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WORKS
The Magazine of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
WINTER 2013
AFSCME.ORG
Weathering the
STORM
When Hurricane Sandy
struck, we were there.
PAGE 12

Into the Storm,
No Matter Where
Public workers didn’t hunker down. When Hurricane
Sandy was bearing down on the East Coast we did
what AFSCME always does: We surged forward,
leaned into danger and took up our posts to help our
fellow citizens.
We were dispatching ambulances and driving them.
Shoring up utility and drainage systems ahead of the storm
and repairing them after. Making sure citizens were getting
the information they needed about the looming storm
and helping them navigate the recovery process afterward.
Evacuating infants and the elderly and disabled, even as power
grids failed. Ensuring our communities were safe. (p. 12)
It’s what we do, no matter what’s raining down on us.
Too often though, politicians are raining a different type
of disaster down on us. Attacks on retirement security, collective bargaining and the right to organize to
strengthen our union are intensifying. Our resounding victory over anti-worker politicians in the November
election may have temporarily slowed the opponents of working families, but they’re not going anywhere.
We’ve got news for them though: neither are we. From Maine to Hawaii, we’ll push back against efforts
to undercut the very things that built the American middle class – strong unions, Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid. (p. 18)
Because we are AFSCME, and we will weather any storm.
INSIDE
WE ARE AFSCME:
Read about your
AFSCME brother
who smoothes
over some icy
patches. Pg 9
A HIGHER CALLING:
Faith groups and
workers partner
for dignity and
respect. Pg 10
COVER STORY:
Despite Hurricane
Sandy’s
destruction, we
stand strong, help
rebuild. Pg 12
STRONG COMMUNITIES,
SOLID WAGES:
We make the
American Dream
happen. Pg 18
UNION 101:
Not too sure
about that labor
lingo? Brush up
on the ABCs of
AFSCME. Pg 22
PRESIDENT
Lee Saunders
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Laura Reyes
INTERNATIONAL
VICE PRESIDENTS
Ken Allen
PORTLAND, OREGON
Henry Bayer
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Ken Deitz, RN
SAN DIMAS, CALIFORNIA
Greg Devereux
OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON
Danny Donohue
ALBANY, NEW YORK
David Fillman
HARRISBURG,
PENNSYLVANIA
Michael Fox
HARRISBURG,
PENNSYLVANIA
Kathleen Garrison
LATHAM, NEW YORK
Raglan George Jr.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Mattie Harrell
WILLIAMSTOWN, NEW
JERSEY
Johanna Puno Hester
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Danny Homan
DES MOINES, IOWA
Salvatore Luciano
NEW BRITAIN,
CONNECTICUT
John Lyall
WORTHINGTON, OHIO
Kathryn Lybarger
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
Roberta Lynch
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Christopher Mabe
WESTERVILLE, OHIO
Glenard Middleton Sr.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Ralph Miller
LOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA
Gary Mitchell
MADISON, WISCONSIN
Douglas Moore Jr.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Frank Moroney
BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS
Henry Nicholas
PHILADELPHIA,
PENNSYLVANIA
Randy Perreira
HONOLULU, HAWAII
Greg Powell
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Lillian Roberts
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Eddie Rodriguez
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Lawrence Roehrig
LANSING, MICHIGAN
Joseph Rugola
COLUMBUS, OHIO
Eliot Seide
SOUTH ST. PAUL,
MINNESOTA
Mary Sullivan
ALBANY, NEW YORK
Braulio Torres
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
Dave Warrick
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Jeanette Wynn
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
Gary Tavormina, Chair
Retiree Council
WOODBOURNE,
NEW YORK
2 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013 PHOTO: NASA

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND
MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO
Subscription to members only.
Cover: Public service workers in West
Atlantic City, N.J., rescue a resident during
Hurricane Sandy.
Photo by Associated Press.
WORKS
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COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
DIRECTOR
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AFSCME WORKS
(ISSN 1072-9992) is published
quarterly by the American
Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO,
1625 L St., N.W., Washington, DC
20036-5687.
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AFSCME.org 3

FROM THE PRESIDENT
We Will Organize,
We Will Fight All Attacks
“ Politicians funded
by wealthy interests
want to steal the
power of working
people.”
Our union played a decisive role on
Election Day 2012: We engineered one
of the biggest get out the vote drives in
our history, and AFSCME activists helped
re-elect Pres. Barack Obama, Vice Pres.
Joe Biden, and friends of working families
at every level of government. But as
impressive as those wins were, we didn’t
spend time patting ourselves on the back.
The same anti-worker politicians who
were determined to dismantle public
services and end collective bargaining
rights before the election are more
adamant than ever now. So we celebrated
on Nov. 6 – and on Nov. 7, we got right
back to work.
Our union crafted a campaign to
influence the budget agreement that
Congress reached at the start of this
year, which requires the wealthy to pay
more taxes. We’re moving to increase our
strength in the face of the obstacles that
stand before us and all working families.
And we will continue our fight for Social
Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Shredding Our Rights
Only days after the election, ultraconservative
politicians on Capitol Hill
were protecting their wealthy friends at
the expense of everyone else. The debate
about the fiscal cliff proved again that
they were willing to pay our nation’s bills
by picking working families’ pockets, and
tearing down programs that protect the
poor, the weak and the sick.
It’s not enough that these politicians
want to shred the social safety net; they
also want to shred our rights. In Michigan,
the Legislature rammed through a “rightto-work-for-less”
bill in the waning days
of the lame-duck session and Gov. Rick
Snyder quickly signed it into law. These
laws are intended to weaken unions at
the bargaining table and in politics.
Writing a New Story
From our nation’s capital to state
capitals, it’s clear: Politicians funded by
wealthy interests want to steal the power
of working people. But AFSCME will write
a new story. To do it, we’ve identified
several priorities for 2013.
We’re renewing our commitment to
organizing. New members give us energy
and boost our strength in every fight.
We’ve got to win the battle for
retirement security. We must make this
about more than simply protecting our
own pensions. All Americans deserve to
retire with dignity after a lifetime of work.
We must forge deeper partnerships
with allies. We learned in state after
state, that our fights are bolstered when
we create broad coalitions. And we have
prioritized fighting attacks on working
families no matter where they arise or
who they come from.
The preamble to our union’s
Constitution says: “In the same way that
unions are dedicated to improvement of
the terms and conditions of employment,
we are equally dedicated…to fulfill the
promise of American life.” That promise
demands activism and commitment from
us all.
Lee Saunders
President
4 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
PHOTO: LUIS GOMEZ

