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The Governor's Race
For the first time in sixteen years there is a real race for Governor - Jim Doyle vs. Scott McCallum. For our Union, there was no choice. After a hard-fought primary, our political arm, PEOPLE, enthusiastically endorsed current Attorney General Jim Doyle.
Some of our members will read this endorsement and say, "Business as usual, Unions always endorse Democrats." However, this view is just plain wrong. We weighed all of the facts, examined the records of both Doyle and McCallum, and based on this thorough analysis we decided to endorse Jim Doyle. Let's look at the facts.
On one hand, you had Acting Governor McCallum who in just two short years has destroyed the economy of the State of Wisconsin. He has decimated the State's "rainy-day fund" by returning $1 billion to the taxpayers in $300.00 increments. He has raided and totally spent the tobacco settlement in a foolish and unsuccessful attempt to balance the budget. He has created a huge budget deficit for the next administration by grossly over-inflating the projected economic growth rate for the State.
He attempted to destroy local government in Wisconsin by eliminating Local Revenue Sharing that equalizes the property tax burden among communities and finances critical to local government services. This was a direct attack on you - our members - both in Milwaukee and across the State.
On the other hand, Jim Doyle has stood up for working people during his entire career in public service. He has supported critical local government services and workers, and has pledged to support the Local Revenue Sharing program. He is committed to growing our economy and will work to create high-paying, family-sustaining jobs. He is committed to tackling the health care and health insurance crisis in Wisconsin, and has a plan to expand Badgercare and decrease the number of uninsured citizens (mainly low wage working families).
Jim Doyle is committed to cleaning up the mess in Madison. He has called for the scandal-laden leadership of both parties in the Legislature to resign their positions, so that leaders can be selected who can bring back integrity to both the State Senate and State Assembly.
Most importantly, Jim Doyle is committed to change. We can no longer afford "business as usual." The stakes are too high, the costs to our members too great, for us to remain docile and uninvolved. As we know all too well in Milwaukee, change in the air. For our Union, for our members, and for all of the citizens in Wisconsin, Jim Doyle is our vehicle for positive change.
The facts are laid out elsewhere on this AFSCME District Council 48 website. But make no mistake about it, Jim Doyle and his running mate for Lieutenant Governor, Barbara Lawton, are the superior candidates and are our choice to lead Wisconsin into the future.
Other Significant Milwaukee Area Races
Our own Dawn Sass, member and activist in Local 645, Milwaukee County Professional Social Service Workers, won the statewide Democratic primary for State Treasurer. Dawn needs your help to get elected on November 5th. She will serve us well in Madison.
There are a number of Milwaukee area legislative races that are particularly significant. I would like to mention a couple of these races. State Representative David Cullen is running for re-election in the new 13th Assembly District. This is a tough race for David, who has stood with our Union on every issue during his four prior terms in the Legislature. We need to make certain that David returns to the Legislature to protect the interests of Milwaukee's working families.
Another race is the 5th Senate District pitting Democrat George Christenson of West Allis against Republican Tom Reynolds for the seat formerly held by Peggy Rosenzweig (Reynolds defeated Rosenzweig in the September 10th primary). Our Union had endorsed Senator Rosenzweig in the primary, but after her loss, we are enthusiastically urging support and have endorsed George Christenson. There is no choice in this race. Reynolds has no credentials for this office other than he embraces every ultra-extremist right-wing ideology. Even conservative right-wing politicians are scared of this guy.
As I started out saying, we must keep our eye on the prize. We must elect those people to office who understand the value of public service and the pitfalls of privatization. We must elect those people to public office who understand that family-sustaining public sector jobs, accountable to elected officials and the public, build and sustain the critical services our citizens pay for and expect.
We must elect those people to public office who support Unions and the right of unorganized workers to organize into Unions in an atmosphere free of coercion and intimidation by their employers. We must elect those people to public office who share our vision for a better tomorrow.
VOTE ON NOVEMBER 5, 2002. DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOUR VOTE DOES NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
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July 2002
April 2002
ON THE BARGAINING FRONT
February 2002 December 2001
September 2001
June 2001
June 2003
March 2003
January 2003
Our Union has lost an old friend and colleague. Retired Staff Representative Earl Gregory passed away suddenly the week before Christmas. During his twenty-plus years as a Staff Representative for District Council 48, Earl negotiated hundreds of contracts, handled thousands of grievances, and advised and consulted with virtually every Local Union in the Council. Many active and retired Union members stayed in close contact with Earl through his activities with the Milwaukee County Labor Council Bowling League. Our sincerest condolences go out to Earl's wife, Betty, his daughter and his extended family.
October 2002
July 2002
April 2002
ON THE BARGAINING FRONT
February 2002 December 2001
September 2001
June 2001
The dangerous truth about health costs
There is no other single issue which now dominates bargaining as much as health care and health insurance. One single illustration points to how significant health insurance and health care is in today’s economic times.
When I began negotiating for public employees in southeastern Wisconsin in 1975, the average public worker was earning about $4 to $5 per hour (approximately $8,000 to $10,000 per year). The average cost of a family health insurance plan in 1975 was about $80 per month, or approximately $1,000 per year. If you do the simple math, health insurance represented a benefit worth 10% to 12% of salary.
Today, the average public worker earns about $15 to $17 per hour ($33,000 to $35,000 per year). The average cost of a family health insurance plan has increased to $1,000 to $1,200 per month, or $12,000 to $14,000 per year.
Health insurance, which represented a benefit worth 10% to 12% of salary in 1975, is now a benefit that represents 35% to 40% of salary in 2002.
Even scarier is that there is no end in sight to the double digit increases in health insurance rates. What does that mean when we go to the bargaining table? It means that more and more of the dollars available for increases will be eaten up by health insurance, leaving fewer and fewer dollars available for wage increases and improvements in other areas of the contracts.
Reflecting back on the last 25 years, I would say that our Union has been tremendously successful in insulating our members from the spiraling costs of health insurance. Very few of our members are paying more than 10% of their health insurance premiums. Many still have contracts which require the employer to pay 100% of their health insurance premiums. Some contracts have required our members to become better and more informed consumers of health care through preferred provider networks and health maintenance organizations. But this is a good thing, and represents a good result for all health care consumers.
Where have we failed our members on this issue? Most of our members have no idea how successful we have been in protecting them from having their income eroded through the rise in health insurance rates. We have failed by not educating them how well we have done at the bargaining table. Therefore, many of our members feel that the health insurance issue does not impact them. They are seriously mistaken.
Taxpayer Uprisings
In Milwaukee County, we are living in unusual and strange times. Our elected officials serving in high office are being challenged through recall elections, lawsuits and scandal - and are falling like leaves from a tree in October. The elected officials who remain are shaken, and are looking for scapegoats and quick fixes. "Change" is in the air. Most of it is change for change’s sake, without any meaningful foresight. Many elected officials are forgetting that change is not always for the better.
Always remember that when elected officials are looking for scapegoats, we are No. 1 on their list. When they make change solely for the sake of change, it is likely to have a dramatic and negative impact on the lives of our members.
Our total compensation package is one of the factors that drive taxes higher, and health insurance is the major component in this spiral. In the current era of a severe economic downturn, downsizing in the private sector, and when private sector workers are losing their health insurance (or being forced to pay hundreds of dollars a month to retain coverage), taxpayers are becoming resentful of public employees. We have become easy targets.
