Detroit Wearin’ o’ the AFSCME Green

Detroit

There were two reasons to wear green at Michigan AFSCME's March 14th party. Some wore green for St. Patrick's Day, of course. And others wore AFSCME green because the party doubled as a PEOPLE fund raiser.

"Faith and Begorra, It's the Green Machine," announced the banner at the second annual Wearing of the Green. The event brought together over 150 members and friends of Michigan AFSCME, including International Vice Pres. Flora Walker, for an evening of dancing, laughing and showing off their green "Fighting Back" T-shirts.

The T-shirts are part of Michigan AFSCME's ongoing political initiative. Members wear them at rallies and senate hearings, at PEOPLE fund raisers and endorsement announcements.

Faced with a hostile state government, Michigan members have been taking to the streets and to the state house, making sure their voices are heard. The Fighting Back Campaign has raised over $7,500 so far this year. And when the dollars are totalled, a tidy sum is expected from contributions made at the Wearing of the Green.

AFSCME members' energy and generosity didn't end with their AFSCME brothers and sisters, either. When they heard that the Public Employee photographer for the Wearing of the Green was a striker from the Detroit News and Free Press, they passed the hat and collected $253 for the strikers' fund.