FROM THE SECRETARY-TREASURER
Why We Must Stand with
Immigrant Workers
Moments after he was sworn into office
for the second time, Pres. Barack Obama
spoke these words, “Our journey is not
complete until we find a better way to
welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants
who still see America as a land of
opportunity.”
We’ve known for a long time that
our immigration system is broken, that
too many aspiring citizens get trapped
in a line with no end, that too many
families are being torn apart. Members
of Congress have tried to mend it with
bills that haven’t worked. But this year,
with the President’s support, Congress
will look at a comprehensive approach
to fix our immigration system and work
to create a clear path to citizenship for
the 11 million immigrants living in this
country.
Here’s what is in it for us. When
corporate tyrants are able to exploit
workers, everyone’s wages and working
conditions suffer and our economy suffers.
Even further, exploitive employers have
created an underground economy to
avoid paying taxes, which deprives our
communities of much-needed revenue.
With a path to citizenship, the wage floor
will rise for all workers and our economy
will grow for all people.
Our History
We marched alongside Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights
Movement. We stood on picket lines to
demand equal pay for women. We rallied
outside of capitol after capitol to protect
our rights as union members. Each of
these fights was a fight to preserve the
values at the core of our union and our
nation – dignity, respect and fairness.
These are the values at stake in the fight
for immigration reform.
We aren’t joining in this fight because
of what’s in it for us. We aren’t even
joining in this fight because of our history
in struggles of solidarity. We are joining
in this fight because of the stories of our
own sisters and brothers.
Our Stories
We must look to the home care
provider in California, who prays that no
one learns that she is undocumented so
she can continue to care for her ailing
child. We must look to the medical
interpreter in Washington, who helps
keep his community healthy by keeping
undocumented families healthy, too. We
must look to the human services worker
in Minnesota, who has to deliver the bad
news that she can only provide aid to the
children who are citizens and not the ones
who aren’t. We must look to the sanitation
worker in Florida, who lives miles away
from his family and struggles to capture
the American Dream for them.
These stories, these members are the
reason AFSCME will fight for a clear path
to citizenship for immigrant workers in
this country. No matter your reason, we
hope you will join us in this fight.
Laura Reyes
Secretary-Treasurer
“We need a roadmap
to citizenship for
all who want to be
one.”
PHOTO: SERGIO M. FERNANDEZ
AFSCME.org 5

F.Y.I.
NEWS YOU NEED, IN BRIEF
VITAL STATS
The average hourly
pay of an American
worker in 2012.
SOURCE: BUREAU OF LABOR
STATISTICS
Estimated hourly pay of the highest-paid CEO of a
publicly traded company in America. Simon Property
Group’s David Simon made $137 million in 2011.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
What Voters
Want
A recent survey
found that:
– More than
80 percent of
Americans oppose cutting
Social Security benefits.
– More than 75 percent oppose
cutting Medicare benefits.
– Nearly 60 percent rank jobs as
more important priorities than
the deficit.
– Two-thirds su pport raising
taxes on the incomes of the
richest 2 percent of Americans.
SOURCE: HART RESEARCH FOR AFL-CIO
Report:
Good Jobs = Strong Middle Class
A recent report by The New York Times business section found that an economy that
works for the middle class requires an economy that produces good, well-paying jobs and
provides American workers with expanded publicly financed social insurance programs.
The working middle class also needs strong unions to give workers the power to bargain
for better wages and benefits. Check it out at AFSCME.org/bottomofthepayscale
or by scanning this QR code with
your smartphone’s reader.
6 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LEFT: ALEXWHITE; ROBERT ADRIAN HILLMAN

If One Gets
Bigger, the
Other Gets
Smaller
That’s how the relationship between profits and the cost of labor
works, says economist Robert Brusca with FAO Research in New
York. Just four years after the worst shock to the economy since
the Great Depression, U.S. corporate profits were up 18.6 percent
from a year ago, with earnings amounting to $1.75 trillion. But
the record profits come at the same time that workers’ share of
the economic pie has dropped to a record low: 43.5 percent of
the gross domestic product, down from 49 percent in 2001. This
downward pressure on wages hurts consumers’ ability to spend.
SOURCE: CNNMONEY, DEC. 3, 2012
They Did
What?!
Senate Republicans pushed the nonpartisan
Congressional Research Service
to withdraw an economic report issued in
October that showed tax cuts for the rich
don’t stimulate economic growth and
job creation.
“This has hues of a banana republic. They
didn’t like a report, and instead of rebutting
it, they had them take it down.”
— New York Sen. Charles Schumer decrying
the partisan move by the right wing.
To read these reports and stats,
visit AFSCME.org/fyi
The Bad Politics
of Right-to-Workfor-Less
Laws
Right-to-work-for-less laws, “have nothing to do
with economics – they have everything to do with
politics. What they’re really talking about is giving
you the right to work for less money.”
—PRES. BARACK OBAMA
According to a report released in December by the
Congressional Research Service, wages in union-friendly
states were nearly 17 percent higher than in right-to-workfor-less
states in 2011.
“Right-to-Work”
States:
50.6 million
employed
Average
Annual Wage:
$43,541
Union-Friendly
States:
78.8 million
employed
Average
Annual Wage:
$50,867
SOURCE: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, QUARTERLY CENSUS OF
EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES.
A Look at Who the Working Poor Are
It’s shameful. Approximately 10 million “working poor” families – 47
million Americans in all, half of whom are children – currently live
near poverty. That’s according to a new report by the Working Poor
Project, using the most recent data compiled by the U.S. Census
Bureau. Their findings mean nearly a third of all working families
are struggling – up from 28 percent in 2007, at the start of the Great
Recession.
“The total number of people … could reach
50 million in the next few years. That’s roughly
equivalent to the total number of people living in
California, Oregon and Washington combined,” say
the report’s authors.
A family of four is considered to be living below the poverty line
if they make less than $22,811.
PHOTOS FROM TOP: OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHY; J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP2013
AFSCME.org 7

ORGANIZING
FOR POWER
From Coast to Coast,
EMS Professionals Vote
‘AFSCME – Yes’
ACROSS THE NATION
For proof that AFSCME continues to grow in the face of antiunion
tactics, look no further than the 2,300-plus paramedics,
emergency medical technicians and support staff in California
and New England who voted this past fall to join United EMS
Workers/AFSCME Local 4911.
Approximately 1,800 EMS professionals employed by
American Medical Response (AMR) in more than a dozen
California counties voted nearly 4-to-1 to join AFSCME.
Layoffs, attacks on health benefits, short staffing and
AMR’s efforts to block their election only increased their
determination to join AFSCME.
“We understand that with numbers there is strength, and
with strength we can accomplish a whole lot,” said Kathy Ivy,
a paramedic in Contra Costa County. “We want to be part
of a growing national movement that stands up for EMS
workers.”
Days later,
500 EMS workers
employed by
AMR in New
England also
voted for AFSCME
representation by
a 9-to-1 margin.
Paramedic Matt
Anderson of
Approximately 500 emergency medical
service workers in New England
voted for AFSCME representation by
a 9-to-1 margin.
Brockton, Mass.,
said joining
AFSCME “means
we’ll be getting
more respect for
what we do. For EMS in general it means we’re on our way to
making this a profession and not just a job.”
“We can’t afford to be on the sidelines any longer,” added
Bob Horte, and EMT paramedic from Hyannis, Mass.
AFSCME, made up of 20,000 EMS professionals before
those votes, is the clear choice for those who want to improve
patient care. That includes ensuring adequate staffing and
ambulances, and the best possible training and equipment for
the workers.
Workers are also organizing with AFSCME in other states.
Here is a list of some recent victories:
CALIFORNIA
Three-hundred registered
nurses have a voice at work
at the 240-bed Corona Regional
Medical Center after a majority
voted to join United Nurses
Associations of California/Union
of Health Care Professionals
(AFSCME-UNAC/UHCP). Ninetyone
employees of Jewish Vocational
Services working for the
Greater Avenues for Independence
program in Los Angeles
County voted to join Council 36,
beating an anti-union campaign.
IOWA
Fifty-six non-supervisory city
employees of Fort Dodge
voted overwhelmingly to join
Council 61. Also joining the
council: 18 employees of the
City of Waterloo, including engineers,
police lieutenants and
dispatch supervisors.
KENTUCKY
Ninety-four Lexington sanitation
workers voted to join
Council 62.
MINNESOTA
Seventy LPNs, CNAs and
trained medication aides
(TMAs) at Park River Estates
Care Center in Coon Rapids
voted overwhelmingly for
representation with Council 5.
Also, seven Wabasha County
Probation workers voted to join
Council 65.
NEW MEXICO
Thirty-six Valencia County
blue collar employees voted
unanimously to join Council 18.
NEW YORK
Thirty-eight employees at the
Institute for Community Living
(ICL) joined DC 1707 through
a majority sign up. They include
social service employees and
those caring for the developmentally
disabled.
OHIO
Forty employees of First
Student in Montgomery
County voted to join OAPSE/
AFSCME. Also joining OAPSE:
35 transportation employees at
the Marysville Exempted Village
School District and 35 employees
at Crooksville Exempted
Village. Joining Council 8: 35
employees of the Williams
County Department of Job and
Family Services.
PENNSYLVANIA
Seventy-two human service
employees of Person
Directed Supports, Inc. joined
Council 13, while 38 registered
nurses employed by the Select
Specialty Hospital in Erie joined
District Council 85.
VERMONT
Thirty-nine custodians
employed at St. Michael’s
College in Colchester voted for
representation with Council 93.
WISCONSIN
Three-hundred employees
of Journey Mental Health
Center in Dane County voted
overwhelmingly to join Council
40. The new unit consists of
social workers, psychiatrists,
nurses and support employees.
8 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013 PHOTO: JOE LAWRENCE

