Be It Resolved...

Resolutions, Constitutional amendment.

The Convention is the decision-making body in AFSCME. At the 32nd Convention, delegates debated resolutions and amendments to the Constitution that will govern the union for the next two years.

But even before formal debate took place, hundreds of delegates served on 15 committees that reviewed, combined and prepared for floor debate 116 resolutions and five proposed amendments to AFSCME's Constitution.

Convention delegates acted on 92 resolutions which had been submitted by individual AFSCME members, councils, local unions and the International Executive Board (IEB). Five were withdrawn by their makers and 19 were referred to the incoming IEB for action.

New voices. Vigorous new leadership for the American labor movement was saluted in a resolution entitled The New Voice for the AFL-CIO. Several resolutions suggested ways that AFSCME members could put that new voice into practice: Labor Solidarity; Volunteer Organizing Committees; Community Action; and Community Support for Collective Bargaining. Delegates seconded the AFL-CIO's "America Needs a Raise" campaign, with resolutions on Supporting America's Working Families; The Contingent Workforce; and America Needs a Raise and a Living Wage. Delegates also congratulated the United Farm Workers for their recent contract with lettuce growers.

Elections '96. As might be expected in a political year, a number of resolutions dealt with the upcoming elections. Resolutions on PEOPLE Committees; PEOPLE Goal for 1998 Elections; Presidents Club Incentive Program; and PEOPLE Checkoff and Electronic Fund Transfer focused on raising the money needed to help elect the friends of working families. Resolutions on Voter Registration and Retirees: A Resource for AFSCME Political Action examined some ways to help turn the country around.

Working families. Resolutions also promoted legislation that would benefit workers and their families. Among the issues: Increase Federal Housing and Community Development Block Grant Funding; Affirmative Action under Attack by the 104th Congress; Fair Labor Standards Act; Fight the Oregon Right-to-Work Ballot Measure (The measure did not get enough signatures to be put to the voters.); and Protecting the Rights and Standards of Workers. Sweatshops voiced our opposition to exploitative workplaces.

Additional resolutions called for: Collective Bargaining Legislation; Preserving the Nation's Safety Net; Providing Greater Educational Opportunities for All Americans; Increase Minimum Wage; Budget Auto-nomy for the District of Columbia; Supporting Public Infrastructure Investment; Corporate Welfare and Job Security; Confronting "Workfare"; and Fighting Tax Cuts for the Wealthy.

Some resolutions spoke up about speaking out: AFSCME, the Media and Working Women and Men; Getting AFSCME Involved in Talk Radio; and AFSCME and the Internet.

Retirees. Protection of the rights of retirees-present and future-were serious concerns. Delegates adopted the following: Social Security Cost of Living Adjustments; Public Employee Pensions; Advisory Council on Social Security; and Protecting Pension Assets.

Health care resolutions included: Health Security for All Americans; Privatizing Public Hospitals; Quality and Corporatization of Health Care; and Tuberculosis.

Delegates adopted the following workplace health and safety resolutions: Protecting Workplace Health & Safety; Workplace Violence; Hazardous Materials Transportation; and Ergonomics.

A variety of resolutions reflected the concerns of specific groups of AFSCME members: Professional Employees; Organizing Group Homes; Redesigning Government, High-Performance-High Quality Workplaces; Protecting the Environment and the Jobs of AFSCME's Environmental Workers; Organizing School Support Employees; and Juvenile Rehabilitation Workers.

Corrections and lawa enforcement. AFSCME's corrections and law-enforcement personnel were the focus of resolutions on: Understaffing, Overcrowding and Violence in Prisons and Jails; Privatization of Prisons; Gangs in Prisons and Jails; Fireman's Rule; Private Security; Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights; and Counseling for Disabled Police Officers. AFSCME took a stand against unrestricted Sale of Body Armor; and "Cop Killer" Bullets.

Delegates also adopted a variety of resolutions addressing special concerns: Steward Recognition; Pay Equity; Violence Against Women; The Environment and AFSCME; Stress Management; Reaffirming AFSCME's Commitment to Members with Disabilities; Gay and Lesbian Rights; The Million Man March; AFSCME Advantage; Members Only Benefits; Using Strategic Planning to Build a Strong Union; Task Force for AFSCME's Future; and Execution of Resolutions.

By Susan Ellen Holleran