More Power, More Members: Stepped Up Political Action and Organizing

AFSCME spearheaded the successful fight to defeat the privatization of Social Security and is gearing up now for a second round.

A top priority of Power to Win is helping affiliates recruit at least 25 percent of all AFSCME members to participate in our PEOPLE program in the next five years. PEOPLE is the union’s political, legislative and fundraising arm. The program is critical to AFSCME’s power in politics and at the bargaining table.

Just weeks after adopting the Power to Win plan at its 37th International Convention, AFSCME has already hit the ground running with an ambitious political action agenda for the 2006 and 2008 elections. AFSCME’s new year-round political program has a threepronged strategy:

• Continue to mobilize our members at record levels, and improve our efforts by increasing voter registration and turnout.
• Mobilize members of union households — the fastest to way to more than double our influence.
• Reach out to neighbors and like-minded constituencies — the path to expanding our base for pro-worker candidates.

AFSCME is stepping up current efforts to hold politicians accountable by running a year-round political and legislative action program to put our issues first. By creating a 40,000-member activist army and increasing the percentage of members registered to vote from 72 to 90 percent, AFSCME members will ensure elected officials carry out their promises.

With Election Day fast approaching, AFSCME has set up comprehensive political programs in 30 states with key gubernatorial, congressional, legislative and other down-ballot races. In these targeted states, labor has 11.4 million people living in union households, including working and retired members.

YEAR-ROUND MOBILIZATION

A cornerstone of this political effort will be the “labor-to-neighbor” strategy, where members will systematically contact their non-union neighbors to boost turnout for pro-worker candidates.

AFSCME members in Ohio are already reaching out to their neighbors by knocking on doors and conducting phone banks as part of a two-year battle to take back their state in 2006 and win the White House in 2008.

Three nights a week, members of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA)/ AFSCME Local 11, Council 8 and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees / AFSCME Local 4 participate in labor walks that are part of the AFL-CIO’s “Take Back Ohio” initiative. To increase the number of people they can contact, AFSCME members have added two additional nights a month.

“I am a recent retiree who along with others is working to get people out on the issues of why it is so important that they vote this year,” says AFSCME activist Jean Fightmaster, who retired in May after 28 years of state service as a claims investigator at the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation as well as more than two decades with OCSEA.

According to Fightmaster, it is crucial to attract more activists to get voters to the polls.

“When you wonder whether you should be part of these activities as a public employee, you should also ask yourself the question: ‘Do you cash your paycheck?’, because every penny that funds the services we provide is put in place by legislative action. So if you don’t want to be involved, then you probably should not be on the public payroll,” she says.

Other key parts of AFSCME’s national election plan include: a “Special Forces” program to recruit and train members who will take leave of absences from their jobs to work full time on campaigns; a recruitment program — with specialized trainings — focused on congressional candidates willing to fight for working families on issues such as health care and retirement security (so far this year the union has trained 40 congressional candidates); and aggressive efforts to define the political debate around issues of importance to working families, such as health care and jobs, so voters know what’s at stake when they vote.

Putting issues first is one of the reasons AFSCME has spearheaded the Americans United coalition, which led the successful fight to defeat the privatization of Social Security.

ORGANIZING TO WIN.

AFSCME is applying the same energy and commitment to organizing as it is to politics. Since 1999, AFSCME has won new representation rights for 330,000 workers. As impressive as this is, it is only the stepping stone to the Power to Winplan’s goal of organizing 70,000 workers per year.

AFSCME has a three-part organizing strategy:

• AFSCME has a three-part organizing strategy: Earlier this year, AFSCME helped thousands of municipal workers in Oklahoma win bargaining rights for the first time. This is but one example
• Organize workers who provide publicly funded services in the private sector and help them improve their wages, benefits and retirement security.Public service work is increasingly being undermined by privatesector contracts that reduce costs on the backs of public service workers. Organizing private sector workers helps to reduce the incentive to privatize vital government services.
• Reach out to emerging workforces. Another harmful trend to reduce budgets and trample the rights of public service workers has been the increased use of independent providers who are paid with public funds, but receive subsistence wages and are not even considered to be employees. Services such as caring for children, the elderly and people with disabilities are now performed by these so-called “independent providers.” They lack health and retirement benefits, and are seldom covered by unemployment insurance. AFSCME has launched an aggressive national organizing campaign to help hundreds of thousands of home-based family child care providers and home care workers win justice and a better life by joining the union. Just last year, Council 75 was designated the exclusive bargaining representative for nearly 5,000 child care providers in Oregon. At press time, they were preparing to sign a contract that among other things increases their subsidy from the Oregon Department of Human Services and establishes a Provider Bill of Rights setting guidelines for registered and certified child care professionals to be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

CHILD CARE PROVIDERS GAIN A VOICE.

Sue Mackey, Oregon child care provider, Council 75, helped win an historic first contract.

In Iowa, the union is entering negotiations with the state for 6,000 family child care providers who are among over 50,000 providers nationwide who recently gained recognition with AFSCME. In Michigan, a coalition of AFSCME and the United Auto Workers were certified as the majority representative for 40,000 child care providers. In New Jersey, the governor has signed an executive order and recognized AFSCME and the Communications Workers of America as the co-representatives for nearly 5,000 child care providers. We have also won recognition for providers in four counties in Minnesota and Ohio.

BUILDING OUR CAPACITY.

The resolution passed at the Chicago Convention calls for each council and large unaffiliated locals to develop new and expanded organizing plans — charging them to grow by organizing workers at the rate of 3 percent of membership. The International Union is mandated to organize at the rate of 2 percent of the national membership. But none of this can happen without increasing the union’s capacity to organize at every level. The International Union is working with affiliates on the most important ingredient to a successful national organizing strategy: fully staffed organizing programs and thousands of new Volunteer Member Organizers who will share their experiences with unorganized workers across the country while strengthening their unions for existing members in the process.

KEY POLITICAL RACES FOR NOVEMBER 7

• IOWA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) is stepping down, setting the stage for a race between Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver (D) and U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle (R). Culver is a strong supporter of raising the minimum wage and defending workers’ pensions. At the state level, the Senate is split evenly between both political parties whereas in the House, Republicans have a 51 to 49 majority over Democrats, with enough competitive races to change this scenario.
• MARYLAND Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley (D) is challenging Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R), who among other things tried unsuccessfully to veto the Fair Share Health Care Act, which would require big employers like Wal-Mart to spend part of their profits on employee health care.
• MICHIGAN Pro-worker candidate Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) faces Dick DeVos (R). In the U.S. Senate, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) faces the sheriff of Oakland County, Mike Bouchard (R). Stabenow is a defender of workers’ rights, including overtime pay protections and ergonomic rules in the workplace. There is also an opportunity to take back the state Senate by electing laborfriendly lawmakers.
• OHIO Congressman Ted Strickland (D) runs for governor against Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R). In the U.S. Senate, Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) faces incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine (R), who has consistently supported the Bush anti-worker agenda.
• PENNSYLVANIA Both the state Senate and House are controlled by a precarious Republican majority. Working families have a real chance to make gains here. In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Rick Santorum (R) is being challenged by State Treas. Robert Casey (D). Santorum opposes increasing the minimum wage and supports the elimination of the 40-hour work week.
• WISCONSIN Gov. Jim Doyle (D) faces U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R), whose congressional voting record shows him in favor of budget cuts in education and health care while supporting increases to the national debt limit.