Tuesday, July 1, Baraboo, Wisconsin

The massive flooding that swept across much of southern Wisconsin has devastated the lives and homes of hundreds of thousands of families, including about 200 of our own members.

In early June, Lake Delton emptied out into the nearby Wisconsin River, washing out roads and highways, tearing apart trees and homes in the village of Baraboo in nearby Madison.

Although in need of help themselves, AFSCME city and state workers have been on the front lines, stepping up for flood victims, helping in rescue operations and providing aid. They are now putting in 12 to 16-hour days in clean up operations, hauling tons of debris and repairing and restoring roads.

Kenny Weaver, Local 758 president (Council 24), oversees the flood relief operations for the state’s Dept. of Transportation and coordinates the clean up of Sauk and Juneau counties with county DOT workers from Council 40.

Kenny describes the devastation in Baraboo to Gloria T. Caoile, head of the AFSCME Midwest Flood Relief team. “The surging waters swept four feet of sand in this area, destroying dozens of homes,” explains Kenny.” Our task now is to prevent the damage from getting worse by digging out the sand, fixing the roads and restoring the streams.”

Kenny confers with Mike Keichinger (right), a county DOT foreman and a member of Local 569, Council 40. He drives a back hoe excavator. For more than a week now, Mike and his co-workers have hauled away 100 truck loads of debris from the area. Council 24 and Council 40 members have been working together to clean up the mess. “This is what public service is all about,” Mike says proudly.

“We have the expertise, the equipment and the skills to get the job done,” adds Jim Garrity, a member of Council 40 Executive Board who works for the Jefferson County Highway Department.

The AFSCME Midwest Flood Relief team made on-site inspections and delivered cash assistance from the International union, with assurances of continued support.

An aerial view of Sauk county, one of the flooded areas.

From the airport, the team hit the road right away, crossing the Wisconsin River in a ferry and meeting up with members at a work site an hour away from Madison. Debbie Garcia, organizing director, provided valuable logistical support.

Photos by Jon Melegrito

Tickets to a recent fundraising luncheon for Senator John McCain’s campaign went for $1,000 – but for a $2,300 contribution, attendees were promised a campaign lapel pin in addition to their meal. In his latest entry on the Huffington Post, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee says we shouldn’t be surprised by wealthy Republican donors paying $1,300 for lapel pins. What’s really shocking is the failure of the press to cover Sen. McCain’s hypocrisy on campaign finance reform:

In February, he was told by the chairman of the Federal Elections Commission that he could not bow out of the federal financing system during the primaries because he had agreed to participate and had secured a bank loan predicated on his agreement to accept public funds. But once McCain began to win some primaries and the money started to flow in, he went back on his commitment. He and the corporate lobbyists who run his campaign decided to go out and start collecting big bucks from the big spenders who could afford $1,300 lapel pins.

Read the full post.

AFSCME members are meeting the emergency in the Midwest head on – helping with relief and repair efforts. They are also providing aid to our own members who were affected by the floodwaters and the storms, losing their homes and their possessions.

The AFSCME Midwest Relief and Recovery Team – a group commissioned by the International Union in Washington, D.C. – has been working closely with our affiliates in the region to assist our brothers and sisters. Photos and more details below. You can help by making an online donation to AFSCME’s relief fund. 

The team – headed by Gloria T. Caoile (right) – talks to tornado and flood victims in Cedar Falls, Iowa, providing immediate cash assistance to about 18 members (mostly University of North Iowa (UNI) workers) who suffered losses and damages to their homes. Council 61 President Danny Homan joined their efforts and personally assured our members of the International Union’s support.

An F-5 tornado ripped through Parkersburg at 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 25. Of the 900 residents, 350 lost their homes.

Terry Drewelow (left), a UNI custodian and member of Local 2659, stands in front of the ruins of his 1902 Victorian home. Terry and his wife Darla survived the tornado by crouching under a table in the basement.

“The tornado was four miles away when we got a call to evacuate,” Terry recalls. “But within two minutes, we heard the sound of a freight train so we rushed to the basement. We figured our life was over.” Three other members suffered total losses. Eight people died that Sunday evening when the tornado hit Parkersburg. Local President Rod Baker (right), who lives in another part of town, suffered only minor damages to his house.

“This is where my house used to be,” Terry says, who is determined to pick up the pieces and rebuild. Several of his co-workers came down to assist the victims immediately after the tornado.