WE
ARE AFSCME
A look at the men and women who make America happen
HELEN JONES
MEDICAID ANALYST,
State of Louisiana,
Local 3701 (Council 17)
As a Medicaid analyst
in New Orleans, I
determine people‘s
eligibility for various
Medicaid programs in the
state. I help people with
disabilities and women
and children get access
to services. And I also go
out into the community
to help educate people on
what all we offer.
Last year, a young family –
a husband, wife and three
kids – came to see me.
They were immigrants and
had just become citizens.
They needed health care
coverage for their whole
family. I helped them
navigate through the
immigration office and my
office. And we got them
the coverage they needed.
I didn’t know I was doing
anything spectacular, but
they sent a card and wrote
a letter, thanking me.
I know Congress is
thinking about making
cuts to Medicaid. If
Medicaid were cut, some
of the people I work with
would literally die.
JOHN MEDEIROS
WILDLIFE MANAGER, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources,
Division of Forestry and Wildlife, HGEA/AFSCME Local 152
How did you become a wildlife manager?
In college, I majored in wildlife and I minored in outdoor recreation. Then I rose through the ranks
of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife in the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
I started as a wildlife technician and later became a biologist. When our wildlife manager retired, I
earned the job.
What’s unique about the work you do?
The great thing about this job is there is a lot of variety. One
day you can be in the office and the next minute you’re
chasing an injured deer or monitoring the nene, our state
bird.
Why is it a vital service to the community?
It is very important to protect the resources we have.
We can’t afford to lose any more of our resources.
Hawaii’s remaining flora and fauna are vulnerable
to extinction. We need to manage and protect
our native ecosystem and watershed. And, at
the same time, we need to provide outdoor
recreation. Protecting our resources and enhancing
endangered species is rewarding work. We are
trying to make a difference.
GARY HOOPER
LEAD MAINTENANCE WORKER, Hibbing Memorial Building Arena Ice and Curling Rink,
Local 791 (Minnesota Council 65)
What brought you to this icy line of work?
I grew up across from the rink. I started skating when I was three, and I played hockey all my life.
I started working at the rink in 1986. I’ve worked here for 24 years now, and my daughter grew
up skating and playing hockey just like I did.
What makes your job unique?
I take care of the ice for games. I drive the
Zamboni and make sure there are no ruts or
holes. The little kids love the Zamboni. They
wave to me and I wave back. I also get to work
with lots of young hockey players and figure
skaters. Some have gone on to get Division
1 scholarships, most recently to colleges in
Vermont and right here in Minnesota.
Why is it a vital public service?
Our building provides a space for hockey, figure
skating, curling and more. It brings the people
of the community together. It helps our town’s
economic development, too. We have concerts
and other events. We even had a rodeo once.
PHOTO:
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: JONES FAMILY; HGEA; TIFFANY RAJKOVICH
AFSCME.org 9

Built in 1941, the Mason Temple in Memphis,
Tenn., serves as the headquarters of the Church
of God in Christ. The cavernous temple can hold
nearly 4,000 churchgoers and virtually nothing,
save the installation of a few air conditioners,
has changed about the sanctuary in decades. You can almost
feel the heat of the crowd. You can almost hear the booming
voice of the most famous pastor in our nation’s history: Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1968, King travelled to Memphis to
stand in solidarity with the sanitation
workers of AFSCME Local 1733,
who were striking after years of
discrimination and poor treatment
on the job.
On April 3, he delivered
what would be his final
sermon from the hallowed
pulpit of the Mason Temple.
He preached on the story
of the Good Samaritan and
said, “The question is not,
‘If I stop to help this man
in need, what will happen
to me? If I do not stop to
help the sanitation workers,
what will happen to them?’
That’s the question.”
The following day, King
was assassinated. Perhaps
no single event in our history
so profoundly demonstrates
the interconnection of labor
unions and communities of faith.
That interconnectedness survives
and thrives across the country today, as
the sisters and brothers of the American labor
movement partner with the sisters and brothers
of faith organizations – and the two groups’
membership often overlaps – to fight for
social justice and the working middle class.
We
Gotta
Have
Faith
How unions are
partnering at the pulpit
to help workers
BY KATE CHILDS GRAHAM
Rev. Roscoe Beasley
organize and got out the vote for those candidates.
“We took information back to our churches,” Beasley
shared. “We wanted our church members to make an
educated vote. I really believe it made the difference.”
In February 2012, they secured a pro-worker, pro-union
majority on the city council. And in June, they helped the
new city council pass an ordinance to return collective
bargaining to city workers.
Seek, and Ye Shall Find Opportunity
for Workers
Public workers in Las Vegas,
N.M., weren’t as fortunate, but one
local priest wasn’t going to let a
campaign for union rights pass
without adding his voice to the
effort.
Blue and white collar
workers in San Miguel
County were organizing
to join Council 18. It was
an uphill battle, and their
opponents had deep
pockets. So the workers
sought some divine
intervention, calling upon
Father George Salazar of
Immaculate Conception
Father George Salazar
Honor Thy Contract
Three hundred miles from Memphis, in
Muskogee, Okla., Rev. Roscoe Beasley leads
the Muskogee Christian Ministers Union.
And when Beasley isn’t preaching, he is
working in the city’s sanitation department
as a member of AFSCME Local 2465.
In 2011, when the city council denied
recognition of his union and refused
to renew their collective bargaining
agreement, Beasley mobilized both his union
family and his faith community. Together, they recruited city
council candidates who supported public workers’ right to
Parish – a
mainstay of
the Las Vegas faith community – for
his support. He jumped at the chance.
At Mass the weekend before
the election, Salazar stood at
the pulpit and gave a thoughtful
and impassioned homily on the
importance of unions. He spoke
about how the right to organize
goes hand in hand with the Catholic
Church’s work toward social justice. He talked about an 1891
papal letter issued by the then-pope, which called unions
10 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
PHOTOS FROM LEFT: MELISSA POFFEL; BILL TAFT

