For Immediate Release
Monday, June 24, 2002
Make Politics and Organizing Top Priorities, AFSCME President Urges Union Delegates
LAS VEGAS, NV —In his keynote address opening the 35th International Convention of the 1.3 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, President Gerald W. McEntee urged thousands of delegates from across the country to place organizing new workers and political action at the top of their agenda.
AFSCME made a pledge in 1998 to grow its membership and now boasts one of the most vigorous organizing drives in the labor movement today, with recent big victories in California, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Puerto Rico, and other areas around the country.
"Over the last two years, in countless campaigns, more than 100,000 workers have said yes to AFSCME... Let's commit ourselves to helping more workers win a voice — an AFSCME voice — on their job," McEntee said.
AFSCME's organizing successes were made possible because its members mobilized to elect governors and state legislators who support collective bargaining. This year the union is backing worker-friendly candidates of either party in Nevada, New Mexico, and other states.
"The people who hold the keys to the Governor's mansion are the same people who hold the keys to collective bargaining...We've got to elect people who care about our issues, and hold them accountable."
Another political goal is to elect senators and representatives ready to stand up to the Bush administration, the GOP congressional leadership, and their Big Business allies, "who have pushed an extreme domestic agenda that hurts working families," McEntee said. This agenda includes privatizing Social Security, giving tax handouts to the richest Americans, and blocking a real prescription drug benefit under Medicare and reforms to prevent another Enron.
McEntee paid special tribute to those AFSCME members who died on September 11 and other public service workers who were key to the rescue and recovery efforts. "If there's one thing America learned on September 11, it was the value of working men and women," he said.
Throughout this week, delegates will hear from a variety of speakers, including celebrity political activists Martin Sheen and Erin Brockovich. AFSCME members also will hold a rally Wednesday afternoon to stand with workers at downtown hotels who still don't have a contract.
Text of President McEntee's Keynote Address
