Making the Grade in Organizing

AFSCME affiliates win recognition for helping build the union.

Council 65 has grown to 8,600 members, thanks to the belief that no unit is too large or too small to organize.

Over the past two years, the Minnesota council successfully organized 640 workers in 30 new units, ranging in size from one employee to 75.

How do they do it? When Council 65 staff and members are contacted by a group of interested workers, they respond quickly, with members on hand to answer questions about contracts and what it means to be an AFSCME member.

This approach earned Council 65 an Extraordinary Organizing award, one of 17 announced at the Convention.

Other recipients were: Maryland Council 67; Ohio Local 209-Miami University; Benton, Ark., Local 2957; National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE), District 1199C (PA-NJ); Santa Fe, N.M., Local 3999; New York DC 1707 Community and Social Agency Employees; Richmond, Ind., State Hospital Local 795; Nebraska Association of Public Employees Local 61; Wisconsin State Employees Union Council 24; Louisville, Ky., Local 3425; Shelby County, Tenn., School Board Chapter 6, Local 1733; State University of Iowa Local 12; State of Nevada Employees Association Local 4041; University of California at Los Angeles Locals 3234, 3235 and 3239; Illinois Council 31; and Oregon Council 75.