? 30? 50? 70? They turned to the audience for help but received little and lost. “Fifty percent didn’t seem real,” Johnson shrugged after collecting his consolation prize of $100,000 AFSCME commemorative bucks. Over at another corner, “AFSCME Family Feud” was being fought out among two skilled and determined teams. New York Head Start worker Leona Fredericks, vice president of Local 95 of District Council 1707, was confident. But the first question went to the other team: “The public looks at what when evaluating public services?” “Money!” came the reply. “Good answer,” said the emcee. “It’s the number one answer.” The fun continues today at the recess of the session.
Daily Schedule7:00 a.m. PEOPLE Fun Run 7:00 - 10:00 a.m. Elections 8:00 a.m. Labor History Forum 10:00 a.m. Session Opens Addresses John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO Salute to Public Service Heroes Remarks Fraternal Greetings National Organization on Disabilities Award Announcements Recess — The “Unfair” Privatization Expo 6:30 p.m. AFSCME Evening at the Philadelphia Zoo Today’s Weather: Morning rain, then clearing. Highs in the low 80s. Chance of evening thunderstorm. Change in shuttle service Service will start at 6 a.m. to the Convention Center. For the Night at the Zoo, buses will start running from the Convention Center at 5:45 p.m. and begin returning to hotels at 8:30 p.m.
As We Were Saying...A BONANZA IN THE MAKING at the AFSCME Advantage Booth: The 25-inch TV set announced as the prize in the Friday drawing will instead be awarded today — along with a $500 credit toward your AFSCME MasterCard. That brings the total value of the prize up near a grand — chump change to an NBA star but still impressive to most of the rest of us. While you’re at the booth, dreaming of your big score to come, check out the many advantages of the Advantage’s Members-Only Benefit Programs. JUST SLIGHTLY SMALLER IN VALUE is the now-traditional jacket the AFSCME Activist Center gives away at each Convention. The center’s grand prize, it will be awarded to the person whose name is selected at tomorrow’s drawing. Worn by a fortunate few at these proceedings, the jacket carries the PEOPLE logo. WANT TO MEMORIALIZE a fellow or sister member who died since the Convention two years ago but whose passing may not have come to the International’s attention? Tomorrow’s the day to do so: We will be asking from the podium for such names, and all you need do is jot down the appropriate information and bring it up to the stage. LABOR’S COLORFUL, SOMETIMES TUMULTUOUS HISTORY will be the subject of a forum called “Sing a Song of Unsung Heroes and Heroines.” It begins this morning: at 8 a.m. in Room 204 A. OUR NEWSLETTERS don’t always reach every member of their intended audience. If that’s the case with stewards and corrections officers, they can easily rectify the situation. Stewards among “the missing” should contact their local or council to get on the circulation list of Leader, which incorporates the former newsletter known as Steward. COs need only e-mail Beth Kelley of the International’s Field Services. In either case, up-to-date addresses should be provided. Important Places First Aid Lost and Found Message Board Child Care
Mary Tyler Moore Relates the Rough Side of StardomTV star Mary Tyler Moore wowed the overflow crowd at AFSCME’s Equal Partners Breakfast with stories from the other side of her “role-model life.” The central message: It was not always Camelot. Moore grew up in a dysfunctional family and dreamed of stardom. “By the age of six, I provided the family entertainment, whether they wanted it or not. Applause became my affirmation.” She sang and danced on TV variety shows, but it was The Dick Van Dyke Show that made her a household name. “For five seasons, the Van Dyke show was my home — a wonderful home.” Real life was different. Her first marriage had fallen apart, and her second one was dissolving. She would later realize that her problem drinking was one of the reasons. Meanwhile, she was “turning the world on with her smile” with her own long-running hit, the Mary Tyler Moore show. Throughout the ups and downs of Moore’s career, she had been raising a son, Richie. He developed a substance-abuse problem but pulled his life together. She was proud of what he had accomplished — until she received a devastating, 5:00 a.m. call: Richie was dead, shot accidentally while cleaning a gun. “I feel my son’s absence every day of my life,” Moore told the breakfast audience. Loneliness and heavier drinking followed, until she married a physician who encouraged her to get help. “I haven’t had a drink since, and I haven’t wanted one.” As an actress, she now enjoys “the chance to play offbeat characters” and to work for causes she believes in: “Being passionate about goals from animals to diabetes has made my life worthwhile.” “I’m very grateful to you for being my audience over the years and today,” Moore concluded with a smile. “I must have made it after all.”
