Organizing for Power
From state to state, workers are joining AFSCME for a stronger voice on the job
From state to state, workers are joining AFSCME for a stronger voice on the job
Wisconsin
If corporate-backed politicians like Gov. Scott Walker (R) think they can get away with brazenly eliminating dues check-off rights and collective bargaining, they should think again. Soon after a union-busting law became effective in July 2011 that took away workers’ rights to pay their union dues through their paychecks, all three Wisconsin councils launched a bank draft campaign to re-enroll members using bank accounts or credit cards. Through “mini-blitz” campaigns played out in parking lots, staff lounges and at kitchen tables, members reached out to co-workers across the state – determined to rebuild their union.
The response has been heartening, with nearly 10,000 AFSCME members converting their membership as hundreds of volunteer member organizers fan out across the state. The bank draft campaign has so far yielded a 70 percent response rate at first contact.
Paula Branton is among those who spent her after-work hours signing up members. A certified nursing assistant at the Columbia County Health Care Center in Wyocena, Wis., Branton knew early on what it meant to be unfairly treated in the workplace 30 years ago. “I was being written up for a bunch of petty things that were grossly unfair,” she says. “I have since realized why we need unions. Against management, the deck is always stacked against you.”
The experience inspired Branton, a member of Local 2698 (Council 40), to get more involved in labor-management issues. “As chief steward, I have kept several members from being unjustly laid off. It’s all about union power protecting you.”
And it’s a power that Branton and thousands of workers are determined to fight for, now more than ever. “We need to continue to have a voice at work,” adds Dan Meehan, a corrections officer and president of Local 18 (Council 24). “Otherwise, you’re on your own.”
Ron Hart, president of Local 1654 (Council 48), also sees “the fight to win back our rights as an opportunity to renew and build relationships with our sisters and brothers who are the backbone of our union.”
Workers are also organizing with AFSCME in other states. Here is a list of some recent victories.
ALASKA — New Bargaining Unit and Union Chapter
Fifty-four supervisors of the Fairbanks North Star Borough are the newest bargaining unit and union chapter of the Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA)/AFSCME Local 52. They expressed an interest in organizing after the local government denied the supervisors’ anticipated cost-of-living adjustment in mid-2011.
IOWA — New Affiliation
Twenty uniformed officers, dispatchers and clerical employees of the Webster City Police Department Employees Association have affiliated with Council 61.
NEW YORK — Head Start Teachers Join District Council
Twenty-two Head Start teachers at two Preschool of America centers have voted to join District Council 1707. Their victory comes more than a year after the owners of the day care center fired 13 employees after a previous National Labor Relations Board-supervised election. All of the fired teachers were offered their jobs back, and all but one (who found a job elsewhere) accepted the offer. The assistants work at the West End Avenue Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and at a center on the Upper East Side.
OHIO — Child Support Enforcement Workers
The Cuyahoga Support Workers Union (CSWU), an independent association that represents approximately 260 child support enforcement workers in Cuyahoga County, voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with Council 8. Twenty-four employees at the City of Pepper Pike – dispatchers and a wall-to-wall unit – also voted to form a union with Council 8.
Learn more about becoming an AFSCME organizer at: AFSCME.org/organize
