Ohio and Wisconsin: Young Leaders Learn to Build a Stronger Union

AFSCME's young activists - ages 35 and younger - gathered last year in Wisconsin and Ohio to attend their states' first multi-council Next Wave conferences. Learning how to build a new generation of union leaders was their key goal.

Ohio’s Next Wave conference attendees participate in a spirited bout of tug o’ war while demonstrating the power of teamwork. (Photo Credit: Deidre Wedig)

Pulling Together 

AFSCME's young activists - ages 35 and younger - gathered last year in Wisconsin and Ohio to attend their states' first multi-council Next Wave conferences. Learning how to build a new generation of union leaders was their key goal.

In Wisconsin, approximately 160 members of councils 24, 40 and 48 gathered in Milwaukee for the three-day conference. In addition to learning how to build strength by encouraging young members to get active in their union, they demonstrated their own activism by rallying at the county courthouse to counter attacks on public workers. They also spent a morning doing community service projects and then visited hundreds of union households and made thousands of phone calls to support labor-friendly candidates in the 2010 midterm elections.

"We have a strong foundation to build on," said corrections officer Matt Davis, a member of Local 48 (Council 24). "But there can be no question that we have to keep building. We cannot rely on the legendary leaders that have brought us here."

Addressing the Wisconsin rally, Sec.-Treas. Lee A. Saunders declared, "Furloughs and layoffs should be a last resort in tough times - not a first resort to score points with the tea party. These actions hurt working families, and they destroy services."

The first-ever Ohio AFSCME Next Wave Conference brought approximately 200 young AFSCME members to Westerville, headquarters of Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA)/ AFSCME Local 11. In addition to OCSEA, Next Wavers came from Council 8 and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/AFSCME Local 4.

"You are the future," affirmed OCSEA Pres. Eddie Parks, also an International vice president. "By focusing on the Next Wave, we are keeping our eye on the future by educating, training and developing young leaders to continue the fight."

At workshops in both states, the Next Wavers focused on labor history, social networking and busting myths about public service workers. In Ohio, during a session billed as the World Café, Next Wavers brainstormed such key questions as, "What is our vision of tomorrow's future?" and "How will we support our union?" Then they signed pledges to get young members more active in their chapters and locals.

"This conference was only the beginning," said Parks. "We must continue to engage the Next Wave by recruiting, mobilizing and organizing to win."