Organizing for Power
From state to state, workers are organizing with AFSCME for a voice on the job. Here are some recent victories:
CONNECTICUT
Voluntary recognition was the ticket to union power for 80 paraprofessionals, employed by the Stonington Board of Education, who joined Council 4. The union also was the choice for: 32 employees of Weston town hall; and 18 Hamden Parks and Recreation employees who se-lected Council 4 over two competing unions.
FLORIDA
By an overwhelming vote, 158 dispatchers, fingerprint takers, crossing guards and other civilian employees of the Martin County sheriff's department joined Council 79.
ILLINOIS
Seventy-seven direct care providers employed by Visions Network, a state-funded private agency that provides services for people with developmental disabilities in the Chicago area, formed a union with Council 31 via card check; also joining the union were 59 state employees — mostly in Springfield — who work in various departments.
MASSACHUSETTS
A unit of 48 paraprofessionals at the Ayer School District in Middlesex County signed on with Council 93.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Local 863 (Council 93) was the choice for a 30-member, town-wide unit in Raymond. Meanwhile, 18 Brookline Police Depart-ment clerical and administrative employees voted overwhelmingly to form a union with Local 3657; also joining with that local were 20 police department employees in Cannon Mountain.
NEW YORK
Forty-five employees of the St. Johnsville Central School District won voluntary recognition with CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000, also joining the union were 12 police officers in the Town of Lakewood. Voting to form a union with DC 1707 were six Head Start teachers and aides at New York City's Harlem Children's Zone.
OHIO
Volunteer member organizers helped 596 home-based child care providers in Toledo win a voice on the job (see story, Page 14). The 80 percent support for affiliating with Council 8 far exceeded the 50-percent interest level needed to win voluntary recognition. Also joining the union were: 14 employees of the Cuyahoga County payroll department; 11 service and maintenance workers and four fire dispatchers employed by Prairie Township; and 17 sergeants, patrol officers and dispatchers who work in the Waverly Police Department.
WEST VIRGINIA
Public employees have no collective bargaining rights here and Council 77 has a small staff and a limited budget. But that didn't stop them — the council conducted a successful internal organizing drive, mostly in the Division of Highways and Department of Health and Human Resources. The result: 380 new members joined in just over 135 days.
WISCONSIN
Following a state-agency decision granting public workers the right to organize, 18 water and wastewater workers in Watertown elected to form a union with Council 40.
