A Fighting Union Convenes
AFSCME'S 35th International Convention unfolded in Las Vegas amid serious concerns: state budget crises that threaten both our members' jobs and the public services the members provide; national elections — only four months away — that offer the opportunity to undo the Bush administration's procession of anti-union, anti-working-family policies; and, internally, the need to maintain the organizing momentum created during a terrific and prolific 2001.
Thus the unofficial but clear theme of the Convention was right on target: Fight and organize — and keep on fighting and organizing! In their Convention keynote address and report to the Convention, respectively, President McEntee and Secretary-Treasurer Lucy spoke directly and forcefully to the theme as well as the problems. Here are excerpts from their speeches:
From Gerald W. McEntee, President
Time to Build More Power
We come to this Convention with an extraordinary list of accomplishments ... that began with the bold, visionary step made by the delegates at the 1998 Convention in Hawaii: to grow our union and build more power by organizing or ... suffer more assaults.
In Hawaii, this union had the courage to choose the path to more power. And as a result, we come here as the greatest fighting union in this country. I'm proud to stand with you today and say that over the last two years, in countless campaigns, more than 100,000 workers have said yes to AFSCME.
AFSCME Members Fight Back!
This union knows how to fight and never give up. ... Look at our sisters and brothers in Washington state. Last year they went out on strike ... to fight for the respect they deserve. But they didn't stop there. This year, they won a 15-year battle for collective bargaining for state employees.
And that isn't the only place where we won new rights. In the last year, our political power has won collective bargaining executive orders for state employees of Missouri and Kentucky . ... It hasn't been easy. We've had to build real political power ... like the power of our sisters and brothers in Minnesota.
When Jesse Ventura tried to send their health premiums through the roof, they made the tough decision to go on strike just days after the horror of Sept. 11th. The governor called our members unpatriotic. But they stood their ground ... and they shut that state down bigtime. That's what it's all about: power to organize and fight; the power to strike for what is right; the power to fight privateers all across our country.
American workers are under attack by an anti-worker President who didn't even win the election for the office he holds. They want to take money from Social Security, health care, defense and education. Sisters and brothers, we deserve a better America. That's why we've got to fight to grow, and that's why we've got to fight back ... by taking back Congress from the rich and powerful and putting it where it belongs, in the hands of the American people.
If there's one thing America learned on Sept. 11th, it was the value of working men and women. It was your value, the value of public service workers. And that's why we will not bow our heads or silence our voices when it is time to speak up about the pressing needs of this nation.
A Commitment to Do More
So I'm going to ask you to think about your commitment during this Convention week. ... What will you do personally to build our union, advance our vision of a safe country and a just America? What will you do to help us take back Congress and fill those governor seats? ...
We all have the power to build this union and continue to lead the fight for working families across America. The great abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, said it best: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning." ...
Sisters and Brothers, let us join together. Let's commit ourselves to helping more workers win a voice, an AFSCME voice, on their jobs. Commit ourselves to growing politically and not just at election time — let us hold all of them accountable every day.
Let us commit ourselves to growing more power in the workplace. Fight and never let up. Let's commit ourselves to fighting those privateers. And let us do this: The year 2000 was a mistake, so let us commit ourselves to putting George Bush out of work in 2004 and sending him back to the ranch. Let us commit ourselves to fighting anyone and everyone who stands in the way of working families.
From William Lucy, Secretary-Treasurer
The Power to Change the World
When I look out at you — thousands of loyal, AFSCME members, thousands of loyal, dedicated unionists and workers — I know that our detractors and critics are wrong. This union is alive and well. ... More than a hundred years ago, one of the great champions of labor said it was "the most vital and potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission is as certain of ultimate realization as is the setting of the sun."
Brothers and Sisters, Eugene Debs' message then is our message today. The working men and women of this nation have the power to change the world. We had it a century ago. We have it today.
In fact, through our ever-increasing strength in organizing and in the political arena, whether it's getting pro-labor candidates elected or pro-labor bills passed, we are changing the world.
Organizing & Political Action
In 2001, the International spent over one-sixth of its budget — more than $20 million — on organizing [and] the results were incredible. We won representation rights for over 60,000 workers in 2001 alone. This has been one of the biggest, most successful organizing efforts of any international union in the AFL-CIO. We can stand proud. We can stand firm. But we can't stand still!
That's why our budget for 2002 continues to invest in organizing.
Whether this country continues to drift toward the rich and wealthy, toward meanness and madness and away from hard-working American families, could well depend on the strong role we play this year in political action. Given the political landscape, this is a job well suited for our union.
Remember our boldness in 1992, when in this very city, the AFSCME Convention threw its weight behind the long-shot candidacy of a governor from the state of Arkansas — a card-carrying member of AFSCME. When others ducked for cover in the primaries, we took a bold step. And we brought this nation eight years of unprecedented economic growth. Eight years of public employee respect. Eight years of worker dignity. Eight years of fairness and justice. We did it then — we can do it again. We can do it all over this country.
By helping elect pro-labor and pro-AFSCME candidates, we can fight the privateers and all others who want to take our jobs. Brothers and Sisters, these are our jobs. These are our futures. These are our lives.
Our Responsibilities
What we've found, as we move from council to council, local to local, are well-kept records and accounting procedures being overseen by some very committed secretary-treasurers and reporting officers, and the feedback we give and get is being used to strengthen internal controls.
From the smallest local union to the largest district council, you and I have the responsibility to make sure that every nickel paid to us in dues is used to benefit our members.
With more members and more power comes an awesome responsibility ... to help our brothers and sisters who are struggling to build their unions in some very dangerous places in this hemisphere and around the world. In places where hundreds are killed each year for just being trade unionists: Colombia — Guatemala — Uruguay — Mexico — Honduras — Paraguay and a hundred other places hidden from view.
We must use our power to change policies that strangle and bankrupt countries for the benefit of an outdated and contradictory international financial-aid system.
Working people are in danger of losing their right to struggle together to improve their jobs … their community and their country.
We will not let that happen.
We are AFSCME.