I wish I could say that the end of the health insurance and health care crisis is in sight. I am currently serving on a task force, put together by the Mayor of Milwaukee, which is studying the health insurance and health care crisis in Milwaukee. The task force consists of elected officials, representatives of health insurance companies, hospital and health care providers, community officials, labor representatives, academics, and other concerned citizens.
I am not encouraged by what I am hearing. The only universal consensus we have heard from the presentations is that costs will continue to rise dramatically. There are no quick fixes, or fast and easy solutions.
So how do we deal with this crisis in the midst of a taxpayer uprising, when "change" is in the air? We must continue to fight to protect our members’ interests at the negotiation table. We must educate our members to understand the significance of health insurance as a part of their total compensation package. We must educate our members to be better and smarter consumers of health care services.
We must not shy away from innovation and change in health insurance, remaining open to new ideas. And most important, we must talk to elected officials (those who have been in office and those recently elected to office) about our issues. We must not sit by idly while elected officials target us and make us their scapegoats.
And lastly, we must stay active politically, never lose sight of our issues and goals, and work to elect candidates who are compatible with our agenda.
Personal Note:
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and welcome newly elected County Executive Scott Walker. We did not back Mr. Walker in his election, nor had we backed Mr. Walker during his years in the State Legislature. Yet he and his staff have remained open and accessible to our Union since he was elected.
I, for one, greatly appreciate his efforts to reach out to AFSCME District Council 48. We will make every effort to assist the new County Executive when we can, compromise when we can, and disagree only when necessary.
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New unions energize more than politics
I have been reading in the newspaper and listening to pundits of talk radio talking about the "terrible day" labor unions had on April 2nd, Election Day. I seriously wonder if they saw the same results that I saw.
Clearly, we would have liked to do better. Two significant races saw our endorsed candidates defeated. Our sister, Annie Wacker, lost her bid for the Milwaukee Public School Board. She waged a tremendous campaign against great odds. Despite the fact that she was greatly out-spent by her opponent, and that her opponent and her opponent's supporters ran a very nasty and negative campaign, Annie kept her message positive. Annie would have made a great school board director, and we are extremely proud of her effort.
The other loss we took was in the County Executive primary race. Our endorsed candidate, Tom Nardelli, came in third in the primary. We commend Tom for the race he ran and his willingness to get into the contest. Tom ran his campaign the same way he conducts himself in everyday life. He did not avoid any issue, and confronted all challenges head on. We look forward to continuing to work with Tom on the City of Milwaukee Common Council.
Now let's talk about our victories. In Circuit Court Judge races, we endorsed winners in both the Bill Brash and Louis Butler races, and we made a dual endorsement in the John Brennan/Kevin Martens election, won by Kevin Martens. We congratulate the winners, and John Brennan, on a hard fought campaign.
Another AFSCME District Council 48 member and immediate past vice president of Local 47, Joe Dudzik, was our endorsed candidate in the City of Milwaukee 11th Aldermanic District election. Joe by a significant margin in a hotly contested race.
Joe now joins another AFSCME member and activist, Common Council President Marvin Pratt, on the Milwaukee Common Council. Joe's victory was a great effort and a testimony to his hard work and dedication. He ran an excellent campaign and deserves our admiration. He and all of our endorsed candidates have done our Union proud.
A bad day for organized labor? It could have been better - we would have liked to win all of our races - but I would argue that we did very well. We now look forward to the April 30th General Election for Milwaukee County Executive. Our political action arm, the PEOPLE Committee, has endorsed Jim Ryan for County Executive. We intend to devote our resources to helping Jim win this race.
I have had a unique opportunity recently. We successfully organized a new group of school bus drivers earlier this year. We have been engaged in collective bargaining for this new group with their employer, Laidlaw Transit Company. I have been involved in this process, along with the bus driver bargaining team, our organizing staff, and District Council 48 Staff Representative Penni Secore. Bargaining for any newly organized group is challenging. It is also very rewarding. However, in this instance, it has been more - it has been energizing.
Watching this group gain small victories at the bargaining table, and grow into a cohesive unit working toward the goal of a complete collective bargaining agreement, is really something to experience. Watching them learn about our Union, benefit from collective bargaining, and become trade unionists reinvigorates those of us who are involved in the Union movement on a day-to-day basis and take our accomplishments for granted.
I believe that we in the Union movement need to spend more time with unorganized or newly organized workers so we can better appreciate what our movement offers to all workers and the economic well-being of society.
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We understood the pension -- why didn't Supervisors and the media?
This column was supposed to be about politics, organizing, and membership action. I practically had the column completed when current events in Milwaukee County jumped out of the headlines, television screens, and out of the mouths of every ultra-conservative radio talk show pundit who has ever graced us with his ignorance.
The news of the hour has been the pension "scandal. " Suddenly, the eye of the public was focused on Milwaukee County. Frankly speaking, this is a good thing.
First things first, unlike the County Board Supervisors who are running for cover, this Union stands by the decisions we made and the contract we negotiated. We have a contract with Milwaukee County that runs through December 31, 2004, and we will not reopen our agreement. This position does not require justification or explanation.
For years we have been trying to raise public awareness to the fact that Milwaukee County is in crisis. County government exists to provide essential services to the public, including the critical safety net programs designed to protect the least fortunate among us.
County government has been systematically dismantled over the last fifteen years. The County Hospital is gone, Mental Health is a shell of what it used to be, Employment Services are gone, Child Welfare is gone, and that only addresses the most visible programs.
Despite the fact that County government is half of what it was 15 years ago (both in size and mission) we still have 25 County Board Supervisors. Each earns in excess of $53,000 per year with full fringe benefits, including a more generous pension program than a regular County employee receives. Most County Board Supervisors work (at being a County Board Supervisor) no more than a couple of hours a day.
Executive Director Richard Abelson and Council 48 Board Chairman Paula Dorsey at the 2001 holiday party.
Yet when the tough questions are asked of them, their response is that they didn't know or weren't told. One County Board Supervisor has even called the pension plan he freely voted for the County's "Ocean's 11. " He alleges that since he was too naive or simply didn't understand the pension changes, there must have been criminal action or fraud.
Rather than step to the plate and take responsibility for their failures, most Supervisors are doing what they do best - play the "blame game. " The great thing about being a Milwaukee County Board Supervisor is that it's always someone else's fault - the State, the County Exec., the workers, etc. The reality is that the County Board failed the citizens and employees of Milwaukee County on their own. They didn't need anyone else's help.
The media, although asleep at the switch by ignoring this matter for a year, are 100% correct to ask the County Board Supervisors the relevant questions: "What did you know? " -- "When did you know it? " -- and "If you didn't know, considering how many of you there are and how much you get paid, why didn't you know? " The hardworking employees of Milwaukee County deserve better from their elected officials. Why aren't our "friends" on the County Board defending Union workers and the contract they negotiated with our Union?
The reason is that there is a lack of leadership in the County. Government by "checks and balances" has completely disintegrated. The County Board has abrogated its responsibility as the legislative body of Milwaukee County. A group of County Board Supervisors has been the catalyst - through action occasionally, but mostly through inaction - for gutting key social service programs that used to keep youth, aged, mentally ill, and people in poverty from slipping into destitution and despair. While busy at work dismantling services, the same group of Supervisors has kept up the phony guise of compassion.
Your bargaining team asked hard questions about what was being offered to us at the table when the pension was presented by the County's bargaining team. We demanded details of how each component of the pension package would apply to our members. We demanded information from the pension actuaries about the cost implications of the proposals and whether the County Pension Program could support the improvements.
