Publications

April 5, 2006

Pushing on pensions

AFSCME has been fighting for responsible, pro-worker practices on the part of corporate and public pension boards:

  • The International, in conjunction with The Corporate Library, a research organization, has published "Enablers of Excess: Mutual Funds and the Overpaid American CEO," a study that charges mutual-fund companies with promoting excessive CEO pay through their proxy votes. The report, which received wide media coverage, reveals that Morgan Stanley Funds, AIM Investments, Dreyfus Corporation, AllianceBernstein and Oppenheimer-Funds lead the pack of investment firms that overwhelmingly vote for huge executive-compensation proposals, while rejecting shareholder proposals that would rein them in.

  • Priya Sara Mathur, a principal financial analyst for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District and a member of Local 3993 (Council 57), has been re-elected by acclamation to the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. The 13-member CalPERS board oversees the nation's largest public pension fund. Mathur, who had no opposition for the post, was first chosen for a four-year term by public agency members in January 2003. She is the first woman elected to CalPERS in 40 years.

  • Bill Rubin, treasurer of Local 696 (Council 33) and a trustee on the Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, recently helped to protect public service jobs. Rubin authored "Private Equity Policy," a study that steers the city's pension fund away from investing in companies that outsource public jobs or adhere to privatization strategies that could lead to job loss. The board has now endorsed the policy.

Another 9/11 victim

Deborah Reeve, a paramedic and AFSCME member who worked at Ground Zero following the 2001 terrorist attacks, has died of an asbestos-related form of cancer. Reeve, 40, belonged to New York City Local 2507 (DC 37). She is the third first-responder apparently killed by 9/11-related illnesses. The first two were Tim Keller (of respiratory distress) and Felix Hernandez (of lung disease). The International and DC 37 have consistently fought for the release of federal funds to compensate victimized post-9/11 workers and their families.

Reporting organizing wins in ...

Connecticut, where 104 police officers in the Town of Hamden voted to join Council 15, rejecting a rival union.

... And first contracts in ...

New Mexico, where, in Doña Ana County, 128 correctional employees and a 96-member blue-collar unit — part of Council 18 — won a first contract that calls for a 3.6 percent wage hike, medical-benefit savings of $400 to $700 per year, and improvements in sick and vacation leave.

No joke

Council 31's campaign to organize 10,000 employees at Resurrection Health Care, the Chicago area's second-largest health care system, has even come to Jay Leno's attention. When Resurrection employees, joined by religious and community leaders, held a candlelight vigil outside the hotel where the hospital chain was holding its annual black-tie gala, the "Tonight Show" host emerged to check out the gathering. He spoke to the crowd of several hundred, offering encouragement and cheering them up with a few jokes.

'RNs working together'

That's the name of a new coalition of eight AFL-CIO unions, including AFSCME, that together represent nearly 200,000 registered nurses. The coalition aims to leverage the unions' strength in organizing and collective bargaining in order to improve U.S. patient care and help fix the nation's ailing health care system. The AFL-CIO Executive Council voted this month to recognize RNs Working Together as an Industrial Coordinating Committee. Said Kathy Sackman, president of AFSCME-affiliate United Nurses Associations of California/UHCP/NUHHCE (and an IVP), at a press conference announcing the coalition: "Our collective voice will help us to be more effective in our fight for adequate and appropriate staffing levels — one of the most critical factorsimpacting our ability to provide safe patient care."

'On shaky ground'

That's the conclusion reached by Illinois Council 31's report revealing that staff cuts over the past five years have undermined the state's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency. They are responsible for protecting and preserving Illinois' environment and conserving its natural resources. This report plus several more that examine cuts to other departments — constitutes part of the council's Campaign for Responsible Priorities, which publicizes the consequences of bad budget choices made by state lawmakers. The reports can be obtained online through Council 31.

Meanwhile, back at home

Michigan Council 25 focused a spotlight recently on President Bush's proposed fiscal 2007 budget cuts in child care. At an event held as part of the AFSCME-led Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities, day care providers urged U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz (R) to oppose President Bush's plan to cut child care funding. "Flabbergasted" was the response of the congressman's spokesperson, who told a reporter that the lawmaker was "thousands of miles away" in Iraq.


 

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