For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
AFSCME to Launch New Organizing, Political Plan at Chicago Convention Aug. 7-11
AFL-CIO's largest union set to confront labor crisis with big changes as members gather for largest town meeting in history of movement
Chicago —One year after a highly publicized fracture within the U.S. labor movement, nearly 6,000 public employees from the AFL-CIO's largest union will gather August 7-11 to consider an ambitious plan to expand its membership through organizing and elect pro-worker politicians in the face of unprecedented attacks on public services and the workers who provide them.
Delegates to the 37th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are poised to adopt a plan known as the 21st Century Initiative, which will raise tens of millions in new resources to bolster worker power for the 2006 elections and beyond.
Convention delegates will participate in a unique, interactive town meeting on Thursday, Aug. 10, to develop local implementation strategies for the Initiative when they return home. They will participate in more than 500 separate, small table-discussions. Each participant's priorities will be electronically tabulated, ranked and incorporated into a final action report in order to make the 21st Century goals a reality. The process will be managed by AmericaSpeaks, which hosted a similarly large discussion in New York City about reconstruction plans for the World Trade Center.
The town meeting — the largest of its kind ever held by organized labor — is open to the media. The forum will give journalists a rare opportunity to hear the unscripted, unfiltered views of thousands of rank-and-file labor activists from across the country as they grapple with how to increase union power following last summer's AFL-CIO/Change To Win split here in Chicago.
The 21st Century Initiative will focus on spurring member activism, new organizing drives, political action and national issue campaigns. It outlines six core areas in which bold, broad changes will be made within AFSCME to respond to the erosion of worker power. Only 13 percent of today's workers are unionized, down from 35 percent in 1954.
At Convention, union leaders will lay out their plans to fight against the privatization of public jobs and Social Security, register a record number of union households to vote, promote the value of an adequately funded public sector and fight for universal health care reform. The 21st Century Initiative has been in the grassroots planning stages for nearly two years. It constitutes a top-to-bottom strategic overhaul of AFSCME.
"In the last six years, we have seen a newfound audacity from anti-union business leaders and the politicians they bankroll," said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee. "They have become shameless in their attacks on working people. As a result, our wages are stagnant. Our jobs are being privatized. Our health costs are ballooning. Our pensions are disappearing. Our contracts are getting harder to negotiate. Our middle class is shrinking. Even our basic rights to join a union and bargain collectively are now being taken away.
"Workers must be bold, innovative and aggressive to fight back against the well-funded forces against us. If we're really serious about changing our country, we first must change our union. The 21st Century Initiative is AFSCME's blueprint for survival and growth."
The weeklong program at AFSCME's biennial convention will feature a number of prominent speakers. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) will highlight the opening day, and a major television celebrity will emcee a special "AFSCME Voices" program. Tuesday will include a speech by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), keynote remarks by AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee and a presentation by progressive radio talk show host Ed Schultz. On Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) will address Convention delegates along with AFSCME International Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy. Thursday will feature the daylong interactive town meeting. Friday's closing program will focus on the value of public services and the workers who provide them.
What: AFSCME's 37th International Convention
When: August 7-11, 2006
Where: McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
AFSCME is the largest union for workers in the public service with 1.4 million members nationwide. AFSCME represents a diverse group of service and health care workers in the public and private sectors including nurses, corrections officers, EMTs and child care providers.