“the most important” element for securing workers’ rights.
And he thanked the San Miguel workers for their service to
the county.
Salazar knows he is one priest at one pulpit and hopes
others will join him to amplify the message about workers’
rights.
“Oftentimes we are not heard unless there is a unified
voice,” Salazar said. “One voice is not going to be heard, but
if our voices are put together, we are more likely to be heard.”
San Miguel County workers ultimately lost the
representation election by only four votes. But they gained
a lasting ally in Salazar and the infrastructure was
created for future church-labor campaigns for
workers’ rights.
Thou Shalt Not Impose Dictators
Bishop Bernadel Jefferson leads Faith
Deliverance Center Church in Flint, Mich. Flint,
one of the poorest communities in Michigan, has
been under the rule of an “emergency manager” –
or local dictator – since 2002. And according to the
emergency manager himself,
the city is in much worse
shape than it was a decade
ago.
So, when AFSCME
members in Michigan began
to mobilize to overturn Public
Act 4 – the law investing these
local dictators with undemocratic
power, Jefferson stood
not only in empathy, but in
solidarity. Jefferson was a leader
in the Stand Up For Democracy coalition,
a coalition in which AFSCME played
a key role.
At a rally on the steps of the state Capitol, she
quoted a Biblical passage about freedom and added, “We do
not want, we will not have, we are not under a dictatorship.
We are free.”
Throughout the campaign, Jefferson organized town hall
meetings and rallies. She circulated petitions throughout
her community. She spoke with media. She testified before
Michigan state representatives. She got out the vote.
On Nov. 6, Public Act 4 was overturned at the ballot box
with the bishop’s help. However, corporate-backed politicians
jammed through a similar law during December’s lame-duck
session, ignoring the will of the people.
Rabbi Michael Feinberg
Blessed Are the Allies
While partnerships between the American labor
movement and faith communities may seem radical or
unlikely today, New York Rabbi Michael Feinberg knows that
history and theology show they are anything but.
“All of our faith traditions – Islam, Judaism, Christianity –
have something central in their teaching about social justice,
workers’ rights, dignity of labor and just wages,” Feinberg
said. “Doing this work is embedded in our traditions.”
Feinberg, executive director of Greater New York Labor-
Religion Coalition, has worked for years with the AFSCME
affiliates in New York. He helped CSEA/AFSCME Local
1000 organize workers at facilities for the developmentally
disabled. He helped DC 1707 fend off
cuts to child care services.
And he continues
to work with DC
37 to protect
public services
from the threat of
privatization.
Feinberg is
a key partner
in DC 37’s new
Labor, Faith and
Community
Engagement
Bishop Bernadel Jefferson program. This
program brings
together “neighbors
and co-worshipers to fight off the anti-worker
attacks that threaten all our futures,” said DC
37 Exec. Dir. and International Vice Pres. Lillian
Roberts.
Feinberg notes that these partnerships are
beneficial for both the labor movement and
the faith community. “Working in partnership
with labor movement keeps religious people
grounded,” he said. “It reminds us what our
basic values are. That’s why these partnerships
have been so important and effective.”
Our Collective Will
Four days after Dr. King’s death, Coretta Scott King and
former AFSCME Pres. Jerry Wurf led 20,000 in a memorial
march through the City of Memphis. In a steady voice, she
invoked the words of her late husband, “Our great nation, he
always said, has the resources. But his question was do we
have the will?”
She added, “Somehow I hope in this resurrection
experience that will can be created in the hearts and minds
and the souls and spirits of those who have the power to
make these changes come about.”
By bringing the hearts, minds, souls and spirits of
the labor movement and the faith community together,
transformation isn’t only possible. It’s inevitable. Ask
Reverend Beasley and the workers of Muskogee. Ask Father
Salazar and the workers of San Miguel. Ask Bishop Jefferson
and the workers of Michigan. Ask Rabbi Feinberg and the
workers of New York. Ask the workers of Memphis.
Send comments to kchildsgraham@afscme.org
PHOTO: PHOTOS FROM LEFT: NYC IMMIGRATION; PEACE EDUCATION CENTER
AFSCME.org 11

A HARBOR
IN THE STORM
When Hurricane Sandy struck, AFSCME members were
there for our communities.
BY JOYE BARKSDALE
The forecasts were eerily
precise: Hurricane Sandy
would be a superstorm
with devastating winds and
high tides. Southern New Jersey and
New York would receive the harshest
blows, but the storm would affect the
entire East Coast.
When Anna Hartung, president
of AFSCME Local 1303-229 in East
Lyme, Conn., first heard the predictions,
she knew to expect the worst.
But she also knew that the members
of her union would do what they always
do: put their own lives on hold
to focus on protecting the community.
And from coast to coast, that’s what
AFSCME members did, coming from
as far as California to help citizens
on the East Coast before, during and
after Hurricane Sandy hit on Oct. 29.
Hartung and most of East Lyme’s
public service workers had been
through this before, living and
working in a shore town. Only a
year earlier they were dealing with
Tropical Storm Irene. But this storm,
everyone believed, would be different.
And it was.
After the storm hit, several members
of Local 1303-229 didn’t go home
for 24 hours straight. “They spent
countless hours, sometimes risking
their own safety, to make sure people
were safe,” Hartung, an administrative
assistant, said. “They were getting
rid of branches along live wires,
clearing sand, doing everything it
took to help residents recover.”
For Julie Wilson, an administrative
assistant in East Lyme’s
Emergency Management Office,
Hurricane Sandy provided an opportunity
to put the department’s
year-old Facebook page to the test.
Just before the storm, the page had
124 followers. But as Sandy wore on
and Wilson posted constant updates
for the community – often on her
own time – the page got more than
27,000 hits.
“I told (my daughter), ‘You know
I’ve got to go out and help people.
There are people who are dying
and they can’t make it to the
hospital. I give them medicine and
I take them to the hospital.’”
— Madelyn Brown
12 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
PHOTO: BROWN FAMILY

