Day 2 of AFSCME’s 38th International Convention: In addition to a stirring speech by Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy, the important work of public service workers across the nation was featured during a special “We Make America Happen” program on Tuesday. The program was led by Jim Howell, executive director of Connecticut Council 15.

Through a blend of video and live member testimonies, delegates learned about the different ways AFSCME members make America happen as workers in the public sector, and as activists in politics and grassroots organizing. Watch an excerpt from Yolanda Gonzales, senior food service worker at the University of California, Local 3299:

Visit the AFSCME.org Convention site for more video from Tuesday, including testimony from Michelle Mason, direct care worker at the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, Local 2370 (Missouri Council 72); Mike McGuire, house inspector in the City of Langley, Local 1896 (Pennsylvania Council 13); and Mike Flaherty, equipment mechanic for the City of San Diego, Local 127 (California Council 36).

AFL-CIO Exec. Vice Pres. Arlene Holt Baker, a former AFSCME International Union area director in California, also addressed the Convention. Today, delegates heard from former Vice President Al Gore.

For photos and more convention coverage, go to www.afscme.org/convention.

Day 2 of AFSCME’s 38th International Convention: AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy delivered the main address to delegates today. In his speech, Lucy called the fight against privatization nothing less than a fight to save our nation.

Lucy also spoke movingly of the long history that led up to June 3rd, the day Barack Obama won enough votes to secure the nomination of the Democratic Party for President of the United States. Said Lucy:

“To understand Tuesday night, June 3rd, you have to understand the journey from Goree Island to Charleston, South Carolina, crossing over five thousand miles of ocean chained in the bottom of a ship… To understand Tuesday night, June 3rd, you have to understand the sacrifice of Fannie Lou Hamer, Viola Liuzzo, Rosa Parks, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, Jimmy Lee Jackson, Medgar Evers, E.D. Nixon, the walkers in Montgomery and the marchers in Selma, and the four little girls in a church in Birmingham… And as we look toward the future we do so understanding that nothing is certain but all things are possible.”

Watch an excerpt below:

Day 1 of AFSCME’s 38th International Convention: Unity and Victory was the theme as Alice Goff, president of California Council 36 and an International vice president welcomed the nearly 6,000 delegates, alternates and guests to her home state, reminding us of the great importance of the November 2008 elections. “We must come together,” she declared.

President McEntee, in his keynote address, called for members to work together to meet our biggest challenges: to elect pro-worker candidates across the country and build public support for the vital public services that make our communities a better place to live, work and raise a family.

“The stakes are too high – too high – for our nation to elect another President who doesn’t respect our work, doesn’t respect our families and doesn’t respect the public services that America depends on and that our members provide,” McEntee said.

The day’s program, which was chaired by former International Vice Pres. Russell Okata and included testimonials from members from CA, HI, NY, OH, OR and IL, underscored our common commitment to make this country a better place for working families.

“You know something is wrong when Big Business is getting their bailout packages handed to them from the government but all working people seem to be getting are foreclosure notices. I want a President who will do the right thing,” declared Davida Russell, a school bus driver in Cuyahoga County, OH, and state vice president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees/AFSCME Local 4.

Russell was joined at the podium by Lorraine Guest, president of Local 215 (New York’s DC 1707); Michael Hanna, vice president of Local 88 (Oregon Council 75); Margarita Jaramillo, member of United Domestic Workers (UDW/NUHHCE Local 1199); Lori Laidlaw, member of Local 817 (Illinois Council 31); and Kim Wallace, member of New York’s Civil Service Employees Association/AFSCME Local 1000.

For pictures, videos and more of the AFSCME 38th International Convention, check out www.afscme.org.

Day 1 of AFSCME’s 38th International Convention: President Gerald W. McEntee got delegates jumping to their feet when he asked them to, “stand up if you’re ready to make a better America happen!”

In his keynote address, McEntee told the crowd of nearly 6,000 that, “Together we will build an even more powerful union! Together we will reach out and organize the unorganized! We will negotiate contracts that make our families strong! Together we will fight for a new America!” Watch an excerpt below:

With our trademark green shirts and rally signs, AFSCME has always taken pride in calling ourselves “the Green Machine.” At this year’s International Convention our union has taken this idea to a whole other level. The 38th International Convention, which kicked off in San Francisco today, will be the “greenest” convention on record.

What does this mean exactly? It means the nearly 6,000 delegates, staff and guests who are descending on the Moscone West Convention Center are taking unprecedented steps to reduce waste and protect our environment.

We have replaced the use of bottled water with reusable water bottles, which are also free of chemicals that pose health risks. Biodegradable and compostable utensils, plates and cups will be used to eat only locally raised and organically grown food. Even the rain ponchos provided to Convention delegates have been made from recyclable, PVC-free plastic.

Most impressive is the reduction of paper waste. By providing every delegate with small computer flash drives, our union will save 3.3 million sheets of paper. What’s more, most of the documents we do have to provide to the delegates have been printed on 100-percent recycled paper by a local printing company that uses wind power and is a member of the Forest Stewardship Council.

