AFSCME President Lee Saunders To Join Solidarity Singalong On Wednesday

Good news from the inbox:

AFSCME Sisters and Brothers,

Wisconsin citizens launched the biggest public uprising in state history when Scott Walker

“dropped the bomb” on worker rights.

The spirit of that uprising continues today.

It lives on in our hearts and it rings out daily in our state Capitol, thanks to the Solidarity Sing Along.
Even as Walker directs his palace guard to arrest grannies, veterans, firefighters and union members for the “crime” of singing – songs of freedom continue to ring out, just as they have every weekday since March of 2011.

On Wednesday, AFSCME International Pres. Lee Saunders will join the Capitol chorus.

Pres. Saunders will deliver a strong reminder that the whole nation is watching.

And as our union has shown all along, Pres. Saunders will demonstrate once again that we are never alone in the fight to win back our rights.

Wednesday’s noon hour Sing Along is outside the Capitol on the State Street steps.

As always, all are welcome.   And it would be especially great to have a sea of green shirts welcoming Lee Saunders back to Wisconsin.

Come sing.  And bring your best green t-shirt!

In solidarity,

Jim Garity, President
AFSCME Council 40
Paulette Feld, President
AFSCME Council 24
Brian Stafford, President
AFSCME Council 48

And speaking of AFSCME and the Solidarity Singalong, don't forget that Milwaukee's own Council 48 will be hosting a fund raiser for the SSA fund on Saturday, September 28:

Gov. Scott Walker and his new capitol police chief may not like them, but the Solidarity Singers deserve your support. They’ve been gathering each weekday in the Capitol (you know, the People’s House, the one that Walker would like to sell off to a corporation) and singing protest songs ever since Walker tried to bust public employee unions. This summer, they decided to ignore a judge’s ruling that requires groups of 20 or more to get a permit. Why? Because they don’t believe that Americans must get a permit from the very government they are trying to protest.

Not surprisingly, Walker et al. have ordered a clampdown. 

Which is why AFSCME DC 48’s Sept. 28 Solidarity Sing-Along Fundraiser deserves your support. 

The suggested minimum contribution is $10 per person, which includes complimentary food and drink. Proceeds will go to the defense fund of the singers and protesters. 

See you there!

A Message From AFSCME President Lee Saunders

From the inbox:

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Yesterday, delegates to the 40th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME), elected us to serve as the next president and secretary-treasurer of our great union. And today we were sworn in to office.

This was a proud week for AFSCME, as more than 4,600 delegates, alternates and guests from across the country came together in Los Angeles to elect new leadership and help chart our future. The Convention held the first debate among candidates for union leadership in the history of the labor movement in the United States. We’d like to thank Brother Donohue and Sister Goff for a vigorous and energetic campaign and for all they have done for AFSCME. We look forward to working together with them in the days and weeks ahead.

Indeed, we are committed to working with every council, every local, every member—everyday. Because now is the time for us to pull together to win victories for working families and our members all across this great country. We know that Wall Street and their allies are engaged in an all-out assault against us and the services we provide. They know that AFSCME stands in the way of their efforts to destroy the middle class.

We have much work to do and big shoes to fill. Gerald W. McEntee retired today after 31 years as AFSCME president. We will honor his legacy by leading tirelessly, and with heart and resolve.

We are AFSCME — we care for America's children, nurse the sick, plow the streets, collect the trash and walk the beat on the streets and in our prisons. We make America happen — and together we will build our strong union even bigger and stronger.

In solidarity,

LEE SAUNDERS  President		LAURA REYES  Secretary-Treasurer

Congratulations, President Saunders!

AFSCME is holding their national convention in Los Angeles this week.

It was of significance because the union voted for their first new president in 31 years.  The winner of Thursday's election was the current Secretary/Treasurer Lee Saunders:

The country's largest union of state and local government employees, which faces big challenges to members' jobs, benefits and bargaining rights, elected Lee Saunders on Thursday as its first new president in 31 years. 

