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Wednesday, June 28, 2000Hoarse? Dizzy? Dazzled? You’re far from alone. Thousands of us are in the same (happy) shape. Anybody in Hall A yesterday would be. We watched, heard and joined in one of the great sessions in AFSCME Convention history. Stirring speeches by the handful. Pres. Gerald W. McEntee’s inspiring summation of AFSCME “People Power” in action. And floor demonstrations to beat the old-fashioned band. NOTE: Articles about Vice President Al Gore and Rep. Richard Gephardt speeches are being withheld in compliance with Federal Elections Commission regulations.
McEntee/Lucy Into the MilleniumWith unanimity, delegates to the 34th International Convention accomplished one of their primary responsibilities. They re-elected the union’s top officers, Pres. Gerald W. McEntee and Sec.-Treas. William Lucy. Pennsylvania Council 13 Exec. Director and IVP Ed Keller nominated McEntee, citing AFSCME’s accomplishments during his tenure as president. IVP Mary Sullivan, executive vice president of Civil Service Employees Association/ AFSCME Local 1000, seconded the nomination. New York City Local 372 Pres. Monica Montgomery-Costa nominated Lucy, with seconding speeches from Connecticut Council 4 Exec. Director Michael Ferucci and Oregon Council 75 Exec. Director Ken Allen. The nominators drew loud applause when they characterized the nominees as the finest holders of their positions at any union in the country. Delegates crowded the stage to congratulate the two leaders on their re-election and to pledge their support in the years ahead.
'We Will Concede Defeat Nowhere'Sec.-Treas. Bill Lucy yesterday issued a call to action. He peppered his financial report on the union with a rundown on the AFSCME facts of life — fighting facts. “This is a tight budget because we run a tight ship,” he said. “And it’s a good thing, too, because the challenges of the year 2000 leave no room for excess or padding.” Leading delegates down memory lane, Lucy detailed the corporate excesses of the Reagan-Bush era when the “White House remained totally committed to the concept of welfare for the rich, while allowing poor and working Americans to fend for themselves.” He decried George W. Bush’s pledge to bring back those failed policies. Lucy described a new AFSCME program to address public employee pension funds that control more than $1.7 trillion in assets. Its primary aim: to safeguard members’ retirement funds through shareholder proposals and better stewardship by pension trustees. On the issue of fiscal integrity, Lucy pointed out that AFSCME has stepped up training programs in fiduciary responsibility with 71 workshops conducted in 26 states over the past two years, training 2,799 officers. But he was firm about those who deliberately misappropriate members’ money: “If you do the crime, you can count on doing the time.” And he made a direct and crucial link between fiscal integrity and political success: “Do we have the discipline and commitment to keep our financial house in order so that we can do what needs to be done on behalf of our members and the working families of America? I think you’ll agree with me that the answer is a resounding yes. We will concede defeat nowhere. We will seek victory everywhere.”
Down to BusinessDelegates acted on six constitutional amendments and 15 resolutions during Tuesday’s session. AMENDMENTS ADOPTED No. 3 – Delay Implementation of a Reduction in the Number of International Vice Presidents to Be Elected by a District Under Certain Circumstances RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED No. 10 (amended) – Increase Federal Housing and Community Development Block Grant Funding Two resolutions were referred to the International Executive Board: No. 35 – AFSCME International Scholarship for the National Labor College
'Web World': A Whole New WorldThe AFSCME Web World, located in Hall B, provides a setting and experience totally — and vitally — different from the Convention itself. Web World is our springboard into the future of personal communications. If you’re new to the Web and its wonders, come into the booth to go online and learn Internet fundamentals and more — including the many of uses of AFSCME’s own Web site. If you’re an old hand at that, you can check your e-mail, surf the ’Net and learn a few tricks. Sign on and tune in!
Green TV (What?)Green TV: a revolutionary system for bringing AFSCME news, personalities, etc. right into your home or office via “Internet TV.” Intrigued? You should be, and we’ll tell you more about it in Thursday’s Daily. Meanwhile, phone home and tell folks to watch tonight’s one-hour broadcast of Convention doings: Access it at 7:30 EDT via our Web site.
