Proud to Serve America: AFSCME in The Public Service

Early in the morning, when most Americans are still asleep, Vince G. Jackson rises from his bed to collect the trash of St. Louis residents.

No matter the challenge, AFSCME members do their jobs with dedication, skill and pride.

By Jon Melegrito

 Early in the morning, when most Americans are still asleep, Vince G. Jackson rises from his bed to collect the trash of St. Louis residents. Sanitation work ranks as one of the most dangerous jobs in the nation. Yet, like the other AFSCME members profiled on the following pages, Jackson perseveres and continues to make a difference. 

AFSCME members are the heartbeat that keeps America alive. People count on us to be there — serving food in school cafeterias, nursing them back to health, repairing sewer lines, stopping a crime or saving a life. Families in cities, states and towns depend on us to deliver vital services — that keep America moving forward. 

In the following pages of Public Employee, we highlight some of our members — a landuse planner whose job requires her to strike a delicate balance between available space and people’s vision of how to use it; a crime scene investigator whose work can be the thin line between a verdict of guilt or innocence; and a library associate whose bookmobile has delivered smiles and knowledge to children and seniors in some of St. Paul’s most troubled neighborhoods.

We also tell the stories of six members of New York City’s DC 37. Their jobs placed them on the front line after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More than five years later, their suffering continues.

Finally, there is the tale of David McGuinn, a Maryland corrections officer, who made the ultimate on-the-job sacrifice when he was murdered by two inmates in an overcrowded Maryland prison.

These are the faces and the jobs that make up the mosaic that is our great union — jobs that are important today and serve as the foundation for a better tomorrow.

Javonna Marroquin: Loving Planet Earth

Grants Pass, OR
PLANNER 
Local 3694 (Council 75)

 Not everyone thinks land-use planning is exciting, but to Javonna Marroquin, her job in Josephine County is far from boring. Not as electrifying perhaps as space exploration, but it’s close. As a planner, she says, “I see myself serving as a bridge between human beings and the planet

Consider, for instance, recently submitted applications for land use, which Marroquin routinely reviews: One petitions for “bed and breakfast” lodgings in tree houses. Another requests permission for a vending stand close to a farm to sell organically produced vegetables, while a third envisions 160 acres of farmland becoming a recreational campground. 

“The routine part is easy,” she says. “I simply go over the applications to ensure they meet our land-use criteria,” which includes issues such as constitutional rights, traffic, fire safety, sewage disposal, pesticide control and the implications to a neighbor’s adjoining private property. After discussing her findings with a team of planners, Marroquin makes presentations at public hearings. 

The “fireworks” are what gets the adrenalin flowing — behind the scenes, and at times in front of TV cameras. “This is the exciting part, dealing with the emotions of everyone involved,” Marroquin says. “And passions can get very heated.”

She’s referring of course to county officials who have the law to uphold, entrepreneurs who have vested interests to promote and residents who have strong opinions about what government can or cannot do with the land.

Despite her personal feelings about a request, Marroquin must remain neutral at all times, neither recommending approval nor rejection. She can only present the merits of a case — an important step in a process that is by its very nature confusing and complicated, even before the political, economic and environmental wishes of participants become involved.

No doubt, it’s a tough job. “I can relate to the expectations of people who reside here,” Marroquin explains. “Half of them are for more growth and development, and the other half are for a more sustainable environment, with less commercial encroachment. This county is zoned for farm and forest land so any threat to this rural culture is always a big deal. They need to know if a subdivision is about to sprout in their backyard.”

A 29-year-old mother of a teenager, Marroquin studied geography in college where she discovered that “there’s a healthy way to interact with the earth.” She cites the number of farmers, for instance, who don’t have health care insurance. Some of them go into organic farming in an effort to protect their own health and avoid the high cost of medical care — a move that also benefits the communities they serve. “I bring this unique rural perspective to my job as a planner,” she adds.

As president of Local 3694 (Council 75), Marroquin brings that outlook to her union work. As a member of the labor/management committee and her local’s bargaining team, she has actively promoted the adoption of a health and wellness program. “Employers need to see the benefits to their employees of regular exercise and good nutrition. It could be as simple as posting healthy tips on the web. Healthy workers are happier and more productive.” Marroquin is credited with initiating the union’s Community Action Support Team (CAST). “It’s our way of giving back to the community, but most of the time our members don’t know how,” she explains. “So we’ve come up with several projects in partnership with churches and non-profit organizations.” CAST recently helped raised $900 for the Muscular Dystrophy campaign.

“My passion for helping people love this planet comes from my Peruvian roots,” Marroquin says. “My dad lived in Lima where, despite the poverty, the people’s rich culture is drawn from their love of the land and their connection to it.”

