Renee Barnes, AFSCME International Education Department staffer, singing the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s favorite song, “The Impossible Dream,” as part of a special tribute to Kennedy.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

Full-page ad in Wednesday’s Boston Globe.

At the close of Convention business this afternoon, thousands of AFSCME delegates and guests will head to Boston Common to rally with members of Council 93 Massachusetts to oppose dangerous cuts in services across the nation and for the jobs that America needs to boost the economy.

A dramatic, full-page ad in today’s Boston Globe illustrates the concerns of AFSCME members and points out to Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown that while the deficit matters, jobs matter more.

The rally on Boston Common is part of a series of events taking place across the nation today, the last day of the fiscal year for many states, to urge Congress to end the GOP filibuster on the jobs bill and enact legislation to help the unemployed and states dealing with unprecedented budget shortfalls.

A bipartisan group of ten governors are holding a joint afternoon press conference in Washington, D.C., and rallies are taking place in 18 states including Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The post-Convention rally is also aimed at Massachusetts and Boston politicians who are threatening to close the state’s facilities for people with developmental disabilities and make devastating cuts to the city’s public libraries. The rally will call for fair contracts for Massachusetts’ higher education workers represented by AFSCME.

Delegates adopted several resolutions Tuesday. Among them, there were these four calling on AFSCME to:

• continue to combat efforts to undermine our members’ retirement security and reaffirm support for defined benefit pension plans (#18);
• collaborate with other health care unions in developing criteria for the implementation of Health Information Technology systems (#5);
• have its leadership bodies at every level of the union to reflect its growing female membership (#3);
• and participate in labor-management efforts to improve the cost effectiveness of public services and help stop privatization (#73).

AFSCME Retirees laid the foundations for our union, and Next Wavers — members age 35 and younger — are building upon that legacy. Tuesday, representatives of both groups met on stage to highlight the commitment of AFSCME activists across the board.

Retirees Phyllis Zamarripa (CO Chapter 76) and Howard Van Kleef (OH Chapter 1184), along with Next Wave activists Tamika Nared, Local 1439 (PA Council 13), and Elvyss Arguetta, Local 88 (OR Council 75) starred in a video showing their recent cross-country trip visiting local affiliates. Their goal: to experience AFSCME through its history, activism, lobbying and organizing efforts.

The camaraderie they displayed showed how generations of AFSCME leaders can learn from each other to improve the lives of working people.

Convention delegates nominated candidates for the office of International Secretary-Treasurer on Tuesday. The election will take place on Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Listed in alphabetical order, they are:

Candidate: Danny Donohue, President, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000 (NY) and IVP

Nominated by: Veronica Montgomery-Costa, President of DC 37 (NY) and IVP

Seconded by: Denise Berkley, Statewide Secretary, CSEA (NY). Roberta Lynch, Deputy Director, Council 31 (IL) and IVP. Henry Nicholas, President, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE)/Local 1199 (PA) and IVP. Eliot Seide, Executive Director, Council 5 (MN) and IVP; and Jaimie Sorenson, President, Local 328 (OR Council 75)

Candidate: Mark Foley, President, Local 2019 (CA Council 57)

Nominated by: George Cleveland, Membership Secretary, Local 2019 (CA Council 57)

Candidate: Lee Saunders, Executive Assistant to the International President

Nominated by: Gerald W. McEntee, International President, AFSCME

Seconded by: Sherryl Gordon, Executive Director, Council 1 (NY) and IVP; Laura Reyes, President, UDW Homecare Providers Union/Local 3930 (CA) and IVP; Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, DC 37 (NY); Joseph Rugola, President, Ohio Association of School Employees (OAPSE)/Local 4 and IVP; and Braulio Torres, Vice President, Servidores Públicos Unidos (SPU)/Council 95 (PR) and IVP

The roar of the lion was heard during Convention today as our union paid tribute to one of its greatest allies, Boston’s own Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy (1932-2009).

“With his death, labor lost a true champion for working families,” Pres. McEntee said. A video presentation showed highlights of Kennedy’s career and his long relationship with AFSCME.

