West Virginia Council Formed

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia public employees have a stronger voice after delegates to a special founding convention voted in July to create the AFSCME/West Virginia State Employees Union (WVSEU) Council 77.

Newly elected AFSCME/WVSEU Council 77 Pres. Rod Riggleman hailed the historic event. "We now have a tremendous opportunity to put a face on the union," he says. "We will go out into the trenches, let our members know we care and that we will be there whenever they need us."

Riggleman, a truck driver for the City of Clarksburg’s Sanitary Board, has been involved in the labor movement for over 25 years and currently serves as president of Local 743. His term as council president will expire in 2001.

"Right now we have 3,500 members. With the new council in place, we have a golden opportunity to boost our ranks through an organizing drive with a potential of some 18,000 workers. And we will continue the fight to win collective bargaining," says Riggleman. They keep getting closer.

AFSCME already has scored major achievements in the decades it has worked in West Virginia, including civil service coverage for Department of Highway workers, several landmark reclassification victories and the organization of 800 new members during the Summer Blitz of ’96 campaign.