posted by Richard Acevedo, Unit President 7567,
Port Washington School District
CSEA, AFSCME Local 1000

The Leadership Conference is a critical step in AFSCME’s preparation to elect a working family candidate to the White House. Yesterday, I participated in two workshops, one on organizing and the other on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), an initiative that will make it easier for workers to gain union representation.

Today, coming into the Presidential Forum, I was very interested in seeing what the different candidates’ plans were, especially when it came to affordable health care and the labor movement. I wanted to see candidates who realize that once they are elected, AFSCME will hold them accountable. I believe I saw just that.

Now I’m heading for the EFCA rally on Capitol Hill. Today’s temperature is supposed to be higher than 90 degrees but this fight is worth it. In this election, working families will pave the way to change. We will make our voices heard at the rally and the remainder of the Leadership Conference. After that, we are on our way to the White House!

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.

In a nutshell, this is what workers faced before there were unions. Sadly enough, big money interests are hell-bent on turning back the clock to a time when employees had no voice at their workplace.

That’s why AFSCME is calling on Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would not only make it easier for workers to form unions but also impose real penalties on employers who violate their legal right to organize. EFCA was already passed in the U.S. House. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. The Senate is expected to begin debate on EFCA on Monday, with a vote to come as early as Wednesday, June 20th.

AFSCME has launched a radio ad campaign urging people to tell their senators to support this important bill. And 2,000 AFSCME members who will be in Washington, DC for our Leadership Conference will be turning out in full force for a rally on Capitol Hill to make it clear that giving workers a free choice should be is a priority.

You can listen to AFSCME’s radio ad here or catch it on Air America Radio. You can also sign our online petition telling Senators to support this important legislation for workers’ rights.

Working families are struggling more than ever to make ends meet. This is your chance to do something about it.

A promise is a promise.

Ten freshman members of Congress did what they said they would do: They voted to help America’s working families when they voted to raise the minimum wage, increase funding for veteran’s healthcare and strengthen congressional ethics rules.

Now AFSCME is saying thanks with a TV campaign praising the legislators for making good on their word and supporting America’s workers. As Pres. McEntee said: “If you stand with America’s working families, this union will stand with you.”

Check out the ads here.

When it comes to public service, law enforcement officers serve on the frontlines – sacrificing their very lives to keep communities safe for the rest of us. And when it comes to law enforcement, AFSCME stands on the frontlines of the fight for better pay and benefits, safer work environments and the highest standards of professionalism.

On the heels of National Police Week – held annually May 11 through 15 – the union renewed its call for public safety officer legislation. This would provide health care benefits for the families of those killed in the line of duty, secure collective bargaining rights for public safety officers (including those working in corrections) and enable more officers to rely on the promise of a secure retirement by receiving Social Security benefits.

AFSCME Connecticut Council 15 Exec. Dir. Jim Howell, who heads the union’s law enforcement initiative, says it best: “Public safety officers put their lives on the line every day to protect our nation and keep it strong. We deserve basic workplace protections.”

History was made this week in Maryland, where Governor Martin O’Malley became the first governor in the United States to sign living-wage legislation. The new law requires state contractors to pay at least $8.50 an hour to workers in most of Maryland, while contractors in the more expensive Baltimore-Washington area must pay $11.30 an hour.

President McEntee notes in his most recent blog on the Huffington Post that “Maryland’s new law is an important victory not just for underpaid workers in that state, but for workers across the country.” He also highlights recent developments in the battle custodians are waging for fair pay in the University of California system (AFSCME Local 3299).

This week, the custodians received some great support from students at UC-Berkeley who took over the business school. These young people are doing their part to support the cause of working people, not just on their campus, but throughout the country.

Unions are the best option for workers to get ahead economically. The bipartisan group of U.S. senators co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) understands this and so do working families across the nation. Does your senator support our freedom to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions? See for yourself.

