Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 Subject: AFSCME Convention Votes to "Bring Troops Home Now" ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 8, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- AFSCME CONVENTION VOTES TO "BRING TROOPS HOME NOW"
By Sharon Black Anaheim, Calif. Some 6,000 people participated in the 36th international convention of AFSCME--the State, County and Municipal Employees union--in Ana heim, Calif., June 19-25. About 3,000 were delegates from local and district AFSCME councils. AFSCME Puerto Rico's participation increased dramatically, from two to 40 delegates. The meeting, demonstrations nearby, and resolutions against the war in Iraq reflected a growing militancy among the rank and file of the public workers' union. As with the Service Employees union's convention in San Francisco earlier in June, the AFSCME gathering passed a resolution calling for U.S. troops to get out of Iraq. The final resolution involved a struggle over wording with some of the union leadership, which supports John Kerry's presidential campaign. The union's resolutions committee had watered down an earlier anti-war resolution, changing the demand to "bring the troops home as soon as possible" instead of "now." Later, Brenda Stokely, president of District Council 1707 representing daycare workers in New York City, gave an impassioned call from the conference floor to amend this wording. She expressed the workers' sentiments when she urged, "Bring the troops home now!" The delegates cheered and applauded her call. And when the resolution came to the floor for a vote, these same delegates overwhelmingly passed the amendment to make the wording "bring the troops home now." People in the "Union and Community Campaign to Bring the Troops Home Now" distributed a special petition and flier repeating this demand. AFSCME convention participants scooped up these fliers. The issue of the war is of burning importance to workers. Their children are on the front lines. UNION'S SUPPORT FOR KERRY CONTRADICTS ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT Despite the strong anti-war sentiment, AFSCME's official position is support for John Kerry. Kerry spoke at the convention on June 24. He called for a stronger military. He has vowed to increase the number of troops in Iraq. Yet the AFL-CIO's top leadership is throwing all its efforts and resources into the Kerry campaign. This stands in stark contrast to what labor really needs: a resurgence of action that gets right in the bosses' faces. Labor needs unity that will challenge the capitalists. It needs a program that is politically independent of both the Democratic and Republican parties. Kerry doesn't exactly have a strong pro-labor record. Just recently, even though he presents himself as labor's candidate, Kerry missed an important Senate vote on extending unemployment benefits for thousands of jobless and desperate workers. Had he been there the amendment would have passed. At the convention, the AFSCME delegates approved a $9 union dues increase. In itself this could be fine--but the increase is meant primarily to support the Democratic Party and the Kerry election campaign. One delegate from Detroit bravely took the microphone to oppose the dues increase, asserting that the union's strategy of relying on the elections is wrong. The delegate suggested that the money would be better used for strengthening AFSCME locals, on organizing, and on building bigger demonstrations about union issues. While this opposition to the dues increase was clearly a minority view, AFSCME staffers have expressed worry that the dues increase could hurt organizing efforts. The hoopla around Kerry also forced the tabling of many other progressive resolutions. The Million Worker March, a national rank-and- file effort to organize a mass labor march on Washington for Oct. 17, had gathered a number of supporters. Clarence Thomas from the International Longshore Workers Union Local 10 and others had come to the conference to organize for this effort. Caucus meetings and a local church meeting in Anaheim helped to build support. Unfortunately, the actual floor vote on supporting the march was scuttled. Nevertheless, march organizers felt they had succeeded in meeting many like-minded labor unionists. SECRETARY-TREASURER BILL LUCY CONTINUES ROLE During the elections of union officers, Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy stunned the membership when he declined nomination for re-election, citing health problems. Lucy has long been one of the labor movement's leaders most closely associated with the Black struggle for civil rights. He traces his roots to the Memphis strike of sanitation workers that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was supporting when he was assassinated. Lucy also fought to oppose South African apartheid. He is president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. The conference floor broke out in standing ovations of support for Lucy, with delegates demanding that he stay on as secretary-treasurer. In the end, Lucy agreed to continue in his role. Both he and Gerald McEntee, AFSCME president, were unanimously re-elected. The most dynamic part of the convention was the pre-organizing conference. There, workers from California, Missouri, Maryland and many other states talked about their efforts to unionize. On June 23 hundreds of AFSCME delegates and supporters jumped on buses to travel to the nearby California University Medical System to demand contract rights for poorly paid hospital workers who face racism on the job. Domestic workers, day-care providers, hospital workers, bus drivers and campus workers are the most exciting layer of AFSCME workers who are leading the new organizing drives. Most are women and most are African American, Latin@ and Asian. -------------------------------------------------------------- Please Note: Due to Florida's very broad public records law, most written communications to or from College employees regarding College business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. 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