Kennedy’s widow Victoria Reggie Kennedy commended the union for working arm-in-arm with her late husband. “He said to me many times that AFSCME members were working not out of a sense of their own personal benefit,” she said, “but out of a great sense of obligation to their fellow Americans.”

Vicki Kennedy’s full remarks are available on the Convention video page.

AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka today addressed the 5,000 delegates, alternates and guests at AFSCME’s 39th International Convention.

Trumka recognized the success of AFSCME’s organizing program, saying, “Of all the unions of the AFL-CIO, AFSCME is the largest and fastest-growing. Even in the face of an economic crisis, large-scale layoffs, and the scapegoating of public employees by politicians from both parties, more than 145,000 workers have organized with AFSCME over the past four years.”

He spoke of the “triple whammy” state and local governments are up against. “With the severe recession and soaring unemployment, tax revenues are taking a dive. The financial crisis and the busted bubbles from Wall Street’s shenanigans are taking a big bite out of pension funds. And now as always, when hard times hit, the demand for public services actually increases — from unemployment compensation to job training, public assistance, and mental health care.”

And he defended public service workers:

“It’s bad enough that public employees are being made the fall guys for the economic crisis. But now politicians and pundits are trying to make you out as fat cats… I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say that, if you want to get rich in America today, you’ve got to work for the government…

“Even with all the woes on Wall Street, I don’t think you’ve found many hedge fund managers taking jobs as hospital workers or highway workers, or many stockbrokers changing careers to become social workers or sanitation workers, or many bankers who are becoming bus drivers or bridge and tunnel inspectors…

“Because, when you come down to it, almost everyone understands that you don’t become a public employee to become wealthy, you do it to be of service to your fellow citizens.”

Watch the full video on the AFSCME Convention website and read the full transcript.

The Retirees Council held its annual meeting on Saturday and Sunday, marking 30 years of progress. On Sunday, delegates reelected Chair Jerry LaPoint (Wisconsin Chapter 7), Vice-Chair Gary Tavormina (New York Chapter 82), and Secretary Loneste Blackwell (Ohio Chapter 1184).

Delegates on Monday moved that Resolution #8 be referred to the Resolutions Committee for further consideration. It calls on Convention to be in session for a minimum of six hours a day and not be allowed to adjourn until at least 90 percent of the amendments are considered and placed on the floor for a vote.

Former AFSCME Sec.-Treas. William Lucy

The end of an era came to pass on Monday, as delegates said goodbye to former AFSCME Sec.-Treas. William Lucy, marking the end of a 57-year relationship.

Bidding farewell amid chants of “Thank you, Bill,” Lucy stressed the importance of fighting for social justice, a commitment that has characterized his public service career.

“We’ve always known that there’s a crisis. It may be more intense now, but there’s always been a crisis for millions of people not as lucky as we are in this room,” Lucy said. “There’s a daily crisis in their lives, as they struggle to put bread on their tables, to put clothes on their backs, to have a roof on their heads. We have a responsibility to help them out.”

A video tribute highlighted Lucy’s trajectory as a tireless fighter for equality and economic fairness. Opening with the famous A. Philip Randolph quote: “Freedom is never given, it is won,” the presentation recounted Lucy’s work alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in civil rights struggles and his support for Nelson Mandela.

At the end of the ceremony, President McEntee presented Lucy with a tribute book from AFSCME members thanking him for his contributions. From the Convention floor, several delegates shared their thoughts on the impact Lucy’s work had on our union and the American labor movement.

Lucy, who was first elected secretary-treasurer in May 1972, has been actively involved in international affairs. He collaborated with King during the 1968 strike by AFSCME Local 1733 sanitation workers in Memphis until the civil rights leader’s assassination. He was also one of the founders of the Free South Africa Movement that launched the successful anti-apartheid campaign in the United States in the mid-1980s.

Lucy is a founder and the president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), an organization of union leaders and rank-and-file members dedicated to the unique needs of African Americans and minority group workers.