We understood the pension because we asked the right questions and were not satisfied until we received answers. The County Board could have, and should have, done the same thing.
We stated our concerns about future funding issues and predicted that at some time in the future, the pension deal would "blow up. " We stated across the bargaining table, and both privately and publicly to County Board members, that the pension improvements smacked of being a "golden parachute" for the highest paid County administrators. In the final analysis, we accepted the package and recommended ratification because the improvements were of substantial value to our members.
The voting public will decide the ultimate fate of the current County Board Supervisors and the County Executive. Recall elections are not our issue or fight. If individual Union members want to take part in these campaigns, they are free to do so. It is their right. This Union's mission is to use every effort to focus the public's attention, and the attention of the elected officials (whoever they are), on shaping and maintaining the kind of county that serves the needs of our community now and in the future.
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Sept. 11 will hurt always, but our job is to stay the course
Our lives have changed dramatically since September 11, 2001. As a society, our sense of security and well-being suffered a serious injury. Injuries heal over time, and we are the strongest and most resilient nation this world has ever known. Although we cannot predict what the future will hold, we must continue to live our lives and do our part to achieve our goals.
As a Union, we too had decisions to make in the wake of September 11th. District Council 48 has a major organizing drive going on for school bus drivers who work for Laidlaw and Safe Line School companies. Our initial goal is to organize 700 school bus drivers. In the weeks prior to September 11, we had planned a major organizing "blitz" for the weekend of September 14. Workers, volunteers and staff from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, all over Wisconsin, plus many volunteers from District Council 48 as well as other Milwaukee community activists, were scheduled to be here for that blitz.
Our dilemma was whether we should conduct the blitz in the aftermath and uncertainty of September 11. It was not an easy decision to make. We weighed the mission of our Union and our commitment to improving the lives of the unorganized Laidlaw and Safe Line workers, and we decided to go ahead as planned. It was gratifying that none of the workers, volunteers or staff dropped out. In the final analysis, it was the correct decision.
The reception we received at the homes of the workers was overwhelmingly positive. The Laidlaw and Safe Line workers visited that weekend and since were anxious to discuss their jobs, their needs, and their desire to join a Union. I am pleased that the National Labor Relations Board elections are scheduled for early December and confident that Laidlaw and Safe Line workers will elect to become new AFSCME District Council 48 members.
It does not appear that our healing period in the aftermath of September 11 is going to be of short duration. It is now clear to even the most optimistic observers that we are in the throes of a severe recession. Nationally, over 600,000 workers have lost their jobs in the weeks since September 11, and nearly 1.7 million workers have lost their jobs nationally since January.
Check out Political Opinion from AFSCME 48's newspaper.
Our state is among those hardest hit. The ink on the state budget is barely dry and the recession is causing huge holes to be projected on the revenue side of the budget.There are no easy answers.
Our Union is working with our friends in Congress to fashion an economic stimulus package that will have a real impact on working families and not just hand out more to the richest people in our country and more corporate welfare. Laid off workers need immediate help. We need to extend their unemployment compensation coverage and provide subsidies to help them pay health insurance costs. Wisconsin needs help from the federal government in plugging the huge revenue holes caused by the downturn in the economy, and to help the state and local governments meet the security needs caused by the September 11 attack.
The most effective contribution we can make as members of the Union movement is to continue our work to build a better and more just society. We must organize more workers, increase our economic and social power, and fulfill our mission as a labor organization. By committing ourselves in this way, we can best contribute to the healing process.
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What Labor really means on the bumper sticker of life
Some of you may have seen the bumper sticker that says, "Brought To You By The Labor Movement - The Folks That Brought You The Weekend." Actually you can delete the word weekend and insert in its place overtime, child labor laws, paid holidays, vacations, pension plans , health/dental insurance or just plain dignity at work.
As we linger in the afterglow of Labor Day, 2001 it is appropriate for us to also reflect on and take great pride in many of the great accomplishments of organized labor from the early 1900s to the present.
Unions have done more than any other group or institution to lift the poorest members of our society from poverty into the middle class. By any objective measure, the trade union movement and collective bargaining have been the most successful anti-poverty program in our country’s history. These successes and what they represent to working Americans are a true testimony to our movement’s commitment to social justice for all members of our society.
But the labor movement of today is not the labor movement of 30, 40, or 50 years ago. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, one out of every three workers was a union member. Today, barely 13% of the workforce are union members (and if you remove public employees from the mix, the percentage is likely below 10%). Clearly, with this deterioration in "Union Density," our power and ability to attain our goals and bring about a more just society for all of our members, as well as the less fortunate among us, is greatly diminished.
We need to organize new members like never before if we are to remain a relevant force in the 21st century. In order to do that we need to return to our roots. We must join with other groups that share our goals and our values.
A program that is designed for that purpose is Labor in the Pulpits. The program is based on the simple premise that the religious community was, at our beginning and throughout our history, our most natural ally. Labor in the Pulpits is a joint project of the AFL-CIO and the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.
On Labor Day weekend, Union members spoke at over one hundred churches, mosques and synagogues throughout the Milwaukee area. Each speaker crafted his or her own message while outlining the joint efforts and shared values of our movements: To make life better for workers and their families and to advance the dignity of work, the right to a living wage and to a safe work environment, and the pursuit of justice and fairness for all workers.
Through efforts such as Labor in the Pulpits, we will build the coalitions and community support we need to bring about success in all of our Union’s programs, and most importantly to organize the unorganized so that our future victories are greater than the successes of the past.
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Hard lessons in political deceit and real friends
In my last column, I wrote about two pending crises that were facing District Council 48. Sadly, the closing of Campaign for a Sustainable Milwaukee (CSM) and the privatization of Milwaukee County Child Welfare have become realities.
The book on CSM has closed. With no money left to operate, expenses soaring, and administration and board leaders who were blind to the urgency of the situation, CSM was forced to close its doors. There are lessons to be learned from this disaster, lessons for all non-profit organizations that attempt to pursue a progressive agenda. When an organization survives through its grant money, good intentions do not guarantee success. Not in a stagnant economy when grant money dries up. Not without a diversified and more stable funding stream to fund the organization during the "dry" seasons. Any major crisis will cause the organization to go "belly-up."
CSM had its share of problems. There is no reason to rehash those problems now. However, the CSM Board, which was heavily made up of members of the labor community, should have recognized that the end was coming. Up until the very end, the leaders of the board were telling our Union that there was no cause for alarm, and that things would be okay. In retrospect, we should not have believed them. But as they say, "If you can't trust your friends. . . ."
The privatization of Milwaukee County Child Welfare is a much more complex issue, the details of which are set forth elsewhere in this issue. It's tough for me to decide where to begin. It would be easy to start with the evils of the Thompson/McCallum administration in Madison, or Susan Dreyfus' hell-bent desire to drive Milwaukee County out of the Child Welfare business. It certainly supports the belief that the state bureaucracy has been working to hand Milwaukee County's Child Welfare to its private sector cronies so they could make a profit off the backs of the most "at risk" children in our community.
Instead, I am going to discuss matters closer to home. The real betrayal happened right here in Milwaukee County with the incompetent administration in the Milwaukee County Child Welfare Division of the Department of Human Services (who were responsible for the misspending of millions of dollars), the refusal of the County Executive to fire the official who was primarily responsible, and the abandonment of Child Welfare by County Board supervisors whom our Union once counted as friends.
