AFSCME Organizes for Power
From Gerald W. McEntee, President & William Lucy, Secretary-Treasurer
This edition of Public Employee reports in depth on the most pressing issue for AFSCME in the 21st century — organizing.
Make no mistake: When we talk about organizing these days, we are talking about one thing and one thing only, organizing the unorganized into our union.
Organizing is how we help workers win justice and a voice in their workplace. It is how we increase our political force and strengthen the bargaining power of existing members. It is what will ensure that unions survive — and thrive —in this country.
FLEXING OUR COLLECTIVE MUSCLE. In our efforts, we and our activist members must talk face to face with the corrections officer in Kentucky whose salary is barely above the $17,000 poverty line for a family of four — and tell him that joining AFSCME will help bring about change. We must reach the home care worker in San Diego and let him know that — by forming a union — he can get paid for all the hours he spends with a seriously ill patient. We also need to speak to the Head Start worker in Ohio who struggles to make ends meet. She needs to know that by organizing she’ll have collective muscle to fight arbitrary promotions.
Whenever a law or executive order allows unionization of public employees, we need to be there. We need to let workers know we can stand with them and help them improve their lives. All of us have a message to share with our non-union brothers and sisters: Unions are the best instruments for creating a level playing field at work and a better life at home.
Proof of that occurred recently at Portland State University. Fifty-two food service employees of privateering Aramark had to withstand countless threats of losing school contracts and their jobs if they joined our union. Aramark forced these employees to come to union-bashing, fear-mongering meetings — and invoked other intimidating tactics when they started to demand a voice.
But the workers fought back, and with the strong support of university students and the community, they overcame the company’s tactics. Ultimately, when the vote was taken, it went better than two to one in favor of forming a union.
GROWING THE UNION. At our 1998 International Convention, we committed AFSCME to increasing our organizing efforts to grow the union and help workers like those in Oregon, so that we can win more and more victories over the Aramarks of the world. This Public Employee reports back to you what we’ve done, what we plan to do further and the role you can play in helping us achieve that.
We have made enormous progress since we launched this program. In 1999 and 2000, more than 45,000 workers voted to join AFSCME. We are on track to organize even more workers in the next few years with vigorous campaigns that include the following: home care workers in New Jersey and California; public employees in Puerto Rico, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and elsewhere; Head Start workers in Ohio; mental health employees in Illinois; and food service workers in a dozen states.
As part of this greatly increased organizing effort, we have scheduled an important event in Los Angeles, Sept. 7-9 — the AFSCME Organizing Convention.
This three-day, in-depth exploration and analysis of our organizing efforts is an important indication of how seriously we take our goal of increased membership.
The theme is "A Great Union." That is a simple, straightforward slogan, but one that’s packed with meaning. Adding members adds punch, and added punch increases power.
Stepping up our organizing efforts is a real opportunity for all of us to improve the entire way in which employers treat employees. So we are calling on every one of you to spread the word on the terrific difference a union can make. As we organize for power, we know we can count on all of you to roll up your sleeves and help with the effort to keep us strong and grow us even bigger.
