For Immediate Release
Monday, June 17, 1996
AFSCME President Warns Delegates What is at Stake in the November Elections
Chicago, IL —Speaking to more than 4,000 delegates and guests at the 32nd International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee today urged union members to get involved in the November elections, saying: "What's at stake is whether America will be a country where every family can get ahead and no worker is ever left behind, or whether it will be a nation where only a few make it to the top while the rest of us are left to fight it out on the bottom."
AFSCME has long been one of the most politically active unions in the country. It was the first union in 1992 to endorse then Governor Bill Clinton's bid for the presidency. It led the fight for national health care reform early in the Clinton presidency. And it is now pivotally involved in the AFL-CIO's unprecedented voter education campaign.
McEntee, who chairs the AFL-CIO's political education committee and who is a leader in shaping public policy, has been vocal in criticizing who he calls the "corporate killers," CEOs who are motivated by greed, without concern for the employees whose jobs are cut. Today he told the delegates, "While working families are taking it on the chin, bug business is laughing all the way to the bank. And why shouldn't they? The average hourly pay of top corporate executives in this country is $1,700 an hour and rising! And even though more than 6.5 million Americans lost their jobs over the last two years alone, corporate profits today are the highest they've ever been."
McEntee contended that it is crucial that the labor movement hold corporate America accountable to the pain that their practices inflict on American workers, just as he feels that members of Congress must be held responsible for their votes on issues that affect working families.
McEntee offered words of strong support for President Bill Clinton, who will be speaking at the AFSCME Convention on Friday, June 21. McEntee said, "Thankfully, at a time when public employees and health care workers have become moving targets -- for everyone from talk show hosts to armed militias -- we have a President who's made it his business to remind America that we aren't the enemy."
McEntee went on to say that there are some key governors races on AFSCME's agenda as well, since there are still 27 states where workers do not have full-fledged collective bargaining laws.
AFSCME's convention runs from June 17 - 21. Speakers include: on Tuesday, June 18, Senator Edward Kennedy, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and NAACP Chair Myrlie Evers-Williams; on Wednesday, June 19, AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson; on Thursday, June 20, House of Representatives Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, Harold Ford, Jr., candidate for the 9th Congressional District; and on Friday, June 21, President Bill Clinton.