“By providing documents electronically whenever possible and taking other steps, AFSCME upholds our commitment to go green and help protect our environment,” said President Gerald W. McEntee.

Now that’s what you call a Green Machine!

This week nearly 6,000 delegates, alternates and guests have gathered in San Francisco for AFSCME’s 38th International Convention. The Convention, with the theme “We Make America Happen,” convenes today and runs through Friday. The goal of unity will be an important one for our union as delegates continue building AFSCME’s power to win strong contracts and elect leaders who will fight for working families.

This exciting week gets started with President Gerald McEntee’s keynote address to kick-off the Convention. McEntee is expected to call on attendees to continue implementing the sweeping measures of the Power to Win plan, and to work harder than ever before to take back the White House for America’s working families.

Another highlight comes Thursday morning as Senator Barack Obama will address the AFSCME Convention live via satellite. We will be streaming his remarks online for AFSCME members. Check back on our website at afscme.org/convention or here on the Greenline for information on how to watch the speech and to view additional posts, photos, videos and more Convention coverage.

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore will also be featured Convention speakers, along with Speaker of the California Assembly Karen Bass and Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland.

Most importantly, though, the Convention is about charting the future course of our union. Delegates will vote on key policy resolutions and constitutional amendments to guide our union for the next two years. They will elect all of AFSCME’s International Executive Board members—president, secretary-treasurer and 32 vice presidents.

In addition, our union’s new tagline, “We Make America Happen,” will be visible all week as it captures the critical role AFSCME members play in making our communities better places to work, live and raise a family. Throughout the week, members will attend educational workshops and visit action center booths, which cover such topics as political action, retirement security and our campaign to guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Nearly 2,000 AFSCME members and activists have converged on Washington, D.C., for the union’s 2007 AFSCME Leadership Conference (June 18-20), where six Presidential hopefuls will make their pitch.

Event highlights include AFSCME’s second Presidential Forum on Tuesday, moderated by “Hardball” host Chris Matthews and covered live on MSNBC. Democratic candidates U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, former U.S. Senator John Edwards, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Senator Barack Obama and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will attend.

Popular radio show hosts Ed Shultz and Air America’s Laura Flanders will broadcast live from the forum.

Right after the event, members will have a unique chance to express their support for the Employee Free Choice Act in a massive rally on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, attendees will hear from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Minn. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

For more news and announcements about the event, visit AFSCME.org.

Everyone knows about AFSCME’s political successes last year. Now comes word that 2006 was a banner year for AFSCME when it comes to the growth of our union.

Last year, 50,000 workers gained a voice by organizing with AFSCME. Twenty thousand were child care providers from Michigan who, through a partnership between AFSCME and the United Auto Workers, organized through the largest card check in modern labor history – one that won bargaining rights for a total of 40,000 child care providers. From New Jersey to Iowa, from New Mexico to Oklahoma, thousands more workers are now proudly waving the AFSCME flag.

AFSCME’s successes bucked the national trend. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released 2006 union membership numbers yesterday, reporting a decline of 326,000 union members nationwide. Union density dropped from 12.5 percent to 12.0 percent of the American workforce last year, according to the BLS report.

How has AFSCME managed to add workers while other unions struggle to stem membership losses? We are fully committed to creating growth opportunities through worker political action and running aggressive organizing drives in cities across America. At our convention last summer, we passed the Power to Win plan of the 21st Century Initiative, a bold, new strategy to expand our ranks.

Recent polling shows that more than half of all workers say they would join a union right now if they could. That’s why AFSCME is lobbying Congress hard to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, so workers have the freedom to join unions without employer interference. Speaker Pelosi has said to expect a vote on this crucial legislation sometime this spring.

Today is the final day of the 37th AFSCME International Convention. We’re delighted to hear remarks from our brother, Reg Weaver — President of the National Education Association as well as closing remarks from President McEntee and Secretary-Treasurer Lucy. We’ll also take part in a “Salute to Public Service.”

And even though we all know everything there is to know about the 21st Century Initiative, the rest of the world found out about it in an article in today’s New York Times. Here’s a quote:

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced plans yesterday to spend $60 million more a year to campaign for universal health coverage, to unionize 70,000 workers annually and to register 280,000 union members to vote.

We had a great time this week and hope to see you in 2008 in San Francisco!

We just completed the first-ever AFSCME town hall meeting, “Our Voices, Our Future.” Thousands of AFSCME members, in small groups, discussed the challenges facing our union. Through the use of a high-tech network of laptops, we were able to submit our thoughts and come to consensus on ways to build a stronger union with a more active membership and on how to improve the image of public service workers.

Tammy Wallace, a state employee from Indianapolis, IN drove three hours — taking the day off from work — to kick off the meeting with these words of encouragment:

“In Indiana, we lost our collective bargaining rights with the stroke of the Governor’s pen .. so as you work today to come up with ideas and plans to make our union stronger, think of me — the rank and file member who works everyday, who needs this union, who can’t afford to see us fail.”

At the end of the meeting, we had a preleminary report on the results of the town hall. In a few days we’ll have the full report and will post it at www.afscme.org.