“It allowed us to have immediate
communication with people through
their smartphones, so even if they
didn’t have power they could follow
what was happening” Wilson said.
“We were able to give out helpful
information and I think a little bit of
comfort, too.”
The story of public service workers
reaching out to their neighbors
during Sandy was the same everywhere.
In Bridgeport, 60 miles west
of East Lyme, AFSCME Pres. Lee
Saunders toured several damaged
areas with Police Sgt. Chuck Paris,
president of Bridgeport Police Union
Local 1159.
“During Hurricane Sandy,
AFSCME members were once again
everyday heroes,” Saunders said.
“We’re frequently criticized and put
down by politicians, yet we consistently
demonstrate the very best
in public service because we know
that people in every community are
depending on us – especially when
disaster strikes.”
Saunders also met briefly with
Adam Woods, chief of staff to
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, and
reminded Woods of the outstanding
job AFSCME workers had done in
the midst of Sandy, despite their own
losses. “A lot of times city officials
take our work for granted. But when
disaster strikes, they get a reminder
that what we do matters,” Paris said.
Work That Matters
Madelyn Brown, a Fire
Department of New York paramedic
and member of DC 37 Local 2507, has
always known her work matters. And
now her 7-year-old daughter gets
it, too. On the day Sandy hit, Brown
already had worked a double shift.
She came home for a little rest but decided
to go back in a little early. Her
daughter, Siarra Naylani, asked her
why she couldn’t stay home.
“I told her, ‘You know I’ve got
to go out and help people. I give
them medicine and I take them to
the hospital,’” said Brown. So while
her husband stayed home with their
three children, Brown ventured out.
One of the calls was about someone
in apparent cardiac arrest. Brown
and her co-workers ran up six flights
of stairs, carrying heavy equipment,
because the power was out and
elevators weren’t working.
“Some politicians want to finish
union members and public service
workers off,” Brown said. “We don’t
even get paid that much. They want
to take our pensions, when we are
the ones who always go out to work
in times like this and make the difference.”
Members of CSEA Local 1000
worked throughout Long Island
to clear tree limbs and directional
signs from highways, keeping vital
thoroughfares open so emergency
PHOTO: KEVIN ZAPF HANES
AFSCME.org 13

vehicles could get through. Highway,
sanitation and parks department
workers were part of the clean-up
effort as soon as flood waters started
to recede. “A situation like this
demonstrates the tremendous value
of public workers and underscores
the positive effect they have in their
respective communities,” said Long
Island Region Pres. Nick LaMorte.
Deployed to NYC
Although California was far removed
from the impact of Hurricane
Sandy, members of United EMS
Workers/AFSCME Local 4911, paramedics
and EMTs with American Medical
Response (AMR), were deployed to
New York by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Todd Bourgeois,
a paramedic with AMR out of
Sacramento County, Calif., is part of the
30-member NorCal Strike Team.
Bourgeois got a call on the
Saturday before Hurricane Sandy
made landfall and was asked to prepare
his “red bag” – an emergency
backpack with enough clothes and
provisions for 72 hours – and meet
with other crew members. That night,
they were on a plane to the East
Coast. They went to Fort Dix in New
Jersey, met with rescue workers from
other parts of the country and readied
supplies. By 2 a.m. the morning
after the storm, they were rolling into
Manhattan with orders to evacuate
New York University Langone Medical
Center.
Emergency responders deployed
by FEMA set up on an old air field in
Brooklyn and lived out of ambulances,
sometimes getting only two hours of
sleep before their next assignment.
“I stayed because the
mission wasn’t over. I
wanted to see it through
No matter how cold and
wet I was, I knew that I
could go home eventually.
The people whose houses
were either in the ocean
or buried in sand, they
didn’t have that option.”
— Todd Bourgeois
Bourgeois was also part of the team
that evacuated patients from Bellevue
Hospital Center on Halloween night
after its backup generators failed.
After their evacuation and rescue
work, his team went right to work
fielding 911 call response.
Bourgeois could have returned
home after 14 days. He remained for 36.
“I stayed because the mission
AFSCME’s Fallen Heroes Fund:
Members Helping Members
In 2001, in response to the devastation of the 9/11 attacks, AFSCME established the
Fallen Heroes Fund to help members recover from their losses. Since its inception,
the fund has provided financial assistance to nearly 2,000 working and retiree
members, including those who lost their homes to the 2007 San Diego County
wildfires and the 2008 Iowa floods.
While much of the money for the Fallen Heroes Fund comes from AFSCME’s
national union, AFSCME sisters and brothers send in donations to help as well.
The Fund aided victims when Hurricane Irene devastated the East Coast in
2011, affecting nearly 100,000 people, killing more than 40, and causing an estimated
$10 billion in property damage. It helped in February 2012, when AFSCME
members were also among those who lost loved ones, homes and possessions after
deadly tornadoes devastated towns and cities across 10 states in the Midwest
and South. In Harrisburg, Ill., at least seven AFSCME families lost their homes. And
it helped later in 2012, when record rainfall unleashed flash floods in Duluth, Minn.
and Superior, Wis., causing extensive damage to at least 770 homes.
To make a donation to the Fallen Heroes Fund, visit
AFSCME.org/fund, or send a check payable to the fund to 1625 L Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC, 20036-5687.
Hurricane
Sandy
Donors
Reflects donations made
to the Fallen Heroes Fund
from October 2012 through
Jan. 8. 2013
Kelly Brown, AK
Geraldine Blount, AL
Forris Fulford, AP (Armed
Forces Pacific, US)
Barbara Fitzpatrick, AR
Ilana Lydia Holden, AZ
Sylvia Valdez, AZ
AFSCME Local 829, CA
AFSCME Local 1199, CA
AFSCME Local 3090, CA
Linda Abercrombie, CA
Perry Berkowitz, CA
Nadia Bledsoe, CA
Joselito Deguzman, CA
Jill Dolan, CA
Susan Keehn, CA
Margaret Maderos, CA
Cynthia McCabe, CA
Maithi Nguyen, CA
Klaus Pfeiffer, CA
Noel Shanahan, CA
Paula Sparkman, CA
Craig Verzani, CA
Tiby Lopez, CO
D. E. McGill, CO
Tracy Mott, CO
Barbara Schriefer, CO
Blair Bertaccini, CT
Zoe Kaminski, CT
Patricia Lancaster, CT
Steven Lubin, CT
Fred Palange, CT
Lucy Wong, CT
AFSCME International, DC
Jane Carter, DC
Steve Fantauzzo, DC
Cheryl Gilmore, DC
Keeley Lucas, DC
Gerald W. McEntee, DC
Laura Reyes, DC
Lee Saunders, DC
Tim Strecker, DC
The Organizing Group,
Inc., DC
Loraine Anspach, FL
Kim Clark, FL
Lino Collazo, FL
Joy Haslacker, FL
Peyton Sanchez, FL
Cassandra Smith, FL
Vern Southard, FL
14 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013

