How We Win

From coast to coast and border to border, AFSCME foot soldiers pursue and fine-tune the basic rules of political organizing.

Organizing for political purposes is hard work. Dull work, too, in the opinion of some. But not dull if you’re inspired. What’s the inspiration? At AFSCME, it comes in various forms: personal conviction — about a candidate or an issue; democracy takes effort if it’s to function well; and a desire to help the union and further its goals, which are, after all, only a collection of goals that serve the membership.

What do AFSCME’s political activists do? Start with walking. In a typical campaign season, they walk countless miles on city and suburban streets to distribute flyers and other literature. Dogs are a threat; bad weather’s an annoyance. But as with the fabled mail carrier, the union’s message must go through.

They also work phone banks. No matter how modest the electoral office involved, a campaign for it nowadays is almost certain to involve supporters who develop cauliflower ears hunched over telephones talking to prospective voters. AFSCME members have spent millions of hours — and developed their share of cauliflower — doing that. Rejection, lectures and angry hang-ups are all part of the day’s or evening’s work. So too, however, are gratifying responses like “We’re with you,” “Hmm ... I’ll think about that,” or, best of all, “I was leaning the other way, but you’ve changed my mind.”

Less obvious but sometimes just as important, our activists also:

• Deliver pep talks to co-workers, family and friends.
• Make and put up posters and other signs-in yards, over door knobs, on overpasses.
• Drive to the polls people who otherwise could not get there.
• Help first-time voters figure out how to use voting machines.
• Deliver forms to folks who need to acquire absentee ballots.
• Do some, or even all, of the above for the benefit of special populations: recent immigrants, people with disabilities, hospital patients, nursing home residents, and the like.

For a close-up look at AFSCME’s foot soldiers in action, Public Employee commissioned photographer J.T. MacMillan to record get-out-the-vote efforts on Super Tuesday in Los Angeles and San Diego. On that day, which turned out splendidly from AFSCME’s viewpoint, members and other volunteers worked side by side with their counterparts from the United Domestic Workers, AFSCME’s home care affiliate.

“Some people go home at night and spend three-four hours on their computer playing Fantasy Baseball and all that stuff. That doesn’t do much for me. I would much rather go to a town meeting and express my opinions and work on things that make for a better community.”

Dan Kelley, secretary-treasurer, Connecticut Corrections Employees Local 1565, Council 4.

“Once you make the connection between your job, your family’s well-being, the quality of life — and politics — it’s impossible not to become involved. In 1998, for the first time, our local’s members became politically active. We got a couple of folks elected to the county board who have truly empowered our members. It has turned our lives around.”

Kathy Franklin, PEOPLE chair, Local 1925-B, Wisconsin Council 40

“For the last few years, Oregon has had some difficulties with a fellow named Bill Sizemore putting initiatives before the voters that really hurt state and city government. That’s what got me involved.

“We just started our local’s political action committee last fall. We’re really active in interviewing and endorsing county commissioners.”

Robert Clark, political action committee chair, Multnomah County Local 88, Oregon Council 75.

“Political action is where it’s at! It’s where the rubber meets the road. Decisions made at the capitol impact not only workers but their families — everyone. Someone has to watch the politicians or they will take us to the cleaners.”

David Mendoza, Legislative Director, Arizona Council 97

“Even with collective bargaining, we have to have the legislation needed to appropriate the funds. [Elected officials] pass laws that affect your very existence.”

Bob Corner, executive board member, Nebraska Association of Public Employees/AFSCME Local 61

“It’s as plain as the nose on my face that if we have politicians who are willing to listen to us, we can get things done. Our current mayor is a bad manager — bad for the workers and bad for the city. One of his first actions in office was to veto the contract we had negotiated with the outgoing mayor, and the city council upheld his veto.

“In the next race, we got a number of pro-union people to run and supported them and they won. We got friendly people into office. They saw us there doing things for them, and they remember that. So when we want to talk about an issue, they’ll talk to us.”

Bob Steiner, president, St. Paul Local 2508, Minnesota Council 14.

“I tell other people, ‘you cannot go to Albany [the state capital] and tell them what to do and not to do if you’re not involved yourself. [If you are involved,] you can go and say you want to see your congressman or legislator, and they will make time for you.’”

Alma Osborne (88 years old), president, Retirees Association of District Council 37, New York

“State employees in New York have been without a contract for a year, so we’ve been active politically. We’ve had rallies, we’ve been contacting our legislators, we’ve been putting pressure on the governor and other state officials, and it’s paid off. We just reached a tentative agreement — a direct result of political action.”

Mike Kaiser, chair, Political Action Committee, Civil Service Employees Association, Region 5, New York.

“Being politically active is the only game in town. It is the only way to bring about change. A lot of times people do need our help. I am an African-American male, and there is a perception that guys like me don’t have it together and some have a sense of not being dealt a just hand and this makes it difficult to acquire the great American dream. Political activity is a way to make a contribution and control your life.”

Raymond T. Johnson, president, Local 2737, Virginia Council 30.