Saunders, the union's current secretary treasurer, will be sworn in on Monday to succeed longtime President Gerald McEntee as head of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. He will be the first African-American to lead the 75-year-old union.

While Saunders' opponent, Danny Donohue, had many supporters, and made it a tightly contested battle.  But the Donohue people, from the reports I've received from LA, were being very disruptive and confrontational, which turned many people off.

I know that one of the reasons some people supported Donohue over Saunders what Donohue's focus on the more local races.  And I agree that this is very important.

However, I have little doubt that President-elect Saunders is also aware of this.  Heck, he's even aware of little old bloggers like myself, Blogging Blue and blue cheddar:

I look forward to the future and have confidence in President Saunders' ability to lead us through the struggles ahead.

Local Bloggers Get National Recognition

Netroots Nation is holding their yearly event this weekend in Minnesota. During this event, I received an email from one of the speakers with a bit of flattering, and humbling, news.  The email is from Tracey Conaty, AFSCME Director of New Media and Rapid Response. Her email follows and is slightly edited for blogging purposes:

Hi Chris:

I had the honor of starting off the opening Netroots Nation keynote session last night and was further honored by getting to recognize your efforts and that of the whole cheddarsphere. Remarks are below.

In solidarity,
Tracey

Tracey Conaty
AFSCME Assistant Director of New Media and Rapid Response

-------------------------------
From the school bus driver in Portland Maine who gets kids to school safely while getting by on $25,000 year. From the environmental scientist in Portland, Oregon making sure the drinking water is safe. From the home care workers in Baltimore barely making a living wage while caring for the elderly and disabled so that they can live at home with dignity and independence. From the retired human services worker here in Florida surviving on a $19,000 a year pension while watching Bill O'Reilly, Chris Christie and Rick Scott– to name a few -- vilify and scapegoat them as fat cat penioners.

From all AFSCME's 1.6 million members and our President Gerald McEntee and Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders, I say: Hello Netroots Nation!

My name is Trace Conaty, I am the Director of New Media for AFSCME -- The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. This is our third year proudly sponsoring Netroots Nation.

What a year it's been. There will be much talk in the next few days about the brazen and extreme attacks on workers this year. Make no mistake, we at AFSCME are clear: We would not have been able to push back as hard and effectively as we have without the power of the netroots. In Wisconsin for example, the Cheddarshpere, including Blue Cheddar, Illusory Tenant, Dane 101, Uppity Wisconsin -- and AFSCME members Cognitive Dissidence and Blogging Blue -- were telling the story of these attacks long before anyone else -- and in turn helping to galvanize the uprising that is now in 122nd day. In Ohio the fight back is just as vibrant. Indeed, the folks at We Are Ohio want you to know that they will be making a major announcement tomorrow. They want you to text OH to 225568so you can hear the news first.

This is not a new struggle. In 1968 Martin Luther King travelled to Memphis, TN to march in solidarity with AFSCME sanitation workers who were striking to win recognition as a union -- and as human beings. Their pro-test signs said it simply: "I am a man." These workers had no union, no vacation, no benefits, no pensions, no overtime.

The following is a short video – with song especially done by Aaron Neville -- about how that struggle continues today. A Main Street Movement in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Michigan and across the country is underway as working people fight back against attacks on their rights -- and for jobs that provide a living wage and decent quality of life.

We are proud and honored to be joined together as allies with you in this struggle. Thank you.

It then included a link to this video:



And if that wasn't kind enough, I also saw this tweet from Melissa Ryan, digital community organizer extraordinaire:

I keep telling myself that I am not doing this for the recognition, but I would be a liar if I said it wasn't nice to receive.

Thank you to Tracey Conaty and Lee Saunders for the recognition.

And congratulations to my friends at Blogging Blue and Blue Cheddar. I am honored to be counted among you.