The story is politics. We have always attempted to spend our political capital, both time and money, wisely. But we have been more trusting than we should have been. We have believed that because some politicians have "Union" or "progressive" credentials in their past, they are our supporters. We forget that often the most anti-Union managers are former Union officials.
There is a crisis of leadership on the Milwaukee County Board, and a failure by those leaders to protect Milwaukee County Child Welfare. The lack of leadership came directly from the Chair of the County Board and her Chair of the Health and Human Needs Committee. Their agenda was obvious. They decided to dump the Child Welfare program. They are directly responsible for the unconscionable abandonment of the children of Milwaukee County, as well as the hard-working and dedicated Milwaukee County Child Welfare workers. They encouraged and built up the State's arrogance by convincing Susan Dreyfus that she needed to act immediately, and that the County Board would never act to protect the Child Welfare program (even though they had just lost a vote on the floor of the County Board to do just that).
These same politicians lecture our Union at every opportunity about what is "good" for our members. They try to make us believe (in the most belittling and condescending way) that they have our "best interests" in mind. They tell us that we just don't understand the intricacies of the County Board Chair's political wheeling and dealing.
But the reality is very simple. We don't have to be a great thinkers to know that the loss of 230 jobs and the abandonment of the County program which protected the children of Milwaukee County is not in our Union's best interest, nor is it in the interests of our members. It is obviously not in the best interest of the kids.
Inevitably, some of our members will ask the question, "Why does the Union participate in politics?" When a member asks this question, it sadly shows a fundamental lack of understanding of our real world.
The answer is simple. We represent public and private sector employees involved in the delivery of services. These workers, and the services they deliver, are completely vulnerable to the whims of politicians.
I am not saying that we have always used our political leverage effectively -- or even intelligently. Admittedly, looking back and considering the current circumstances, our Union erroneously supported both the Chair of the County Board in her quest for public office, as well as the Chair of the Health and Human Needs Committee. But imagine the situation we would find ourselves in if we had a County Board without strong supporters, such as our own Willie Johnson Jr. and the others who had the courage to defy the County Board Chair and support the Child Welfare program and our workers.
The lesson to be learned is that we cannot allow bad experiences with deceitful politicians to discourage us from participating in the political process. We must use our political energy more effectively and elect people who understand that answer to the question, "Will you support the workers of AFSCME District Council 48 when you are elected?" It is a question that does not require a multiple choice answer.
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Corporate America reflects the face of evil
What is the face of evil? We see daily images of squalor and starvation in third world countries. We have seen the carnage caused by terrorists abroad and at home, and we have seen the pictures of families and friends devastated by violent crime. We also see fictional representations of evil on television and in movies, some laughably silly and others real enough to give us nightmares.
But it is often difficult to identify evil around us when it is dressed up in $1,000.00 suits, or resides in the esteemed offices of corporate America or the hallowed halls of government.
Executive Director Richard Abelson writes a regular column for the AFSCME 48 newspaper.
For example, if we are to believe the federal government, Martha Stewart is today’s source of evil in corporate America. After all, they accuse her of parlaying an insider stock tip into a vast fortune of $50,000 to $75,000. That explains the vigor with which the feds are going after her.
Personally, I am not a big fan of Martha. She is just a little too self-righteous for me, and I have an inherent distrust of anyone who cares that much about how napkins are folded. However, I am having a real problem working up energy about Martha’s insider trading, the vast fortune she made, and the government’s case against her, when the crooks who scammed tens of thousands of workers out of their jobs, pensions, and savings at Enron, Tyco, and Worldcom, are still living life in the fast lane with no government prosecution in sight. Worse than that, there is still no federal action to correct the real evil that has been done to these tens of thousands of workers and restore to them their savings, pensions, and their jobs.
The Wisconsin State Legislature is the focal point of some interesting public policy decisions in recent days. As I write this column, the budget is not yet adopted. However, the Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee of the State Legislature have passed their version of the State Budget. There are many interesting provisions of this Republican budget. I am going to focus on just one.
Democrat Governor Jim Doyle’s budget contained a painful reduction in State Revenue Sharing in the second year of the budget. This reduction meant about a $9 to $10 million reduction for the City of Milwaukee in the second year. Other municipalities around Milwaukee and the State were going to take proportional reductions. The important factor to remember is that Revenue Sharing is the long-standing vehicle by which the State of Wisconsin returns tax dollars to local governments based upon need, and it utilizes a formula of equalized value of property so that the lower property value communities (like Milwaukee, Cudahy, West Allis, Beloit, Racine, Marinette, and others) receive more revenue sharing dollars than higher property value communities (like River Hills, Chenequa, and Elm Grove).
The Joint Finance Committee’s Republican budget actually adds $20 million to the Revenue Sharing program in the second year of the budget. However, it changes the formula for the distribution of the Revenue Sharing dollars, so that instead of a reduction of $9 to $10 million in the second year of the budget for the City of Milwaukee, the reduction will be $24 million. You may ask where the additional $14 million that Milwaukee will lose and the additional $20 million that the Republicans added back into the budget will go? Why it goes to those communities in desperate need – River Hills, Chenequa, and Elm Grove. Seems fair to me, “Rob the poor and give the rich.” Perhaps that can be the new logo for the Republican Party bumper sticker.
The change in the State Revenue Sharing formula adopted by the Republicans should be recognized for exactly what it is – the most shameful money grab by any politicians in Wisconsin State Legislature in decades. The Republicans have intentionally adopted a formula which penalizes every community in need in the State where people of color and poor people live, and shamelessly moves the money to affluent, white communities. Make no mistake about it, this Republican proposal is mean-spirited and I dare to say, evil.
Now let us focus right here in Milwaukee. Our Union embarked on a bold organizing program approximately two years ago. We targeted low-income school bus drivers as a group that would benefit greatly from Union representation, and we have been successful in organizing these workers. Hundreds of school bus drivers in Milwaukee driving MPS children have joined the AFSCME family, and we were successful in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement which would have provided the bus drivers with a fair wage increase and health insurance for the first time.
So what did the bus companies do? Rather than do the right thing – live with the fair new contract and give their workers the dignity they deserve – they cooked up a scheme to inflate their bids to MPS to ridiculously high levels (which have nothing to do with their real costs of driving our children to school), so that MPS would not award them routes. They then used the fact that they were not awarded routes as an excuse to close down their unionized terminals in Milwaukee and lay off 300 plus unionized bus drivers. There is also strong evidence that administrators at MPS were a part of this scheme and colluded for years with the bus companies allowing them to earn excessive profits at taxpayer expense.
The face of corporate evil exists in Milwaukee. Look no further than the managers and executives of Durham and Laidlaw Bus Companies to see what evil looks like!
Our Union is carrying on the fight for the bus drivers who stand to lose their jobs. We are leaving no option behind in our search for a solution which will bring justice to the drivers and to punish both the companies and those administrators at MPS who are responsible. We are also waging a pitched battle to prevent the Republican budget passed by the Republican controlled Joint Finance Committee from becoming law so that drastic layoffs of our members who work for the City of Milwaukee and other municipalities do not take place.
Make no mistake about it brothers and sisters – there is evil all around us.
Workforce Development
I recently returned from a national training conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute. I attended this conference as one of two labor representatives on the Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County. The Conference’s purpose was to create a national imperative among workforce development and investment boards to create and advocate for the creation of a “high road agenda” for workforce development.