Before heading back to Des Moines, the Relief Team assured Rod Baker that Council 61 and the International Union will be there for our members and assist in their recovery.

Now it’s time for the rest of us to help our brothers and sisters. Your generosity will make a real difference. Make a secure online contribution now or send a check to:

AFSCME Fallen Heroes Fund
1625 L Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-5687

(Photos by Jon Melegrito, a member of the AFSCME Midwest Relief and Recovery Team)

On Tuesday, Americans United for Change kicked off its national Bush Legacy Bus Tour, a nearly 150-stop cross-country trip to remind Americans of the last eight years of failed policies put forth by the Bush administration and its allies in Congress.

As Lee Saunders, Executive Assistant to the AFSCME International President, said at the rally:

“[L]ike John F. Kennedy once said, ‘The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie… but the myth.’ Well, we’re making sure that there are no myths about George Bush’s greatness or tall tales about his achievements. There will only be honesty about who he is and what he’s done.”

His words were echoed by Americans United for Change President Brad Woodhouse, who pointed out how the Bush legacy:

“has left an economy in recession, the costs for healthcare, college tuition, food and gas skyrocketing and out of reach for most Americans. Bush and his allies have left an environment hurling towards potential disaster, unemployment on the rise, a mortgage and housing crisis and historic lows in consumer confidence and in the number of Americans who think the country is headed in the right direction.”

The 28-ton, 45-foot long, bio-diesel-powered museum on wheels will roll on throughout the summer and fall stopping in the hometowns of Bush’s allies in Congress as well as both national political conventions and symbolic locations like New Orleans and Crawford, TX.

Watch for the Bush Legacy Bus as it tours the country, take a look at its interactive exhibits, and see video from Tuesday’s rally here:

AFSCME’s International Executive Board has issued a unanimous endorsement for President of the United States, and is preparing to mobilize more members and invest more resources than ever before.

In his latest entry on the Huffington Post, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee discusses AFSCME’s choice and what this election will mean for the issues our members care about most, such as ending privatization, providing state and local fiscal relief, fully funding and supporting public services and the workers who provide them, and guaranteeing that everyone in our country has quality, affordable health care they can count on.

Read the post.

As floodwaters ravage the Midwest, AFSCME members are working nonstop to provide relief to the tens of thousands of people who have been evacuated or forced from their homes. From staffing homeless shelters to providing medical care, they are on the frontlines meeting this emergency head on.

But just as our AFSCME brothers and sisters do everything humanly possible to aid the residents of these communities, we must bear in mind that they also need our assistance. Many have lost their homes and every possession as a result of these catastrophes.

This is why our union has donated $100,000 to the AFSCME Fallen Heroes Fund today, money that will go directly to provide relief and immediate assistance to our members in the Midwest. You can also help the victims of the floods by making a secure contribution online or by writing a check to the AFSCME Fallen Heroes Fund. Click here for more information.

After seven years of upside-down economic priorities, like tax breaks for millionaires and corporate interests, President Bush has driven us into a recession. On Friday we learned that the national unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May from five percent in April. This is the largest spike in unemployment in a single month since 1986.

In response, the U.S. House of Representatives is moving quickly to enact up to 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits for people who have lost their jobs. The vote could happen as soon as tomorrow, or on Thursday, June 12.

This legislation is urgently needed.

• Nearly 325,000 Americans have lost jobs since the beginning of the year.
• 49,000 more jobs were lost in May — this is the fifth consecutive month where employers have cut jobs.
• The proposed unemployment benefits bill [HR5749] will provide up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits in states where workers exhaust the 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits.
• The number of long-term unemployed workers is substantially higher than when President Bush last signed legislation providing extended benefits for workers exhausting their state unemployment benefits before finding work.

Yet, the Bush White House says extending unemployment benefits would mean workers would just end up lollygagging about, watching TV and not looking for work. Really, this is what the May 20 Bush administration’s veto threat—also called a Statement of Administration Policy—said.

“Increasing and extending unemployment insurance benefits when unemployment is this low would be unprecedented and counterproductive because it would reduce the incentive for workers to find new employment.”

Today—even with Friday’s stunning jump in unemployment—there are strong indications that some in Congress will continue to tow the Bush Administration line and will strip the UI extension from the supplemental war funding bill.