Todd Bourgeois (right) and
fellow paramedics.
wasn’t over. I wanted to see it through,”
he said. “No matter how cold and wet I
was, I knew that I could go home eventually.
The people whose houses were
either in the ocean or buried in sand,
they didn’t have that option.”
Other members of AFSCME 4911
found a way to join the recovery efforts.
They held a clothing drive to
help their EMT sisters and brothers
who suffered losses during the hurricane.
EMTs and paramedics from
the Fire Department of New York had
traveled to California to help organize
Local 4911 in 2012; for the California
workers, the clothing drive was their
way of giving back.
The drive ultimately yielded 1,600
lbs. of clothing. Local 4911 shipped
51 boxes to the Uniformed EMTs,
Paramedics and Fire Inspectors
F.D.N.Y., Local 2507.
“We checked on the workers
we’d met and found out that some
of them came home from their
shifts to find out they were homeless
because of Sandy,” said Paige
Miller, an EMT with AMR out of
Contra Costa County. “We asked
what they needed and clothing
seemed to be the main thing.”
“Being in a union is really about
brotherhood and sisterhood,” Miller
said. “It’s not just about fighting the
employer or fighting for a higher salary
and better benefits. It’s also about
standing by each other no matter what
the needs may be.”
Send comments to jbarksdale@afscme.org
Pamela Thompson, FL
Ronald Tobin, FL
Deborah Walker, FL
Eleanor Yost, FL
Ramona Clarke, HI
Helen Hamada, HI
Barry Masuda, HI
Suzanne Okino, HI
Alicia Takaoka, HI
AFSCME Council 61, IA
Daniel Bednar, IA
Brian Berentsen, IA
David Brown, IA
Sheri Carnahan, IA
Larry Fitzpatrick, IA
Mike Hansen, IA
Thomas & Francine
Jacobs, IA
Brian Jennings, IA
Roberta Paige, IA
AFSCME Local 1970, IL
AFSCME Retirees Subchapter
82, IL
Esther Allman, IL
Martha Brown, IL
Marsha Felzer, IL
Janice James, IL
Judy Stevens, IL
Sherry Williams, IL
Regina Rader, IN
AFSCME Local 362, MA
Sharon Bosworth, MA
Elizabeth Mellett, MA
Cynthia Nutter, MA
Michael Sullivan, MA
T. Rashad Chowdhury,
MD
Susan Esty, MD
Sonja Homer, MD
Marjorie McCormick, MD
Patrick Moran, MD
Rachel Nauman, MD
Jeannie & Dan Ward,
MD
Jim Bobiney, MI
Stacie Dineen, MI
Richard Rajkovich, MI
Patricia Ramirez, MI
Rodman Smith, MI
AFSCME Council 5, MN
AFSCME Local 2829, MN
AFSCME Local 56, MN
Michelle Duhant, MN
Dorine Grittner, MN
Elizabeth Hudman, MN
Teresa Joppa, MN
Alaina Kozma, MN
Marnie Krohse, MN
John Lincicome, MN
Julie Pardus, MN
Kathleen Quinn, MN
Kathryn Rudd, MN
Barbara Street , MN
Annette Wuertz , MN
Patricia McHugh, MO
Glenn Tetterton-Opheim,
NC
Ana Belleza, NJ
Dixie Bradley, NM
Miles Conway, NM
Laura Leavitt, NV
AFSCME Local 2012, NY
AFSCME Local 830, NY
Louis Albano, NY
Diane Anderson, NY
Michael Bain, NY
Amy Baltajian, NY
Joseph Brennan, NY
Susan Brockway, NY
Ann Calvo, NY
Nicholas Comando, NY
James Creque, NY
J. Devita, NY
Lenore DiGregorio, NY
Sharon Goodfriend, NY
John Hyslop, NY
Barbara Kestenbaum, NY
Lillie Levy, NY
Deborah Martin, NY
Fabio Martinez, NY
Claudette McLennon, NY
Benedetto Muggeo, NY
June Nachtigall, NY
Ene Oloja, NY
Gretchen Penn, NY
Pedro Perez, NY
Peter Persico, NY
Kathy Ann Pinckney-
Cleveland, NY
Doris Ryan, NY
Meenu Sawhney, NY
Lauren Sherman, NY
Joseph St. John, NY
Jon Stein, NY
Lawrence Tetenbaum,
NY
Katherine Thompson, NY
Lynne Vallone, NY
AFSCME OCSEA Chapter
3100, OH
AFSCME Local 232, OH
AFSCME Mahoning/
Trumbull County, OH
AFSCME Retirees Subchapter
109, OH
Patrick Demski, OH
Nanette Folsom, OH
Arlene Hughes, OH
Joretta Niswender, OH
Tommy Reese, OH
Susan Wagoner, OH
Jill Haverland-Wilder, OR
Pam Wyatt, OR
AFSCME Council 88, PA
AFSCME Council 13, PA
AFSCME Local 1513, PA
AFSCME Local 2784, PA
Al Bradley, PA
Anna Clements, PA
Robert Irwin III, PA
Casey Karns, PA
Gary McCaulley, PA
Robert Nichol, PA
Ron Petrucci, PA
Michelle Rider, PA
Dawn Roland, PA
Suraj Singh, PA
John Thompson, PA
Maureen Cox, RI
Robert Fromich, RI
Elaine Maggiacomo, RI
Janice Neylon, RI
Anthony Aumiller, SC
Pamela & Edgar Gehlet,
TN
AFSCME Local 1624, TX
Jon Allen, TX
Mitchell Dockery, TX
Stephen Stoker, TX
Judy Robinson, VA
AFSCME Council 28, WA
AFSCME Local 1857, WA
AFSCME Local 313, WA
Ida Canady, WA
Aaron Cole, WA
Heidi Frankmoelle, WA
Phyllis Naiad, WA
Mary Nelson, WA
John O’Neill, WA
Roy Seshiki, WA
Mykhaylo Shelukhin, WA
Jeff Smith, WA
Susan Tucker, WA
AFSCME Local 1424, WI
AFSCME Local 180, WI
Geraldine Bodley, WI
Alan Hettiger, WI
Daniel Lee, WI
Jacob Miller, WI
Judith Phillips, WI
Garry Rapala, WI
Want to add your name
to the list? Head to
AFSCME.org/fund to
make a donation today.
PHOTO: KEVIN ANDERSON
AFSCME.org 15

Independent Providers,
Helping One Home at a Time
BY KATE CHILDS GRAHAM
Being a home care provider
is more than a job. It’s a vital
service for our communities and
a life-changing experience for
both the client and provider, but
only when everyone gets a fair
shake. That’s why AFSCME is organizing
home care providers in
Vermont and across the country.
After working in a
furniture shop for 10
years, Cheri Weber
wanted a change of
pace. “Something
lighter,” she said.
But what she found
wasn’t exactly “lighter.”
Weber became a home
care provider through
Choices for Care – a
Medicaid-funded, longterm
care program that
aids older Vermonters
and people with disabilities.
“It’s a demanding
job,” she noted.
Weber is helping to
organize a union of home
care providers. Vermont
Homecare Providers/
AFSCME is a group of
more than 6,000 caregivers
providing in-home care to the
elderly and those with disabilities.
Right now, those providers aren’t
getting a fair shake. They make
approximately $10 an hour. Weber
works two other part-time jobs just
to make ends meet. “I just want a
decent, living wage,” Weber said.
Their clients aren’t getting a fair
shake either, she added. “It’s hard to
go into a client’s home and see that
they need a lot more assistance than
what I’m paid to give them. These
people need more hours of care.”
In 2008, Weber started working
with Jane * , who was 88-years-old.
Jane had rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis
and edema. She required a
walker at all times. She lost all use of
her hands. And she couldn’t get in
and out of bed, so she slept in a lift
chair.
Cheri Weber helps a client with grocery shopping.
Weber worked with Jane five
hours a day, six days a week. She
helped her get dressed. She bathed
her. She prepared her meals and fed
her. She kept her home clean. She
took Jane to doctor’s appointments
and to get groceries. She took her
shopping and to get her hair done
– though that was on Weber’s own
dime.
Weber and Jane became very
close. And even though she only got
paid for five hours of work a day, she
often stayed longer.
“There were things she needed
done,” Weber recalled, “Even though
my allotted time was up I couldn’t
leave. I just couldn’t.”
For four years, Weber helped Jane
remain in her home, remain engaged
in her community. “I loved the satisfaction
of seeing her be able to stay in
her own home,” Weber
shared. “She was so
happy.”
When Jane passed
away just a few months
ago, Weber lost more
than a client. She lost a
friend.
Now, Weber has not
only a new client, but a
new cause.
Members of Vermont
Homecare Providers/
AFSCME are fighting to
get a law passed that
would allow them to
form a union. More than
1,500 home care workers
have already signed
cards to say they want
representation rights
so they can bargain collectively
with the state
over subsidy rates and other working
conditions.
Weber remains hopeful that the
union will prevail. “We need real
rights for ourselves and for the people
we care for,” she said. “And the
union will help us get that.”
Send comments to
kchildsgraham@afscme.org
*NAME CHANGED FOR CLIENT PRIVACY.
PHOTO: STEVEN M. LEGGE
AFSCME.org 17