John Wadahara: Putting the Pieces Together

Police Evidence Specialist
Honolulu, HI
HGEA/AFSCME Local 152

“The CSI guys.” That’s what employees at the Honolulu Police Department’s criminal investigation division call John Wadahara and his 13 co-workers. Well before the CBS show became a hit, they went about tasks they considered routine: searching and preserving physical evidence at crime scenes, working closely with police detectives and lab technicians, preparing reports and exhibits, and sometimes testifying in court.

With the creation of television shows focused on forensic investigation, like “CSI” and “Law and Order,” more public attention is being paid to the field, and more applicants are seeking entry into the profession. 

But contrary to the glamour and drama displayed on television crime shows, “a lot of what we do is really gory and tedious stuff,” explains Wadahara, a 22-year veteran police evidence specialist and a member of the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA)/AFSCME Local 152. “A lot more work is involved than just collecting blood samples and taking pictures of mutilated corpses. We have to be persistent in searching for subtle clues. Sometimes it’s the little things that tell you whether someone’s death is natural or suspicious,” Wadahara says.

And getting all the clues right is critical. “Putting a convict behind bars or exonerating the innocent hinges on how thoroughly we collect every piece of physical evidence — a fingerprint, a bullet casing — and properly protecting it,” Wadahara points out. “I perform my job in a way that ensures the justice system works.”

Wadahara recalls the worst mass murder in the state’s history when a gunman killed seven Xerox Corp. employees at their downtown Honolulu building. “The first thing I did was organize my team of five specialists, then talk to detectives on the scene,” Wadahara says. “Matching what they hear from detectives with what they see is the most critical step in the entire process. With seven corpses lying in different locations, we had a lot of ground to cover that day.”

To Wadahara, the evidence recovered by investigators was just as important as the arrest of the gunman who was eventually tried and convicted. “That was a very rewarding experience because we were all part of a group that got the job done: collect and present evidence that put a murderer behind bars.” Although their work is often unseen and unrecognized, Wadahara says of his team, “we are the backbone of proving a case for conviction or acquittal.”

To cope with the daily stresses of a job focused on the dead and the dying, Wadahara makes time to attend to the living. Twice a month, he transports his cooking gear to a shelter and prepares food for Honolulu’s homeless. An avid gardener, he also brings vegetables and fruits — mostly papayas and avocados — to a senior citizen’s center in Oahu’s Manoa Valley. “I want them to eat healthy and live well,” he says.

The rest of his spare time is focused on building the future. During this year’s midterm elections, Wadahara took to the streets to wave signs, knock on doors and hand out flyers. “I always feel energized when I’m out there pounding the pavement, knowing that our efforts — educating voters and getting them out to vote — is essential in holding our elected officials accountable,” Wadahara explains. “Television may have made our detective work popular, but only political action will ensure that the valuable services we provide are recognized and appreciated.”

Due in large part to HGEA’s efforts in last year’s midterm elections, 75 (or 82 percent) of the union’s 92 endorsed candidates won. To the CSI guys, that’s just as important as solving a crime.

Robin Madsen: ‘I Have the Best Job’

St. Paul, MN
Library Associate
Local 1842 (Council 5)

Rain or shine — and sometimes in sleet and snow — Robin Madsen gets behind the wheel of a 36-feet-long, 26,000-pound bus every weekday morning, fills it up with about 25 gallons of gas, and hits the road. Loaded with more than 5,000 volumes of books, magazines, videos, DVDs and CDs, her bookmobile is a welcomed sight at nursing homes, child care centers, highrise apartment complexes and neighborhood playgrounds in the poorest parts of town. At each stop, there’s always a large crowd of kids, adults or senior citizens eagerly waiting for Madsen and two other workers.

Like the ice cream truck, the bookmobile is welcomed everywhere — with one critical difference: Everything on it is free. One of about 700 across the country, Madsen’s bus provides basic library services to nearly 50 sites — circulating close to 80,000 items a year.

A library associate with the Saint Paul Public Library, Madsen, president of Local 1842 (Council 5), has driven the city’s only bookmobile for 26 of the 30 years she has been an AFSCME member. A dedicated union activist, she is also a volunteer member organizer who helped University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin library workers form a union. “It was a great experience,” she recalls. “I was able to tell them first hand the benefits of belonging to AFSCME.”

And just as union membership opens doors for workers, Madsen’s career on the bookmobile creates opportunities for the residents of St. Paul — visiting places where people have a hard time getting to a brick and mortar building. “We have a growing population of Hmongs and Somalis here,” says Madsen, who also helps a lot of new immigrant kids with their homework. “For many of them, it’s their first contact with the public outside of their own community. It’s such a thrill for them to get their first library card, and it’s enriching for me as well.”

Among Madsen’s delightful experiences is her regular visits to neighborhoods. “These kids come back years later with their own children,” she recalls. “And you can’t help but wonder what would have happened to them if the bookmobile didn’t stop by.”

Madsen adds: “What keeps me going is the thought that if we didn’t come, these people would be deprived of our services. Without a doubt, I have the best job in the library.”