Down to BusinessDelegates adopted one Constitutional amendment and 17 resolutions on Wednesday. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS IEB Substitute 1 – Authorize the International to Delegate to Councils the Authority to Conduct Audits of Local Unions RESOLUTIONS
A New Green MachineTucked into a back corner of Hall B this week is perhaps the most-innovative operation at Convention 2000: Green TV. You could consider it a broadcasting booth, except that all of the “broadcasting” is done by — and received on — computers. Essentially, it’s TV on the Internet, or what some people call “software TV.” As such, it’s available to anyone with a basic “PC” (personal computer) that has an Internet connection. All the user need do is access the home page of the union’s Web site — www.afscme.org — and click on a prominent “button” that provides a “link” to the TV channel. A few clicks later, and you’re watching/listening to images and sound as clear as those on your television set. Green TV’s value to AFSCME and its members is prospectively huge — and startlingly simple. It allows specialized video programming to be sent directly into homes or offices and reproduced on whatever computer is in use there. That is exactly what’s been happening since Monday of this week, when a team began beaming an hour of Convention highlights to AFSCME members who didn’t come to the Convention but want to keep abreast of activities here. What’s been shown on “the nightly news/AFSCME style”? Highlights of the floor proceedings, including speeches and demonstrations, interviews with members and the like. It’s the next best thing to being there. AFSCME’s plans for Green TV go far beyond the Convention. The system will eventually be used for training and education, political activism, the dissemination of news clips pertaining to the union, and the labor movement in general. It’s such an attractive prospect that you’ll be tempted to flick off ABC, CNN and the like, and flick on Green TV. No commercials, either.
Another Day of Prizes...THE ‘UNFAIR’ — First day of competition in “Do You Want to Be a Privatization-Fighting Millionaire?” saw the following winners: Team 1 – Laurie Lundgaard, WI Local 556 (Council 40); Christine Kistner, WI Local 1742 (Council 40) and Sylvia Holland, PA Local 696 (DC 33); Team 2 – Sam Jayne (son of Ed Jayne of the International’s Legislation Department), Helen Ferguson, NY Local 1545 (DC 37) and “Terry” of MI Council 25. The drawing for a golf putter was won by Althea Duval, NY Local 95 (DC 1707). AFSCME Advantage — For Wednesday, Barbara Tucker, NY Local 1549 (DC 37) won a $500 credit toward her AFSCME MasterCard. PEOPLE’s Pentium 3 Winner — Bret Kohlhepp, WI Local 284 (Council 40). Veda Rugola of OAPSE/Local 4 donated the prize money she won Tuesday for being the seller of the winning ticket. And Tuesday’s winner of the Pentium 3 — Gloria Prevost of Rhode Island — was so excited she signed up to be a PEOPLE VIP member. AFSCME Activist Center — Gerald Johnson of NY Local 1549 (DC 37); Fernando Becerra of CA Local 575 (Council 36); Glennis Folks of NJ Local 2285 (Council 73); Connie Murphy of MN Local 3454 (Council 65); Elise Browne of CT Local 1303 (Council 4); John Powers of NY Local 724 (DC 37); Betty Banks of VA Local 3935 (Council 27); Mitzie Finley of NY Local 1407 (DC 37); Cathy Thomas of OR Local 3580 (Council 75); and Barbara Strong of IL Local 2081 (Council 31). The center has been very busy — nearly 5,000 e-mails dealing with key AFSCME-member issues have been sent out to members of Congress by activists/visitors. Organizing Booth — Diana Parkison of WA Local 443 (Council 28), won an organizing T-shirt. Health and Safety Booth — Teresa M. Bush of NY Chapter 423 (CSEA/Local 1000), latched on to an attaché case.
Voices in the Hall"I love meeting people from other states and other locals, learning that we’re not the only ones [with public employee problems], that there’s support all across the country... I’m taking a lot of pictures to bring back and put on my Web page, so the people there can see what I saw.”
“I wish that we could have a sea of green like this in St. Paul.”
“I feel energized, like we all could move mountains.”
New Vice Presidents ElectedInternational vice presidents from the following districts were elected at Tuesday’s caucuses. They will serve on AFSCME’s 31-member Executive Board.
Contested elections from the following districts are being held this morning: California, Caribbean, Civil Service Employees Association, Eastern, New York City, Ohio Civil Service Employees Association and Southwestern. Results will be reported in tomorrow’s Daily.
AppealsDelegates sustained the decision of AFSCME’s Judicial Panel in three appeals: Local 2854 election protest; Miller vs. Badolato and Ferrucci vs. Badolato; Kutwal vs. Commer. There was a lively floor debate on the appeals of former Connecticut Council 4 Executive Director Dominic Badolato, and former Local 375 (DC 37) Pres. Roy Commer. |
 
1968 AFSCME Memphis StrikeAuthor Michael Honey's video about MLK's last campaign.
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