AFSCME Executive Board Summary Report
Summary of the March 2011 quarterly meeting of the AFSCME International Executive Board.
This report summarizes the March 2011 quarterly meeting of the AFSCME International Executive Board, held in Washington, DC.
The meeting focused on the ongoing anti-union attacks in states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan and AFSCME’s battle against efforts to strip public service workers of their rights. A delegation of officials from Wisconsin — including the executive directors of Council 24, Marty Beil; Council 40, Rick Badger; and Council 48, Rich Abelson, respectively — shared their testimonies on how Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) budget cutbacks and destruction of collective bargaining rights have affected not only AFSCME members, but workers across the state.
Beil highlighted the pivotal role played in the fight by the emergency response teams put together by the councils along with the national union. According to Beil, these efforts “broadened the base of the fight” and helped raise awareness of how the anti-worker offensive impacts the entire middle class. AFSCME activists and their allies in Wisconsin are currently hard at work gathering signatures in their campaign to recall eight of the Republican state senators who voted for Walker’s anti-worker bill. Their work has already reaped results, as they are registering a record number of volunteers as well as unprecedented numbers of signatures. Additionally, most opinion polls indicate that a majority of Americans support collective bargaining rights for public service workers while rejecting the anti-union bills pushed by Walker and other governors across the country.
“When you see other states, it becomes very clear: This is a national agenda. We can’t lose sight of that,” Abelson said, alluding to the full scope of the ongoing attacks against workers.
Fighting on Multiple Fronts
The meeting also included a series of special presentations on AFSCME’s state battles and the different fronts in which public service workers are under attack through legislative initiatives to take away or undermine their rights. These include so-called “right-to-work” bills to weaken unions, privatization threats, attacks on pensions, and paycheck deception initiatives to strip union members of the right to have a voice in politics and critical workplace issues.
Another presentation covered the various proposals considered throughout the states to tackle the issue of pension liabilities and reform. Public service workers are currently threatened by attempts to reduce benefits, extend vesting requirements and increase age and service requirements for retirement. In order to create a more visible role for pension investment in our communities, AFSCME is leading an initiative to promote infrastructure investment given its solid rate of return.
Special guest Anna Greenberg of the polling firm Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research discussed the most recent polling trends concerning the attack on the middle class, highlighting how strong majorities have emerged that disagree with eliminating collective bargaining for public service workers. Guest speaker David Brock of Media Matters for America, a group that exposes distortions and propaganda in the media, discussed the news coverage bias against public service workers as well as the need to not only respond to attacks, but build a lasting narrative that prevails over the disinformation from anti-worker media.
The Board welcomed a new program to train rank-and-file members as spokespersons in the fight for workers rights. Called “Faces and Voices,” the program will help members use their personal stories and facts from their home states to speak up for public service workers and the middle class.
