Check out www.afscme.org
Discover the benefits of AFSCME membership. Check out the latest health and safety tips for your profession. Find out what’s going on in Congress. Learn about your union brothers and sisters. Sounds like it would take a long time, doesn’t it?
But you can do all that and more in just minutes when you visit AFSCME’s Web site.
About three years ago, the International decided to build its own on- and off-ramps to the information superhighway. Since that time, councils and locals all over the country have staked out their own place in cyberspace.
Here are nine great features of the AFSCME Web site that will help you access the ever-growing base of information it offers.
What, where and how?
Even the most experienced cybersurfer gets lost every once in a while on the World Wide Web. While we have tried to make AFSCME’s Web site as friendly as possible, we built in a shortcut that will help you find the information you want immediately.
Using the search button, you can find any relevant document you want using any phrase, subject or key word. For example, if you search for the word “elephant,” you will get an article about a Toledo elephant trainer from a 1997 edition of Public Employee. If you search for the word “needle,” you will be given information ranging from OSHA needlestick prevention to AFSCME’s health care legislative agenda.
You will see that with a few quick keystrokes, you will find the information you want.
Making the connection.
With the simple click of a mouse button, you can access links to the Web sites of almost every council, affiliated and unaffiliated locals of AFSCME, other labor unions, the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other agencies that have an association with unions.
“I can go to the AFSCME councils and locals to find out what’s going on by going to LaborLinks,” remarks Rebecca Porper, principal program coordinator for DC 37’s Education Fund. “They even have consumer information. I can get to OSHA; I can get to NIOSH. I can get anywhere on it. It’s like a treasure.”
And just in case you have already visited almost all the current links and are looking for something new, while in “LaborLinks,” simply click on “New Links.” Assuming there is not a traffic jam on the information superhighway, you will be whisked to a new and unexplored destination.
Join AFSCME.
Trying to convince potential AFSCME members about the benefits of union membership has now become a bit easier thanks the web site
On AFSCME’s homepage, cybersurfers will see the words “Join AFSCME.” Click here and users get brief and accurate descriptions of all the benefits — like AFSCME Advantage — of AFSCME membership.
Become a cyberactivist.
We realize that not everybody can go to Capitol Hill in Washington to lobby their senators and representatives. Now, AFSCME brings Capitol Hill to you.
You can go to the AFSCME Web site and click on the “Legislative Action” link and find information on key measures being debated by Congress. Through this site, you can contact your congressional representatives on important issues by either sending e-mails or by downloading letters that can be printed and then mailed.
When Oregon’s General Assembly is in session, AFSCME Council 75 members are in constant communication with their legislators. Council 75’s site is managed by webmaster K. David Marple, Local 3941 member and a corrections officer at Columbia River Correctional Institution. The site provides weekly updates of the legislative session.
When legislation affecting workers hits the legislature, Marple sounds the cyber alarm and Council 75 members swing into action. “We put links right in the middle of the alerts,” says Marple. The links contain the names, phone and fax numbers and e-mails of all House and Senate members in Oregon. When the alerts pop up, the members “can contact their representatives on the spot.”
Learn how your union is growing.
Unions and computers are very much alike in that they need the same thing to work — power. And AFSCME is dedicated to bringing new members into our union. With our new organizing program up and running, we are adding members every day. And now you can track your union’s growth online.
The Web site features up-to-date information on who’s been organized, where they are and the numbers of workers in the new bargaining units.
The organizing victories aren’t hard to find. Just look for the green and purple AIM logo on AFSCME’s homepage. You can get the quick rundown on the latest victories. If you want to know more, simply click on the word “More” at the end of any story. In seconds, you will have the full story right on your screen.
Find missing children.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association/AFSCME Local 152, uses its website as a public service for finding missing children in Hawaii. Edward Yagi, a system and network specialist and webmaster for HGEA’s site, says Hawaii was one of the first states in the nation to use the Internet to search for children. The Missing Children’s Center in Hawaii e-mails photos and information to HGEA, which posts the information on its Web site.
Who knows? A new career may only be a click away.
Have you ever thought about working for AFSCME? Ever thought about living in Washington, D.C.? Well, those opportunities are only a click away.
Just click on the link, “About AFSCME” on the AFSCME homepage. Once there, click on “Employment Opportunities.” This page shows positions available at the International and in the field. Click on any position and a summary will appear that includes the salary range, job description and qualifications required.
The site also informs job seekers where to send their resumes and the benefits available.
Market your wares.
Connecticut Council of Police Unions (Council 15) has implemented a product catalog on its website.
From the homepage, click on “Product Catalog” and users will find Council 15’s Union Book Store. The page lists several publications — “How Arbitration Works,” “Negotiating a Labor Contract,” “The Rights of Law Enforcement Officers,” etc. — and their prices. The catalog also has shirts, hats, briefcases, pen sets and more.
Click on “Order Form” and print it. Fill out the items you want, calculate the amount paid and fax or mail your order to the council.
Read all about it.
If you prefer the feel of computer keys instead of paper on your fingers, we have good news for you. By clicking on the “Publications Online” link, you can access all of AFSCME’s periodicals, brochures and press releases. And not only do you have access to current publications, you can read past issues at your own leisure.
And for our brothers and sisters que hablan Español, a number of our publications have been written in Spanish.
So next time you have a question about your union, have the impulse to learn more about a workplace issue, or just have forgotten your most recent issue of the Public Employee, get online and visit the AFSCME web site. Your union is just a click away!
By Jimmie Turner