Seven years of upside-down economic priorities have left us with a slowing economy, loss of jobs, and an ever-worsening mortgage crisis at a time when the cost of health care, food and gas continues to rise. It’s going to take a lot to get our country back on track, but we can start by extending unemployment benefits for the increasing number of Americans who have lost their jobs. Congress needs to stand up for working people who can’t find work and stand up to Bush.

Read more at AFL-CIO Now Blog.

As summer approaches, here are a few books that would be worthwhile reading for anyone with an interest in the labor movement and the struggles of American workers, whether in today’s economy or in America’s past.

State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence – Philip M. Dine, an award-winning investigative reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, combines a strong narrative of the lives of union members with insightful analysis of American labor’s triumphs and recent struggles.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy says: “Longtime respected labor reporter Phil Dine makes a compelling case that a much stronger labor movement in the years ahead is indispensable for restoring fairness for working families and reducing the widening income gap that is threatening the American dream for so many millions of our families.”

The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker – New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse gives readers a behind-the-scenes view into the lives of American workers being squeezed by low wages, disappearing benefits and a lack of job security.

Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz says: “In this shocking and important book, Steven Greenhouse explains – and tells the stories – of how U.S. workers are paying the price for the lower labor standards and wages that are the result of poorly managed globalization.”

Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign – Noted labor historian and University of Washington-Tacoma Professor Michael K. Honey tells the story of the 1968 AFSCME sanitation workers strike in Memphis. Honey analyzes a strike that was a defining moment for our union and the modern labor and civil rights movements. Princeton University Professor Cornel West calls the book “A magisterial treatment of this neglected period.”

Going Down Jericho Road is the first-prize winner of the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, given by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial each year to the author whose work best embodies RFK’s commitment to justice and social change.

Honey will be discussing his book at AFSCME’s 38th International Convention in San Francisco this summer.

Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African-American History in and Around Washington, D.C. – Associated Press labor reporter Jesse J. Holland tells the forgotten story of how African Americans helped build some of our most important national landmarks, including the U.S. Capitol, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.

“A cross between a history book and a travel guide,” says Roll Call’s Alison McSherry, adding: “The tome unmasks dozens of facts and stories about the role black people have played in the construction of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.”

Reposted from the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

Employees at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) are seeking a voice on the job through a historic coordinated effort by two unions – AFSCME and UAW.

Kelly Hinton, an eight-year financial support specialist, says:

This is great news for all UNH employees. We feel that the two unions working together will be a good fit for the University alongside of the faculty union. Working together with AFSCME and the UAW means we are united and stronger.

Says Lonn Sattler, a veterans coordinator who has worked at UNH for 26 years:

This is a terrific opportunity for us to have a real, effective voice on the job. With two great unions working together, we can make UNH a better place to work.

Last year, the state Legislature passed legislation allowing state employees, including those at UNH, to form unions and bargain with their employers when a majority of workers sign union authorization cards.

AFSCME and UAW agreed to coordinate organizing efforts and support the negotiating teams of all UNH workers who are successful in forming their own local unions and bargaining units. Under the agreement, clerical, technical, skilled trades and administrative employees and certain supervisory employees will be eligible to join AFSCME. Service and professional staff, adjunct faculty members and some supervisors will be eligible to become part of the UAW.

Both unions say the partnership will help the workers. Says Bob Madore, director of UAW Region 9A:

Our goal is to help workers who want to form their own unions. By combining resources so we can work with AFSCME, we can be even more effective.

Alva Arellano, AFSCME’s director of organizing in New England, adds:

This is the right approach for UNH workers and for our two unions. We’re going to help UNH workers join together so they can have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives and improve the important public services they provide.

The Bush economy is in a tailspin – record home foreclosures, skyrocketing prices at the pump, unemployment rising and food prices going up and up. Now, as state and local governments cope with the additional costs of providing a safety net for families in economic trouble, they are facing big budget deficits.

In these tough times, at least 28 states and the District of Columbia face budget shortfalls, forcing them to lay off workers, cut services, and curtail aid to local governments. Most of these states are mandated not to run deficits, so they can’t borrow to close a revenue gap.

Ironically, Congress named this week National Public Works Week. Both the House and Senate passed resolutions. They proclaimed that public works infrastructure, facilities, and services “play a pivotal role in the health, safety, and quality of life of communities throughout the United States.”

Words are not enough. The nation’s economic crisis requires action. Congress should immediately increase federal funding for states and local public services to revitalize the economy and to maintain the infrastructure and services that make America strong.