For two decades, as the productivity of America’s workers grew, wages fell, then stagnated. Just to keep from falling further behind, workers put in more and more hours on the job. Manufacturing industries (historically the route to a middle-class life for unskilled and semi-skilled workers) have hemorrhaged jobs. Globalization has encouraged employers to move production from the U.S. to low-wage countries. Jobs in many sectors have been out-sourced and shifted to lower wage and nonunion workforces. In the 1980s and early 1990s unemployment was high and there were a surplus of skilled workers. Employers used this surplus as an excuse to dismantle job training programs, thereby destroying entryways to jobs and career paths. Many secure, full-time jobs have been replaced with temporary, contingent and part-time positions, often employing the same workers who once held full-time jobs.
The low road economy we have now depends on high levels of education and skills but does not provide them; values family self-sufficiency but eliminates family-supporting wages and benefits; thrives on the creation of good jobs but rewards companies that move good jobs away and those which hold down wages so that workers cannot even afford to buy the products they make. Too many employers have chosen the low road path through our increasingly global economy. They have built their strategies for profit-making around low wages, few benefits, no job security and a polarized and disempowered workforce.
Workforce Investment Boards (WIB), such as the Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County, can be a pivotal part of the effort to move a high road workforce agenda. As labor representatives we need to be worker advocates on our WIBs to prevent them from merely being the contracted out human resource departments for low road employers. We need to advocate for connecting good union jobs and programs to the public workforce development system.
Three strategies were presented to assist us on the high road. The first is a “High Road Community Audit.” This is not just an employer survey. A High Road Community Audit is a comprehensive view of a regional economy exploring both the demand side (employers and jobs) and the supply side (the needs of the workforce). The High Road Community Audit seeks to generate information that ensures that the resources of the Workforce Investment Act system are directed towards employers providing good jobs, more often than not, Union jobs.
The second strategy is the realistic development of self-sufficiency standards. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires WIBs to set the wage standards that determine the eligibility of working adults for training services. Workers earning below these self-sufficiency standards are eligible for intensive services and training using local WIA funds. The standards should not be set so low that workers who do not make a family sustaining wage are left out. Self sufficiency standards should be used to direct public resources to programs which prepare workers for the better jobs in our community and restrict public funds from flowing to providers and employers who do not invest in the well-being of their workers or their communities.
The third strategy involves the WIA mandate that the Workforce Development Boards play a broader role in labor market policies and economic development decisions designed to attract and maintain jobs. This is an opportunity for members of WIBs to be advocates for the responsible use of public dollars. The question, “Should public funds be used to promote business that hires workers for minimum-wage, no benefit jobs?”, is appropriately posed by labor representatives and other advocates of high-road job development on WIBs. As I wrote in my column in the last edition of the AFSCME District Council 48 Newspaper, as with the Park East Redevelopment plan, WIBs need to advocate that public subsidies should be made public, and require the repayment of public funds by employers who do not live up to the level of job creation they promised in order to get the subsidy.
Building a stable and vibrant Milwaukee economy is essential if we are to grow ourselves out of the current economic crisis and protect and preserve the public sector services and programs essential to the basic needs and quality of life of Milwaukee County residents. In the present political atmosphere where no elected official will even talk about revenue-side solutions no matter how reasonable, economic growth is our only short-term solution.BR>Back to Top
Urban Sprawl Impacts Our Union and Our City
Most people look at the issues confronting them as unique. This is especially true when we are analyzing the issues confronting our City or our region. Imagine my surprise when I attended a conference on the National Budget Crisis in Washington, D.C. in December and heard a presentation from a speaker named Greg LeRoy, the Director of an organization called Good Jobs First based in Washington, D.C.
Mr. LeRoy talked about issues that relate to urban sprawl and how sprawl impacts Union members. Sprawl is a "term of art" that is not easily pinned down, but generally it is identified with development patterns that have low density and a lack of mixed use buildings; a lack of transportation options other than personal automobiles; strict separation of residential from nonresidential property; and job growth in newer suburbs with job decline in core city and older suburb areas.
Mr. LeRoy cited urban experts who defined factors which combine to fuel sprawl: peoples preference for large-lot/low-density housing; white flight from urban areas with minority residents; lack of regional planning or the lack of a coordinating agency with real power; "redlining" against older areas by banks, other lenders and insurance companies; crime and perceptions of crime; declining quality of central city schools; contaminated land or "brownfields" in core areas; restrictive suburban zoning that effectively excludes multi-unit dwellings and mixed-use development; and extensive highway spending coupled with comparatively little funding for public transportation.
This list describes Milwaukee! To say I was surprised is an understatement. Just when you convince yourself that your problems are unique, you find out that you are part of a larger, in fact national, predicament.
As a public employee labor union, and as an organization committed to social justice, we have involved ourselves in elements of the problems arising from the effects of sprawl. However, we need to focus our attention on the whole of the problem, not just parts. As Mr. Leroy says, "Suburban sprawl is bad for union members. Simple put, unions are urban institutions. Urban density is good for union density."
As more and more jobs are created in Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee County, a number of things happen - (1) the Milwaukee tax base is eroded; (2) Milwaukee unemployment rises because the poor, unemployed workers from the disadvantaged neighborhoods are unable to access those jobs; and (3) problems resulting from unemployment, such as crime and substance institutions and public employees (our members) suffer.
Unions must get involved in the economic development debate. We have to get involved in efforts to direct funds to revitalize blighted areas and promote economic development in the core urban areas instead of encouraging the further deterioration of cities in favor of the suburbs. If developers want public funds to aid in their development projects, we must insist that these developers create good-paying jobs with fringe benefits. If they fail to produce the promised number of jobs, they should be required to repay that portion of the public funds they received. Further, we must insist that the people hired for these jobs come from disadvantaged neighborhoods and if these new workers want to join unions, that the employers agree to neutrality in the union campaign and that recognition be granted through card-check. These efforts are necessary if we are going to create an economy, which will sustain and grow the public sector.
This is our challenge if we are to grow the public sector and keep it viable in the future.
IN MEMORIAM
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Union has deep reasons to drive for Doyle
The Governor's Race
For the first time in sixteen years there is a real race for Governor - Jim Doyle vs. Scott McCallum. For our Union, there was no choice. After a hard-fought primary, our political arm, PEOPLE, enthusiastically endorsed current Attorney General Jim Doyle.
Some of our members will read this endorsement and say, "Business as usual, Unions always endorse Democrats." However, this view is just plain wrong. We weighed all of the facts, examined the records of both Doyle and McCallum, and based on this thorough analysis we decided to endorse Jim Doyle. Let's look at the facts.
On one hand, you had Acting Governor McCallum who in just two short years has destroyed the economy of the State of Wisconsin. He has decimated the State's "rainy-day fund" by returning $1 billion to the taxpayers in $300.00 increments. He has raided and totally spent the tobacco settlement in a foolish and unsuccessful attempt to balance the budget. He has created a huge budget deficit for the next administration by grossly over-inflating the projected economic growth rate for the State.
He attempted to destroy local government in Wisconsin by eliminating Local Revenue Sharing that equalizes the property tax burden among communities and finances critical to local government services. This was a direct attack on you - our members - both in Milwaukee and across the State.
On the other hand, Jim Doyle has stood up for working people during his entire career in public service. He has supported critical local government services and workers, and has pledged to support the Local Revenue Sharing program. He is committed to growing our economy and will work to create high-paying, family-sustaining jobs. He is committed to tackling the health care and health insurance crisis in Wisconsin, and has a plan to expand Badgercare and decrease the number of uninsured citizens (mainly low wage working families).