MAIN STREET’S
NEW MOMENT
AFSCME will continue to
protect working middle-class
values in 2013. Here’s how.
BY PABLO ROS
The American Dream lives on Main Street: It is reflected in the daily work and
aspirations of middle-class families. It is our work educating our children, providing
safety to our fellow residents or cleaning our roads. The real work of this country—
the kind that builds society, not tears it down, that helps our economy, not brings it down—
happens on Main Street, not Wall Street. And we are the ones doing that work.
Our victories in 2012
began to tip the balance of
power in favor of the middle
class, as voters rejected
the extreme views of ultra
right-wing candidates. So as
we square off against new
challenges this year, let’s do
so with the confidence we
gained from these victories,
certain in our knowledge that
a majority of Americans is on
our side.
We can make this a New
Moment for Main Street.
While many of our efforts in
2013 will focus on defending
workers’ rights at the state
level, our main priority
nationwide will be to protect
the programs that make the
American Dream possible:
Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid. We earn the
benefits of these programs
with every paycheck, in the
most productive years of
our lives. And they help
safeguard us against the
uncertainties of the future.
Deaner Baer, an OAPSE/
AFSCME Local 4 member,
knows just how uncertain
the future can be. After her
husband passed away, she
was glad to have his union
pension, on which she relies
now. In 2012, she worked
tirelessly to help make
the 2012 Election a victory
for the middle class and
says she’s grateful to Pres.
Barack Obama for helping
preserve union pensions. But
she’s also concerned about
potential cuts to Medicare
and Social Security sought
by right-wing politicians, or
attempts to privatize them
that could threaten her own
future well-being.
“Right now I’m fine,” she
said. “But if anyone starts
messing with Social Security
and Medicare, I’m not going
to be fine.”
We Are Protecting the
American Dream
Many of our elected
leaders just don’t get it.
Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid make it
possible for millions of
people to live life to the
fullest—to work hard and
provide for their families
while planning ahead for
their golden years. Without
Social Security, 21.4 million
Deaner Baer believes the right to retire with dignity is part of the American
Dream, and she is vocal in urging politicians to protect that right.
18 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013

more Americans would
be poor, according to an
analysis by the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities.
For more than 75 years,
AFSCME has been protecting
these programs. And it’s
never been easy. When Social
Security was passed in 1935,
its opponents decried it as
“socialism.” Its constitutionality
was questioned. Thirty
years later, Medicare and
Medicaid were attacked in
much the same way. And in
2012, the Affordable Care Act
narrowly survived not just a
constitutional challenge but a
Presidential election.
Yet, during fiscal negotiations
last year, many of our
elected leaders sought an
opening to slash Social Security
benefits, even though
the program doesn’t add to
the federal deficit. And while
resisting even a modest tax
increase for the richest 2 percent
(with the expiration of
the Bush tax cuts) they went
after Medicare and Medicaid
— programs that have kept
millions of families afloat
during the worst recession in
memory.
That’s why immediately
after the Nov. 6 elections,
we urged Congress to
do the right thing for the
country. In November and
December, we partnered
with the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU)
and the National Education
Association (NEA), launching
two sets of ads calling on key
senators and representatives
in seven states to heed the
call of their constituents and
oppose cuts to the safety
Members like Sheila Pennington, seen here in Detroit, are active so workers’ voices are heard.
net during budget deficit
negotiations.
We held a National Call-in
Day of Action to call on Congress
to protect Medicare,
Medicaid and Social Security,
and not raise costs for recipients
or shift costs to states.
We also opposed raising the
retirement age, reducing cost
of living adjustments, and
cutting Medicaid payments
to states.
Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid are part of the
American Dream. They make
it possible. We will continue
to fight together to protect
them. And as we move
forward in 2013, we must
make the most of our hardwon
electoral victories to do
just that.
Working Families Win
When We’re Active
Election 2012 was the
latest battle in the drawn-out
war between Main Street
and Wall Street. On Election
Day, we asked voters
to decide if they believe our
country’s economy should
work for everyone or just a
privileged few. Should we
be able to pay our utility
bills and our mortgages
without skimping on our
groceries? Should we be
able to send our kids to
college without insurmountable
financial burdens?
Should we have access to
affordable health care and
not live in fear that an accident
could bankrupt us?
AFSCME working members
and retirees put those
questions to our co-workers
and our communities in a farreaching
campaign program
that focused in particular on
eight battleground states.
When the votes were tallied,
every one of those states
— Colorado, Florida, Iowa,
Nevada, New Hampshire,
Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin
— voted to re-elect President
Obama and Vice Pres. Joe
Biden.
In all, 65,600 AFSCME
activists knocked on more
than 385,000 doors and
made 1.1 million phone
calls. We tipped the scales in
favor of the working middle
class, electing champions
of working families to
Congress, statehouses and
in local government.
Our Priorities for 2013
With these victories
we sent a message to our
elected leaders: We want the
rich to pay their fair share in
taxes, and for government to
protect the social safety net.
Yet there is still too
much profit at stake for the
enemies of working, middleclass
families to forgo
privatization schemes for
PHOTOS: CYNTHIA MCCABE
AFSCME.org 19

entitlement programs. Not to
mention attacks on workers’
salaries and benefits,
pensions and collective
bargaining rights, or further
attempts to pass right-towork-for-less
legislation. We
need jobs, not cuts.
In addition to protecting
social safety net programs,
AFSCME will mobilize its
resources at the state level
to preserve the rights of
workers, and to ultimately
replace politicians who favor
the 1 percent above the
middle class.
Renita Hoover, a
member of AFSCME Retiree
Local 1654 in Milwaukee,
Wis., protested against
Gov. Scott Walker and the
Republican state Legislature
in 2011 when they took away
collective bargaining rights.
And though a year later
an attempt to unseat the
governor was unsuccessful,
Hoover still remains hopeful.
“We may not have won
the recall, but we sent a
message to our elected
leaders that this is no longer
a free ride,” she says. “You
will be held responsible.”
Hoover would also like
to see retirement security
protected this year. As a
Medicare recipient, she
hopes elected leaders will
“leave it alone” instead
of trying to turn it into a
voucher system or raising
the eligibility age. “Everyone
needs some type of medical
insurance,” she says. “A lot
of people in Wisconsin don’t
have any type of insurance.
And they’re ill and they’re
In California, AFSCME sisters and brothers fought harmful ballot measures this fall, but they know
more will come as state legislative sessions get under way this winter.
walking around sick.”
Wisconsin is just one
of several states where
AFSCME will focus its
resources in the year ahead.
Among our goals there will
be to keep Governor Walker
from doing further harm to
the middle class through
anti-worker legislation, like
the right-to-work-for-less
laws that were adopted
in nearby Indiana and
Michigan.
In Michigan, we’re
just getting started. We
succeeded in 2012 in
repealing the Emergency
Financial Manager Law, also
known as the Local Dictator
Law. Yvonne Ross, president
of AFSCME Local 2799 in
Detroit, was part of the
statewide effort. The feeling
she experienced when
success was achieved at the
polls was hard to describe.
“I felt like democracy was
being threatened,” she says.
It still is. In full arrogance
of our victory in November,
the Republican-led
Legislature and Gov. Rick
Snyder, in the last week
of a lame-duck session,
revived the Local Dictator
Law under a different guise,
again authorizing unelected
officials to unilaterally
20 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
PHOTO: HELEN COX

