For Immediate Release
Wednesday, October 25, 1995
AFSCME PRESIDENT APPLAUDS NEW AFL-CIO LEADERSHIP
New York City —"This is a new day for working families," said Gerald W. McEntee, President of the 1.3 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). "By electing vital new leadership of the AFL-CIO, union leaders from around the country have taken the first step in revitalizing the labor movement."
McEntee said the AFL-CIO election "is the first important step toward rebuilding the labor movement, so we can save the programs and policies that benefit working families, while continuing in the fight to improve wages, benefits and workplace conditions for the working men and women of this country.
"This election will be remembered by labor historians as a crucial turning point for the working men and women of this country," McEntee continued. "Future generations will look back on the 1995 Convention of the AFL-CIO as one of the greatest moments in the history of the labor movement."
McEntee's comments came after more than a thousand delegates from unions across the country met here October 23-27 to chart the course of the labor movement, both in the immediate future and into the next century.
Delegates elected former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President John Sweeney as AFL-CIO President, former United Mine Workers of America (UMW) President Richard Trumka as AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer, and AFSCME International Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson as AFL-CIO Executive Vice President. The newly elected officers won the historic election after an aggressive "New Voice For American Workers" campaign was launched by a coalition of AFL-CIO unions.
McEntee was a key proponent for the change of leadership, and direction, of the AFL-CIO. One significant change came with the creation of the position of Executive Vice President. Chavez-Thompson, an AFSCME International Vice President and member of the AFL-CIO executive board, was uncontested in her bid for the position.
"Linda Chavez-Thompson has been on the front lines of the labor movement for more than twenty seven years, working to improve the lives of workers in the southwest united states," McEntee said. "By creating the position of Executive Vice Presidency, Linda Chavez-Thompson has not only brought her personal dedication to workers across the country, she has also opened the doors of the Labor movement to women and people of color."
Citing a need for aggressive new leadership in confronting labor issues--such as union organizing, collective bargaining legislation, and the 1996 Presidential election--McEntee challenged labor leaders to "win back the respect for working men and women in this country and to provide the strong, forceful leadership needed to make every elected official in this nation stand up for the American worker."
Another key change was the expansion of the federation's executive council from thirty-three members to fifty-one. "By expanding the executive council, the AFL-CIO has shown its commitment to the diversity of the American workforce, and underscored the significance of the role women and minorities will play in the labor movement."
McEntee acknowledged the contribution of departing AFL-CIO President Thomas Donahue.
"Thomas R. Donahue has had a long and distinguished career, and the labor movement has benefitted greatly as a result of his vision and commitment to working Americans."
Still, McEntee added, the time has come for decisive new leadership at the AFL-CIO. "For too long," he said, "the Republican controlled Congress has run rough-shod over working families. They have enacted legislation that jeopardizes our safety, refused us the right to collective bargaining, and slashed our Medicaid, Medicare and education programs.
"We've sent a clear message that the working men and women of this country will no longer roll over for the Republican policies tht steal from the poor to fatten the rich."