Jim Doyle is committed to cleaning up the mess in Madison. He has called for the scandal-laden leadership of both parties in the Legislature to resign their positions, so that leaders can be selected who can bring back integrity to both the State Senate and State Assembly.
Most importantly, Jim Doyle is committed to change. We can no longer afford "business as usual." The stakes are too high, the costs to our members too great, for us to remain docile and uninvolved. As we know all too well in Milwaukee, change in the air. For our Union, for our members, and for all of the citizens in Wisconsin, Jim Doyle is our vehicle for positive change.
The facts are laid out elsewhere on this AFSCME District Council 48 website. But make no mistake about it, Jim Doyle and his running mate for Lieutenant Governor, Barbara Lawton, are the superior candidates and are our choice to lead Wisconsin into the future.
Other Significant Milwaukee Area Races
Our own Dawn Sass, member and activist in Local 645, Milwaukee County Professional Social Service Workers, won the statewide Democratic primary for State Treasurer. Dawn needs your help to get elected on November 5th. She will serve us well in Madison.
There are a number of Milwaukee area legislative races that are particularly significant. I would like to mention a couple of these races. State Representative David Cullen is running for re-election in the new 13th Assembly District. This is a tough race for David, who has stood with our Union on every issue during his four prior terms in the Legislature. We need to make certain that David returns to the Legislature to protect the interests of Milwaukee's working families.
Another race is the 5th Senate District pitting Democrat George Christenson of West Allis against Republican Tom Reynolds for the seat formerly held by Peggy Rosenzweig (Reynolds defeated Rosenzweig in the September 10th primary). Our Union had endorsed Senator Rosenzweig in the primary, but after her loss, we are enthusiastically urging support and have endorsed George Christenson. There is no choice in this race. Reynolds has no credentials for this office other than he embraces every ultra-extremist right-wing ideology. Even conservative right-wing politicians are scared of this guy.
As I started out saying, we must keep our eye on the prize. We must elect those people to office who understand the value of public service and the pitfalls of privatization. We must elect those people to public office who understand that family-sustaining public sector jobs, accountable to elected officials and the public, build and sustain the critical services our citizens pay for and expect.
We must elect those people to public office who support Unions and the right of unorganized workers to organize into Unions in an atmosphere free of coercion and intimidation by their employers. We must elect those people to public office who share our vision for a better tomorrow.
VOTE ON NOVEMBER 5, 2002. DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOUR VOTE DOES NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
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The dangerous truth about health costs
There is no other single issue which now dominates bargaining as much as health care and health insurance. One single illustration points to how significant health insurance and health care is in today’s economic times.
When I began negotiating for public employees in southeastern Wisconsin in 1975, the average public worker was earning about $4 to $5 per hour (approximately $8,000 to $10,000 per year). The average cost of a family health insurance plan in 1975 was about $80 per month, or approximately $1,000 per year. If you do the simple math, health insurance represented a benefit worth 10% to 12% of salary.
Today, the average public worker earns about $15 to $17 per hour ($33,000 to $35,000 per year). The average cost of a family health insurance plan has increased to $1,000 to $1,200 per month, or $12,000 to $14,000 per year.
Health insurance, which represented a benefit worth 10% to 12% of salary in 1975, is now a benefit that represents 35% to 40% of salary in 2002.
Even scarier is that there is no end in sight to the double digit increases in health insurance rates. What does that mean when we go to the bargaining table? It means that more and more of the dollars available for increases will be eaten up by health insurance, leaving fewer and fewer dollars available for wage increases and improvements in other areas of the contracts.
Reflecting back on the last 25 years, I would say that our Union has been tremendously successful in insulating our members from the spiraling costs of health insurance. Very few of our members are paying more than 10% of their health insurance premiums. Many still have contracts which require the employer to pay 100% of their health insurance premiums. Some contracts have required our members to become better and more informed consumers of health care through preferred provider networks and health maintenance organizations. But this is a good thing, and represents a good result for all health care consumers.
Where have we failed our members on this issue? Most of our members have no idea how successful we have been in protecting them from having their income eroded through the rise in health insurance rates. We have failed by not educating them how well we have done at the bargaining table. Therefore, many of our members feel that the health insurance issue does not impact them. They are seriously mistaken.
Taxpayer Uprisings
In Milwaukee County, we are living in unusual and strange times. Our elected officials serving in high office are being challenged through recall elections, lawsuits and scandal - and are falling like leaves from a tree in October. The elected officials who remain are shaken, and are looking for scapegoats and quick fixes. "Change" is in the air. Most of it is change for change’s sake, without any meaningful foresight. Many elected officials are forgetting that change is not always for the better.
Always remember that when elected officials are looking for scapegoats, we are No. 1 on their list. When they make change solely for the sake of change, it is likely to have a dramatic and negative impact on the lives of our members.
Our total compensation package is one of the factors that drive taxes higher, and health insurance is the major component in this spiral. In the current era of a severe economic downturn, downsizing in the private sector, and when private sector workers are losing their health insurance (or being forced to pay hundreds of dollars a month to retain coverage), taxpayers are becoming resentful of public employees. We have become easy targets.
I wish I could say that the end of the health insurance and health care crisis is in sight. I am currently serving on a task force, put together by the Mayor of Milwaukee, which is studying the health insurance and health care crisis in Milwaukee. The task force consists of elected officials, representatives of health insurance companies, hospital and health care providers, community officials, labor representatives, academics, and other concerned citizens.
I am not encouraged by what I am hearing. The only universal consensus we have heard from the presentations is that costs will continue to rise dramatically. There are no quick fixes, or fast and easy solutions.
So how do we deal with this crisis in the midst of a taxpayer uprising, when "change" is in the air? We must continue to fight to protect our members’ interests at the negotiation table. We must educate our members to understand the significance of health insurance as a part of their total compensation package. We must educate our members to be better and smarter consumers of health care services.
We must not shy away from innovation and change in health insurance, remaining open to new ideas. And most important, we must talk to elected officials (those who have been in office and those recently elected to office) about our issues. We must not sit by idly while elected officials target us and make us their scapegoats.
And lastly, we must stay active politically, never lose sight of our issues and goals, and work to elect candidates who are compatible with our agenda.
Personal Note:
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and welcome newly elected County Executive Scott Walker. We did not back Mr. Walker in his election, nor had we backed Mr. Walker during his years in the State Legislature. Yet he and his staff have remained open and accessible to our Union since he was elected.
I, for one, greatly appreciate his efforts to reach out to AFSCME District Council 48. We will make every effort to assist the new County Executive when we can, compromise when we can, and disagree only when necessary.
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New unions energize more than politics
I have been reading in the newspaper and listening to pundits of talk radio talking about the "terrible day" labor unions had on April 2nd, Election Day. I seriously wonder if they saw the same results that I saw.
Clearly, we would have liked to do better. Two significant races saw our endorsed candidates defeated. Our sister, Annie Wacker, lost her bid for the Milwaukee Public School Board. She waged a tremendous campaign against great odds. Despite the fact that she was greatly out-spent by her opponent, and that her opponent and her opponent's supporters ran a very nasty and negative campaign, Annie kept her message positive. Annie would have made a great school board director, and we are extremely proud of her effort.
The other loss we took was in the County Executive primary race. Our endorsed candidate, Tom Nardelli, came in third in the primary. We commend Tom for the race he ran and his willingness to get into the contest. Tom ran his campaign the same way he conducts himself in everyday life. He did not avoid any issue, and confronted all challenges head on. We look forward to continuing to work with Tom on the City of Milwaukee Common Council.
