Gaining Power Through Organizing

From state to state, workers are organizing with AFSCME for a voice at work. Here are some recent victories:

CALIFORNIA

San Diego Local 127 (Council 36) won a fair-share election, requiring everyone in the blue-collar unit to contribute to the costs of union representation — and adding 1,100 workers to the local's ranks.

ILLINOIS

About 275 Chicago administrative assistant IIIs won voluntary recognition for AFSCME representation after Council 31 activists signed up a strong majority of the AAs. A unit of 270 workers at St. Coletta's of Illinois Inc., voted AFSCME Yes! by a 3-to-1 margin after an aggressive, employer-run, anti-union campaign.

MARYLAND

The University of Maryland Baltimore's staff brought the 12th campus into the AFSCME fold. The 1,100-employee unit voted almost 2 to 1 to empower themselves at the second-wealthiest campus in the university system.

OREGON

Good Shepherd Hospital workers in three separate units voted overwhelmingly to make Council 75 their union — despite management's strong anti-union campaign. The hospital's RNs, who are part of the Oregon Nurses Association, supported their co-workers' organizing efforts.