Not For Women Only
AFSCME Women Have the Power!
New York
“We’ve got the power!”
That’s what 1,400 energized AFSCME members proudly proclaimed as they swayed to the music at the Eastern Regional Women’s Conference here.
During the two-day showcase of unity and commitment that concluded June 27, these AFSCME women (and men) made it clear they not only have the power, but that they are determined to use it to make their union an even stronger voice for women’s rights.
Just ask Peggy Peacock, a human services worker in Baltimore, as well as a board member of Maryland Public Employees Council 67 (and president of Local 2202).
“I’ve always been an organizer,” she says, but the conference “made me want to get out there and help organize some more ... and that’s what I’m going to do when I go home.”
Laura Pearson, a former school lunch worker and member of New York’s Retiree Chapter 37, was equally motivated. Attend-ing her first AFSCME women’s conference, Pearson participated in a variety of work sessions designed to educate and stimulate.
What did she discover?
“I found out that there’s a hell of a lot of women with power, honey!” she said.
Got the power. Conference speakers emphasized that power wielded by AFSCME women will determine the direction the country will take in the next century.
Women have made, and continue to make, a big impact on the American labor movement and AFSCME in particular, said AFSCME Sec.-Treas. William Lucy. He noted, for instance, that 35 percent (11 of 29) of the vice presidents serving on the International’s executive board are women.
The numbers don’t stop there. A majority — 52 percent — of AFSCME members are women, and 46 percent of local leaders (stewards, elected officials and staff) are women, and nearly a third of AFSCME councils and large unaffiliated locals (31 of 97) have a woman president, executive director or both.
Use the power. The significance of having power is the willingness to use it, several of the speakers observed. Among them was Judy Gallo, a nurse who is leading a campaign to organize as many as 900 nurses at the MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
“Put yourself into this picture,” she urged. “You’re an RN, you’re in your 20s and you’re pregnant. Management has scheduled you to work right up until your due date because they can’t find anyone to replace you. Two weeks before your delivery date, you are mandated to work four hours overtime — that’s 12 hours on your feet without a break. You go into premature labor and you are rushed to the emergency department, where you deliver your child.
“True story,” she said.
That’s why nurses are organizing to join AFSCME, Gallo said. “And I predict there will be a wave of organizing across this country in the next 10 years unlike anything we’ve seen in decades.”
In the nation’s cities, the fight also will continue with union women at the forefront. C. Virginia Fields, Manhattan Borough president and the highest ranking elected woman official in New York City, said key areas of concern are affordable housing and health coverage.
“As women, we’ve got to get busy and put forth an agenda that addresses these issues in our inner cities, because if we don’t do it, it simply won’t get done,” she said.
Focus on 2000. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) brought the conference to a rousing end with a ringing call to arms.
“We will work together and take back the House and the Senate in 2000,” she declared.
Lowey congratulated AFSCME on its help in stopping a radical right-wing agenda and its advocates.
“I think it’s time to add up the score,” Lowey said. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich “is back in Georgia. [Former U.S. Sen. Alfonse] D’Amato is writing magazine columns, and Bob Dole — bless his heart — he’s selling Viagra!”
By Clyde Weiss