Now let's talk about our victories. In Circuit Court Judge races, we endorsed winners in both the Bill Brash and Louis Butler races, and we made a dual endorsement in the John Brennan/Kevin Martens election, won by Kevin Martens. We congratulate the winners, and John Brennan, on a hard fought campaign.
Another AFSCME District Council 48 member and immediate past vice president of Local 47, Joe Dudzik, was our endorsed candidate in the City of Milwaukee 11th Aldermanic District election. Joe by a significant margin in a hotly contested race.
Joe now joins another AFSCME member and activist, Common Council President Marvin Pratt, on the Milwaukee Common Council. Joe's victory was a great effort and a testimony to his hard work and dedication. He ran an excellent campaign and deserves our admiration. He and all of our endorsed candidates have done our Union proud.
A bad day for organized labor? It could have been better - we would have liked to win all of our races - but I would argue that we did very well. We now look forward to the April 30th General Election for Milwaukee County Executive. Our political action arm, the PEOPLE Committee, has endorsed Jim Ryan for County Executive. We intend to devote our resources to helping Jim win this race.
I have had a unique opportunity recently. We successfully organized a new group of school bus drivers earlier this year. We have been engaged in collective bargaining for this new group with their employer, Laidlaw Transit Company. I have been involved in this process, along with the bus driver bargaining team, our organizing staff, and District Council 48 Staff Representative Penni Secore. Bargaining for any newly organized group is challenging. It is also very rewarding. However, in this instance, it has been more - it has been energizing.
Watching this group gain small victories at the bargaining table, and grow into a cohesive unit working toward the goal of a complete collective bargaining agreement, is really something to experience. Watching them learn about our Union, benefit from collective bargaining, and become trade unionists reinvigorates those of us who are involved in the Union movement on a day-to-day basis and take our accomplishments for granted.
I believe that we in the Union movement need to spend more time with unorganized or newly organized workers so we can better appreciate what our movement offers to all workers and the economic well-being of society.
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We understood the pension -- why didn't Supervisors and the media?
This column was supposed to be about politics, organizing, and membership action. I practically had the column completed when current events in Milwaukee County jumped out of the headlines, television screens, and out of the mouths of every ultra-conservative radio talk show pundit who has ever graced us with his ignorance.
The news of the hour has been the pension "scandal. " Suddenly, the eye of the public was focused on Milwaukee County. Frankly speaking, this is a good thing.
First things first, unlike the County Board Supervisors who are running for cover, this Union stands by the decisions we made and the contract we negotiated. We have a contract with Milwaukee County that runs through December 31, 2004, and we will not reopen our agreement. This position does not require justification or explanation.
For years we have been trying to raise public awareness to the fact that Milwaukee County is in crisis. County government exists to provide essential services to the public, including the critical safety net programs designed to protect the least fortunate among us.
County government has been systematically dismantled over the last fifteen years. The County Hospital is gone, Mental Health is a shell of what it used to be, Employment Services are gone, Child Welfare is gone, and that only addresses the most visible programs.
Despite the fact that County government is half of what it was 15 years ago (both in size and mission) we still have 25 County Board Supervisors. Each earns in excess of $53,000 per year with full fringe benefits, including a more generous pension program than a regular County employee receives. Most County Board Supervisors work (at being a County Board Supervisor) no more than a couple of hours a day.
Executive Director Richard Abelson and Council 48 Board Chairman Paula Dorsey at the 2001 holiday party.
Yet when the tough questions are asked of them, their response is that they didn't know or weren't told. One County Board Supervisor has even called the pension plan he freely voted for the County's "Ocean's 11. " He alleges that since he was too naive or simply didn't understand the pension changes, there must have been criminal action or fraud.
Rather than step to the plate and take responsibility for their failures, most Supervisors are doing what they do best - play the "blame game. " The great thing about being a Milwaukee County Board Supervisor is that it's always someone else's fault - the State, the County Exec., the workers, etc. The reality is that the County Board failed the citizens and employees of Milwaukee County on their own. They didn't need anyone else's help.
The media, although asleep at the switch by ignoring this matter for a year, are 100% correct to ask the County Board Supervisors the relevant questions: "What did you know? " -- "When did you know it? " -- and "If you didn't know, considering how many of you there are and how much you get paid, why didn't you know? " The hardworking employees of Milwaukee County deserve better from their elected officials. Why aren't our "friends" on the County Board defending Union workers and the contract they negotiated with our Union?
The reason is that there is a lack of leadership in the County. Government by "checks and balances" has completely disintegrated. The County Board has abrogated its responsibility as the legislative body of Milwaukee County. A group of County Board Supervisors has been the catalyst - through action occasionally, but mostly through inaction - for gutting key social service programs that used to keep youth, aged, mentally ill, and people in poverty from slipping into destitution and despair. While busy at work dismantling services, the same group of Supervisors has kept up the phony guise of compassion.
Your bargaining team asked hard questions about what was being offered to us at the table when the pension was presented by the County's bargaining team. We demanded details of how each component of the pension package would apply to our members. We demanded information from the pension actuaries about the cost implications of the proposals and whether the County Pension Program could support the improvements.
We understood the pension because we asked the right questions and were not satisfied until we received answers. The County Board could have, and should have, done the same thing.
We stated our concerns about future funding issues and predicted that at some time in the future, the pension deal would "blow up. " We stated across the bargaining table, and both privately and publicly to County Board members, that the pension improvements smacked of being a "golden parachute" for the highest paid County administrators. In the final analysis, we accepted the package and recommended ratification because the improvements were of substantial value to our members.
The voting public will decide the ultimate fate of the current County Board Supervisors and the County Executive. Recall elections are not our issue or fight. If individual Union members want to take part in these campaigns, they are free to do so. It is their right. This Union's mission is to use every effort to focus the public's attention, and the attention of the elected officials (whoever they are), on shaping and maintaining the kind of county that serves the needs of our community now and in the future.
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Sept. 11 will hurt always, but our job is to stay the course
Our lives have changed dramatically since September 11, 2001. As a society, our sense of security and well-being suffered a serious injury. Injuries heal over time, and we are the strongest and most resilient nation this world has ever known. Although we cannot predict what the future will hold, we must continue to live our lives and do our part to achieve our goals.
As a Union, we too had decisions to make in the wake of September 11th. District Council 48 has a major organizing drive going on for school bus drivers who work for Laidlaw and Safe Line School companies. Our initial goal is to organize 700 school bus drivers. In the weeks prior to September 11, we had planned a major organizing "blitz" for the weekend of September 14. Workers, volunteers and staff from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, all over Wisconsin, plus many volunteers from District Council 48 as well as other Milwaukee community activists, were scheduled to be here for that blitz.
Our dilemma was whether we should conduct the blitz in the aftermath and uncertainty of September 11. It was not an easy decision to make. We weighed the mission of our Union and our commitment to improving the lives of the unorganized Laidlaw and Safe Line workers, and we decided to go ahead as planned. It was gratifying that none of the workers, volunteers or staff dropped out. In the final analysis, it was the correct decision.
The reception we received at the homes of the workers was overwhelmingly positive. The Laidlaw and Safe Line workers visited that weekend and since were anxious to discuss their jobs, their needs, and their desire to join a Union. I am pleased that the National Labor Relations Board elections are scheduled for early December and confident that Laidlaw and Safe Line workers will elect to become new AFSCME District Council 48 members.