Yes, We Have More Winners...AFSCME Activist Center – Names drawn on Tuesday: Everett Brown, PA Local 1637 (Council 33); Braddock Bunch, NY Local 768 (DC 37); James Zaccarelli, PA Local 2495 (Council 89); Joei Flannery, CA Local 2700 (Council 57); Timothy Sullivan, WI Local 65 (Council 40); Ivan Corpeho-Chanvez, CA Local 2626 (Council 36); Scott Steffens, WI Local 2748 (Council 24); Peggy Chambers, NY Local 1549 (DC 37); Janet Strahlendorf, IN Local 322 (Council 62); and Lee Henderson, WI Local 594 (Council 48). Organizing Booth – Eric Johnson, IN Local 3730 (Council 62), won an organizing T-shirt. Health and Safety Booth – Ivory Durand, OH Local 232 (Council 8), took away an attaché case. AFSCME Advantage – Darryl White, WI Local 2748 (Council 24), won a $500 credit toward his AFSCME MasterCard. PEOPLE – Gloria Prevost, RI Local 1012 (Council 94), is the winner of a new Pentium 3 personal computer. (Veda Rugola, from the Ohio Association of Public School Employees/AFSCME Local 4, sold the winning ticket.)
Daily Schedule7:30 a.m. Equal Partners 9:30 a.m. Session Open 10:30 a.m. Address 1:00 p.m. Address Announcements Recess - The “Unfair” Privatization Expo
Let the ‘UNFAIR’ Begin!It’s finally come: time to start our big and exciting “Unfair” this afternoon at recess. The name refers to privatization and to the profiteers whose greedy efforts are endangering public services and safety, as well as the jobs of AFSCME members — unfair, indeed. Arranged under a canvas “big top,” the carnival-like extravaganza will drive home those points in an educational, but entertaining way, with games, contests, even kids’ activities — but no dunking booth. Sure to be popular: “AFSCME Family Feud” and “Who Wants to Be a Privatization-Fighting Millionaire?” There will be prizes for the most skillful (or just fortunate) participants. The fun will continue on Thursday afternoon. Today’s Weather: Partly sunny, high in the low 80s.
It's Up to YouA QUINTET OF CAUCUSES — The following caucuses will take place after the plenary session: Welfare Reform (Room 104 A, 5:30 p.m.); Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (Room 109 B); Nurses (at the 1199 Training and Upgrade Fund, 100 South Broad Street); Head Start (Room 202 A, 5 p.m.); and California Water (Room 1088, 3:30 p.m.). If one or more of them is up your alley, or might be, drop in. PRIZE DRAWINGS are a daily feature —through Thursday — of the AFSCME Advantage Booth. The drawing will take place at the booth each day when the session ends. Note that the booth will offer a 25-inch TV set only on the last day. STEWARDS AND COs: If you’re not receiving the newsletters published for you, we want to get you on the mailing lists. For Leader (now incorporating Steward), contact your local or council. For ACU News, contact Beth Kelley in the International’s Field Services. Please provide those contacts with any updated addresses. WANT A HANDSOME PEOPLE JACKET FREE OF CHARGE? Enter the daily drawings at the AFSCME Activist Center. Doing so makes you eligible for the grand prize that will be drawn on Friday — the familiar and prized jacket bearing the PEOPLE logo. While you’re at the booth, learn how to become an activist or increase your activism level — by e-mailing your members of Congress, testing your political savvy, even registering to vote. AEROBIC KICK-BOXING, ANYONE? Stretch and punch your way into shape. (Punch the air, that is.) The first 40 folks to sign up at the “We Are Family” Booth in Hall B get into the aerobic kick-boxing class. The introductory one-hour class will be held today and tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in Room 107 A/B. NAMES NEEDED FRIDAY. On Friday, we will be asking from the podium for names of AFSCME members who have passed away since the last Convention so that we can compile the list for the official Convention 2000 proceedings. When the announcement is made, please bring the names up to the stage. Important Places
Quotes From the Day Of Days“[In] the richest country in the world, we need to see that no one lives in terror — up all night — because somebody’s going to die because he or she doesn’t have health insurance.”
“We will not let our resources be used while we sit on the sidelines and witness a return to corporate greed at the expense of workers and shareholders nationwide”
NOTE: Quote from Vice President Al Gore is being withheld in compliance with Federal Elections Commission regulations. |
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