Solidarity!
By Susan Ellen Holleran
From coast to coast, AFSCME members joined in a series of AFL-CIO-sponsored actions championing the right to organize.
The AFL-CIO called it "Seven Days in June," but actions supporting the right to unionize actually lasted throughout the month. AFSCME members across the country turned out in force, focusing public attention on workers’ struggles. In a number of instances, the local labor movement mobilized on AFSCME’s behalf.
The events shown on these pages reflect the many dozens of activities held to keep the pressure on unfair employers and provide moral support for those engaged in the long, hard battle to win a voice at work.
AFSCME WOMEN MARCH
— In Las Vegas, Pres. Gerald W. McEntee and Sec.-Treas. William Lucy led the 1,200 participants at AFSCME’s Western Women’s Conference in a march and rally at the Aladdin Hotel. One of only two non-union hotels on "the Strip," the Aladdin rakes in millions in profits, but its employees can’t afford its high-priced health insurance with their rock-bottom wages. Unionized Strip hotels pay for their workers’ coverage.
COLLEGE TRY
— Sarah Breton, newly unionized Aramark food-service workers from Portland State University Local 1336 (Council 75), and other union activists gather before attending a workers’ rights board hearing. Breton testified about the obstacles they faced in trying to unionize. Representatives from other organizing drives also shared their experiences in trying to form a union. Now they have a union; the next step: negotiate their first contract.
IN THEIR SHOES
— Inga Ducharme, a Local 2715 (Council 93) member, signs the petition for a Nurses Bill of Rights during a rally held at the New Hampshire state capitol. Nursing home workers represented by AFSCME and other unions joined forces to publicize their plight and set the stage for supportive legislation. The rally’s theme, Tough Shoes to Fill, pointed up the fact that low wages and strenuous working conditions are creating high turnover and making it very difficult to recruit staff. Current workers face serious challenges in their efforts to do their jobs effectively and provide high-quality care.
ON YOUR SIDE
— AFSCME activists in Duluth, Minn., went to bat for Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees’ union members struggling to win a fair contract with the Holiday Inn. Union and community leaders gathered in the hotel’s lobby to watch a video showing the workers’ informational picket line under attack by an off-duty police officer. The incident is under investigation, but the public outcry brought results. The local won its best contract ever: For the first time, the negotiated wages will bring all the workers above the poverty line.
STANDING TOGETHER
— West Virginia AFL-CIO COPE Director Randy Moore addresses union members from across the state who rallied in the small city of Kenova to support AFSCME Local 598 (Council 77). Despite the city’s 20-year history of collective bargaining, Kenova’s new mayor has adamantly refused to negotiate a new contract or maintain a relationship with city workers’ unions. At press time, he had just blinked — and reached a tentative agreement with the union.