It does not appear that our healing period in the aftermath of September 11 is going to be of short duration. It is now clear to even the most optimistic observers that we are in the throes of a severe recession. Nationally, over 600,000 workers have lost their jobs in the weeks since September 11, and nearly 1.7 million workers have lost their jobs nationally since January.
Check out Political Opinion from AFSCME 48's newspaper.
Our state is among those hardest hit. The ink on the state budget is barely dry and the recession is causing huge holes to be projected on the revenue side of the budget.There are no easy answers.
Our Union is working with our friends in Congress to fashion an economic stimulus package that will have a real impact on working families and not just hand out more to the richest people in our country and more corporate welfare. Laid off workers need immediate help. We need to extend their unemployment compensation coverage and provide subsidies to help them pay health insurance costs. Wisconsin needs help from the federal government in plugging the huge revenue holes caused by the downturn in the economy, and to help the state and local governments meet the security needs caused by the September 11 attack.
The most effective contribution we can make as members of the Union movement is to continue our work to build a better and more just society. We must organize more workers, increase our economic and social power, and fulfill our mission as a labor organization. By committing ourselves in this way, we can best contribute to the healing process.
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What Labor really means on the bumper sticker of life
Some of you may have seen the bumper sticker that says, "Brought To You By The Labor Movement - The Folks That Brought You The Weekend." Actually you can delete the word weekend and insert in its place overtime, child labor laws, paid holidays, vacations, pension plans , health/dental insurance or just plain dignity at work.
As we linger in the afterglow of Labor Day, 2001 it is appropriate for us to also reflect on and take great pride in many of the great accomplishments of organized labor from the early 1900s to the present.
Unions have done more than any other group or institution to lift the poorest members of our society from poverty into the middle class. By any objective measure, the trade union movement and collective bargaining have been the most successful anti-poverty program in our country’s history. These successes and what they represent to working Americans are a true testimony to our movement’s commitment to social justice for all members of our society.
But the labor movement of today is not the labor movement of 30, 40, or 50 years ago. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, one out of every three workers was a union member. Today, barely 13% of the workforce are union members (and if you remove public employees from the mix, the percentage is likely below 10%). Clearly, with this deterioration in "Union Density," our power and ability to attain our goals and bring about a more just society for all of our members, as well as the less fortunate among us, is greatly diminished.
We need to organize new members like never before if we are to remain a relevant force in the 21st century. In order to do that we need to return to our roots. We must join with other groups that share our goals and our values.
A program that is designed for that purpose is Labor in the Pulpits. The program is based on the simple premise that the religious community was, at our beginning and throughout our history, our most natural ally. Labor in the Pulpits is a joint project of the AFL-CIO and the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.
On Labor Day weekend, Union members spoke at over one hundred churches, mosques and synagogues throughout the Milwaukee area. Each speaker crafted his or her own message while outlining the joint efforts and shared values of our movements: To make life better for workers and their families and to advance the dignity of work, the right to a living wage and to a safe work environment, and the pursuit of justice and fairness for all workers.
Through efforts such as Labor in the Pulpits, we will build the coalitions and community support we need to bring about success in all of our Union’s programs, and most importantly to organize the unorganized so that our future victories are greater than the successes of the past.
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Hard lessons in political deceit and real friends
In my last column, I wrote about two pending crises that were facing District Council 48. Sadly, the closing of Campaign for a Sustainable Milwaukee (CSM) and the privatization of Milwaukee County Child Welfare have become realities.
The book on CSM has closed. With no money left to operate, expenses soaring, and administration and board leaders who were blind to the urgency of the situation, CSM was forced to close its doors. There are lessons to be learned from this disaster, lessons for all non-profit organizations that attempt to pursue a progressive agenda. When an organization survives through its grant money, good intentions do not guarantee success. Not in a stagnant economy when grant money dries up. Not without a diversified and more stable funding stream to fund the organization during the "dry" seasons. Any major crisis will cause the organization to go "belly-up."
CSM had its share of problems. There is no reason to rehash those problems now. However, the CSM Board, which was heavily made up of members of the labor community, should have recognized that the end was coming. Up until the very end, the leaders of the board were telling our Union that there was no cause for alarm, and that things would be okay. In retrospect, we should not have believed them. But as they say, "If you can't trust your friends. . . ."
The privatization of Milwaukee County Child Welfare is a much more complex issue, the details of which are set forth elsewhere in this issue. It's tough for me to decide where to begin. It would be easy to start with the evils of the Thompson/McCallum administration in Madison, or Susan Dreyfus' hell-bent desire to drive Milwaukee County out of the Child Welfare business. It certainly supports the belief that the state bureaucracy has been working to hand Milwaukee County's Child Welfare to its private sector cronies so they could make a profit off the backs of the most "at risk" children in our community.
Instead, I am going to discuss matters closer to home. The real betrayal happened right here in Milwaukee County with the incompetent administration in the Milwaukee County Child Welfare Division of the Department of Human Services (who were responsible for the misspending of millions of dollars), the refusal of the County Executive to fire the official who was primarily responsible, and the abandonment of Child Welfare by County Board supervisors whom our Union once counted as friends.
The story is politics. We have always attempted to spend our political capital, both time and money, wisely. But we have been more trusting than we should have been. We have believed that because some politicians have "Union" or "progressive" credentials in their past, they are our supporters. We forget that often the most anti-Union managers are former Union officials.
There is a crisis of leadership on the Milwaukee County Board, and a failure by those leaders to protect Milwaukee County Child Welfare. The lack of leadership came directly from the Chair of the County Board and her Chair of the Health and Human Needs Committee. Their agenda was obvious. They decided to dump the Child Welfare program. They are directly responsible for the unconscionable abandonment of the children of Milwaukee County, as well as the hard-working and dedicated Milwaukee County Child Welfare workers. They encouraged and built up the State's arrogance by convincing Susan Dreyfus that she needed to act immediately, and that the County Board would never act to protect the Child Welfare program (even though they had just lost a vote on the floor of the County Board to do just that).
These same politicians lecture our Union at every opportunity about what is "good" for our members. They try to make us believe (in the most belittling and condescending way) that they have our "best interests" in mind. They tell us that we just don't understand the intricacies of the County Board Chair's political wheeling and dealing.
But the reality is very simple. We don't have to be a great thinkers to know that the loss of 230 jobs and the abandonment of the County program which protected the children of Milwaukee County is not in our Union's best interest, nor is it in the interests of our members. It is obviously not in the best interest of the kids.
Inevitably, some of our members will ask the question, "Why does the Union participate in politics?" When a member asks this question, it sadly shows a fundamental lack of understanding of our real world.
The answer is simple. We represent public and private sector employees involved in the delivery of services. These workers, and the services they deliver, are completely vulnerable to the whims of politicians.
I am not saying that we have always used our political leverage effectively -- or even intelligently. Admittedly, looking back and considering the current circumstances, our Union erroneously supported both the Chair of the County Board in her quest for public office, as well as the Chair of the Health and Human Needs Committee. But imagine the situation we would find ourselves in if we had a County Board without strong supporters, such as our own Willie Johnson Jr. and the others who had the courage to defy the County Board Chair and support the Child Welfare program and our workers.
The lesson to be learned is that we cannot allow bad experiences with deceitful politicians to discourage us from participating in the political process. We must use our political energy more effectively and elect people who understand that answer to the question, "Will you support the workers of AFSCME District Council 48 when you are elected?" It is a question that does not require a multiple choice answer.
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© 2001 AFSCME District Council 48 Your e-mail feedback welcome!
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