Organizing for Power
From state to state, workers are organizing with AFSCME for a voice on the job. Here are some recent victories:
CONNECTICUT
In New Haven, 41 police officers abandoned another union to join Council 15 to have a stronger vote at work; and 80 Farmington town hall employees, fire dispatch operators, and public works and parks department personnel chose Council 4 over two other unions.
MASSACHUSETTS
Twenty cafeteria employees at the Amherst- Pelham Regional Schools joined Council 93.
MINNESOTA
A 600-member clerical unit at the Hennepin County Medical Center formed a union with Council 5 via card check. Volunteer member organizers played a major role in this huge victory.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The 13-member police force in the town of Weare voted to join Council 93.
OHIO
At the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, 305 service and maintenance employees and 137 clerical employees formed a union with Council 8, which also gained 11 employees of the Muskingum County Water Department. Seventy-five full- and part-time bus drivers employed by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority voted to join Ohio Association of Public School Employees/AFSCME Local 4.
OKLAHOMA
Almost 100 non-supervisory 911 operators in Tulsa voted overwhelmingly for representation by Local 1180. Key to the campaign: The local persuaded city officials to authorize collective bargaining for emergency communications workers.
OREGON
Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) signed an executive order designating Council 75 the exclusive bargaining representative for nearly 5,000 child care providers (see back cover).
PUERTO RICO
Servidores Públicos Unidos/AFSCME Council 95 was the choice for 116 employees at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
WEST VIRGINIA
Council 77 reached its goal of 500 new members this year before holding its biennial convention in October. The vast majority are state employees in the Division of Highways and Department of Health and Human Resources. The drive's next goal: 750 new members by the council's "Legislative Lobby Day" in mid-February 2006.
WISCONSIN
Forty-two Jackson County RNs, LPNs, personal care aides and certified nurse aides, plus office staff, joined Council 40's Pine View Care Center Local 738.