The EFCA was already passed by a vote of 241-185 in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now it’s time for the Senate to do its job. You can do your part by sending this letter to your representatives and urge them to vote for this critical piece of legislation.

After its resounding victory in the House, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is now heading for the Senate. The bill should be introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in the next few days as more members of Congress line up to co-sponsor this initiative for workers’ freedom to create and join unions.

The law’s passage is the very best way to protect workers from employers who routinely harass, fire or intimidate employees who want to form a union. Plus, union members typically earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers. They are also more likely to receive health coverage, disability insurance and a secure pension. All of that means that passing the law isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do when it comes to strengthening the middle class and adding economic security to our nation.

Now is the time for you to contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to support the EFCA. By doing so, you will be helping the nearly 60 million American workers who have said they would join a union – if they could.

Contact your Senators now.

An article in The Washington Post called it “a shield against corporate bullying”; a column in The Los Angeles Times said it “would restore balance to a system that is driven by aggressive employers, anti-union consultants, coercion and fear”; and The New York Times gave it its unqualified support. What additional proof does anyone who opposes the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) need in order for them to see that passage of the law would create a fair and effective way for workers to decide if they want to join a union?

How about 800 nurses joining AFSCME through majority signup, precisely the EFCA’s major provision — one that would give employees a voice on the job and allow them to bargain for a better life? On March 2, one day after the EFCA was passed by a vote of 241-185 in the U.S. House of Representatives, nurses at Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California facilities became the newest members of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP/NUHHCE).

How did they do it? They simply indicated their intent to join the union by signing authorization cards. The signatures were checked by a neutral third party and Kaiser Permanente then honored the nurses’ choice.

According to UNAC/UHCP Pres. and IVP Kathy Sackman, “Respecting workers’ desire to have a voice on the job – rather than fighting the union – is not only the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense.”

Workers can choose a voice on the job without facing hostility and intimidation. The only way to make this the rule instead of the exception is by making sure Congress passes the EFCA.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) turns 10 years old this year, and that is a cause for celebration. Created to help provide health insurance for children whose parents made too much to qualify for Medicaid, yet who could not afford to purchase coverage for their family, SCHIP is undoubtedly one of the most successful Congressional initiatives of the past decade.

By matching federal money with state funds, the program has allowed many states to expand coverage initiatives for struggling working families that they would not have been able to pursue without SCHIP. The program has resulted in a 30% decline nationwide in the number of low-income children without health insurance. Because of its success, SCHIP merits strong bipartisan support in Congress.

But not everyone is singing “Happy Birthday” to SCHIP. George W. Bush has announced his intention to cut funding for this important program in his latest budget.

To maintain coverage for the kids currently enrolled in the program, SCHIP needs $15 billion, and it would cost $60 billion to expand coverage to all kids nationwide who are eligible for the program. But Bush only proposes a paltry $5 billion in his latest budget.

He has said he wants to return the program to its “original objective” of covering families who are nearer the poverty limit. But by expanding the income eligibility of their SCHIP plans, states have acknowledged that working families are hit especially hard, particularly in states with high costs of living.

The need for coverage assistance in higher income brackets also underscores the tremendous erosion in employer-sponsored health insurance over the past several years. In 2000, when George W. Bush was elected president, 69% of non-elderly people in the U.S. had employer-sponsored health coverage. Today, that figure has dropped to only 60%.

The Administration that declares “No Child Left Behind” as its slogan should put its money where its mouth is regarding SCHIP. Children without health coverage are more likely to suffer long-term effects of treatable illnesses. This impacts their performance in school and ability to become productive members of society.

If George W. Bush were truly concerned about our future national strength and security, he would fund children’s healthcare coverage today.

Call your Senators and Representative toll-free at 1-800-828-0498, and tell them you want them to fully fund children’s healthcare through SCHIP.

For more information on the plight of uninsured kids and the fight for SCHIP funding, go to http://www.childrenshealthcampaign.org.