Convention 2004: A Mighty Union Ready for Battle
Celebrating achievements, honoring heroes and dedicated to victory in November.
By Clyde Weiss
"Are you ready to fight?" President McEntee thundered in the opening salvo of the 36th AFSCME International Convention in June. The question was really a challenge — laid down by McEntee as he led a parade of newly organized workers and union leaders into the Anaheim Convention Center's main hall.
In affirmation, more than 6,000 delegates, alternates and guests roared and applauded as the beat of an appropriate Rocky tune, "Eye of the Tiger," drove home a fact that resonated throughout the weeklong Convention: AFSCME members are prepared — and willing — to change the course of this nation. To prove it, hundreds of Convention-goers wrote resolute messages on AFSCME's "Wall of Commitment," pledging to defeat President Bush and elect John Kerry in November.
Eyes on the prize
"AFSCME — in the 21st Century," this year's Convention theme, was also an acknowledgment that the union, and the country, have turned a corner — not only on the calendar, but in a world changed by foreign perils and domestic politics. "Our nation faces unprecedented challenges —dangers that threaten our very existence," asserted McEntee. "We are dealing with people who scorn public services, disrespect the workers who provide them — and their unions." "We have to take back the White House," McEntee declared. "And I'm telling you we can do it!" How? With additional resources, he said — such as heftier contributions to AFSCME's PEOPLE program, and increased political activism.
"Sisters and Brothers, we have to work harder than ever before! If we do, when we are back at our Convention in two years, we will be bigger and better, and we will have helped to change America!" Sec.-Treas. William Lucy stressed the necessity of taking back America from an administration that "would put a prayer cloth in our right hand and expect us to wave a flag with our left, as they pick our pockets of our civil liberties and highjack our personal freedoms with something called the Patriot Act."
McEntee and Lucy were both re-elected during the Convention.
Heroes and achievers
The week opened with a salute to AFSCME members in uniform, some 1,000 men and women who have answered the call to serve their country on active duty during the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Addressing the audience during that tribute was Shoshana Johnson, cousin of an AFSCME International staffer and one of 17 members of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company who were ambushed in Iraq in March 2003. Johnson spent 22 days in captivity before being rescued.
Recognition was also given — throughout the Convention — to AFSCME members and leaders who achieved successes in areas critical to the union, such as organizing, politics and collective bargaining. A first-ever pre-Convention Organizing Conference, and later a celebration of organizing, highlighted the successes and ongoing struggles of workers seeking to improve their lives through union power.
A CALL TO ACTION. Senator Kerry, AFSCME's endorsed Presidential candidate, spoke to delegates of his commitment to labor's causes: the need to fight for jobs and oppose outsourcing, protect Social Security, and make cities and states stronger. The address was broadcast to tens of thousands of members outside the Convention via a live Webcast and by a satellite feed to battleground cities; in addition, members actually participated live via satellite from Philadelphia and Albuquerque, N.M.
Former Pres. Bill Clinton, a surprise guest on the last day of the proceedings, detailed — with examples that hit home — why Kerry should be President. He also reminded members that they have the power to decide the election. "I probably could never have been elected if you hadn't stayed with me," he said.
Other speakers also stressed the need for AFSCME members to get out the vote for Kerry. John Burton (D), president pro tem of the California state Senate, said that "This is going to be a life and death struggle for all of us in November." Joseph Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, noted, "We are joined in a fight to preserve that middle class for future generations." And Donna Brazile, Al Gore's Presidential campaign manager in 2000, brought the message right into members' homes: "Every time we put a Democrat in the White House, working families win."
"Why Kerry?" Rev. Jesse Jackson asked that question and answered it in a broader context: "Because the U.S. is losing moral authority and credibility in the world. We can lead the world by our values; we cannot rule it by fear."
AFSCME's Retiree Council held its 24th annual meeting in conjunction with the Convention. Some 156 council members and other retirees — from Maine to Hawaii — set goals for the Retiree Program in 2004-2005.In addition, council Chair Doris Clark stepped down; elected to succeed her is Wisconsin Retiree Chapter 7 Pres. Jerry LaPoint. Also elected: Philadelphia Chapter 47 Pres. Elizabeth Flanagan, vice chair; and Ohio Chapter 1184 Pres. Loneste Blackwell, secretary.
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and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