Above, volunteers register for a day of canvassing in Ohio. Below,
Renita Hoover phonebanks in Wisconsin.
terminate collective
bargaining agreements. And
on Dec. 11, they passed rightto-work-for-less
legislation.
Governor Snyder now
joins Scott Walker and John
Kasich of Ohio among the
elected leaders who have
placed the future of their
states in the hands of big
corporations instead of the
middle class.
Over the course of the
year, we will fight right-towork-for-less
legislation in
Missouri, where the Chamber
of Commerce has called
on the Republican-controlled
Legislature to enact such
policy, and in Ohio, where
a group called Ohioans for
Workplace Freedom is collecting
signatures to put the
issue on the fall ballot. The
issue may also end up on the
ballot in Montana, where
any legislation easily passed
by Republican majorities
would be vetoed by Gov.
Steve Bullock.
Working people will
regain the rights they have
lost. We’ve already shown
Governor Kasich what we’re
capable of in Ohio, where
AFSCME will keep a close
watch in the year ahead to
prevent more anti-worker
attacks AND take back the
governor’s mansion in 2014.
And we will fight to raise
the minimum wage for
all workers, demand that
corporations and the rich
pay their fair share, and elect
leaders who will stand with
working families.
In Florida, we will
fight privatization by Gov.
Rick Scott. Most recently,
in December, AFSCME
Council 79 helped nearly
2,000 workers in the state’s
Department of Corrections
keep their jobs after it
brought a lawsuit against
state authorities who
would outsource prison
health care. This and the
governor’s campaign pledge
to eliminate the corporate
income tax place thousands
of public service jobs at risk
and threaten to undermine
the state’s slow economic
recovery.
Legal battles concerning
public safety jobs will
also continue in Illinois,
where Gov. Pat Quinn
has terminated AFSCME’s
collective bargaining
agreement, leaving 35,000
employees without their
contract. He also th reatened
the jobs of thousands of
public employees who
work in human services,
corrections, and child
protection, and unilaterally
refused to pay wage
increases since July 2011.
Fortunately, in a recent
victory for AFSCME, a judge
ruled in December in favor
of state workers, who are
owed $60 million in wage
increases.
We’ll also be on our
guard in Pennsylvania,
where AFSCME has been
fighting Gov. Tom Corbett’s
state lottery privatization,
and in New York, where
Gov. Andrew Cuomo would
have slashed our members’
lifetime retirement benefits
by 40 percent.
We will build a
progressive majority in the
states, filling statehouses
with elected officials who
understand what it means to
be a member of the working
class in America. Through
our legislative battles we
will build the infrastructure
we need to win the 2014
elections and beyond. This
will include developing
grassroots leaders,
identifying mobilization
opportunities, and building
alliances with coalition
partners and organizations.
After our victories in the
2012 Election, we cannot
afford to slow down. Today
we have an opportunity to
build on our achievements,
and with the help of
AFSCME working members
and retirees, make 2013
a comeback year for the
middle class.
Email comments to
pros@afscme.org
TOP PHOTO: TESSA BERG; BOTTOM: CYNTHIA MCCABE
AFSCME.org 21

Union
101
Get to Know
Your Union
Here’s a primer for everything
you wanted to know about the
Green Machine. BY CLYDE WEISS
You’re a member of AFSCME, a 1.6-million member union of
public service workers at all levels of government and in the
private and non-profit sectors. But do you really know AFSCME
– its structure, how it operates, or even the jargon you hear in
the union hall?
Understanding the basics, especially if you’re a new
member, will help you become a more effective member of your
union. That, in turn, will help make AFSCME an even stronger
union to fight for better contracts – and for larger battles
against privatization and preserving the social safety net and
retirement security for all.
It doesn’t take much more than curiosity to start. So let’s
get started.
AFSCME 101
1. First and foremost, you are a member of your
local union. You and your colleagues at work are
also members of a bargaining unit (see the accompanying
glossary). Most of you work under
a union contract or agreement with your employer
at either the federal, state or local level
of government, or a company or non-profit.
2. Your local is one of more than 3,700 local
unions in 47 states, the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico. Each represents a particular group
(such as city workers, or employees at a particular
institution or agency). Some locals comprise
several bargaining units. Each local has its own
constitution and elects its own officers.
3. Locals can be part of an AFSCME council.
There are 58 councils, each run by officers
“Talk to veteran union members,
they’re the ones who fought hard
to get us here. They know what’s
happening. You also need to educate
yourself. Go to training sessions,
which AFSCME posts all the time.”
— Crystal Cote
elected by representatives of those locals. The councils – plus
directly affiliated local unions such as THE Ohio Association
of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/AFSCME Local 4, which
have their own “sub-locals” – are all part of the national union,
headquartered in Washington, DC.
4. Locals can be part of an AFSCME council. There are 58
councils, each run by officers elected by representatives of
those locals. The councils – plus directly affiliated local unions
such as the Ohio Association of Public School Employees
(OAPSE)/AFSCME Local 4, and Civil Service Employees Association
(CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000, which have their own
“sub-locals” – are all part of AFSCME, headquartered in Washington,
DC. Similarly, some locals also have chapters, such as
Connecticut Local 1303 and Ohio Civil Service Employees Association
(OCSEA)/AFSCME Local 11, which are the operational
AFSCME body at their workplaces.
5. We elect our leaders. Delegates who are elected by their
locals and affiliate unions come to AFSCME’s biennial
convention. Last year, they elected Pres. Lee Saunders and
Sec.-Treas. Laura Reyes to set the direction for the national
union for the next four years. (Learn more about them on
p. 30-31.) The delegates also voted by legislative district
to elect representatives of all affiliates in those
districts (known as International vice presidents).
We also elect officers at every level.
GET INFORMED
In every way, AFSCME is a memberdriven
union that chooses its causes through
membership meetings, by votes of local and
council boards, and at AFSCME conventions,
where delegates vote on resolutions that are
later posted on our website.
A committed activist understands the union –
its structure, policies and goals. For young members,
the first step on that road is often becoming a
member of AFSCME’s Next Wave. This network of
members, ages 35 and younger, has held two national
conferences since 2009. The next conference is scheduled
July 2013 (p. 26).
22 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
PHOTO: BAILEY FOX

One of those Next Wavers, Crystal Cote, a 31-year-old
revenue agent for Rhode Island Department of Revenue, was
encouraged to get involved in her union – Local 2448 (Council
94) – by an active, older co-worker. “She was always telling
me, ‘You need to get involved.’” So Cote did.
Cote began attending monthly union meetings, first to “appease”
her friend, and then because it was fascinating, she said.
“The more I became educated, the more interested I became.”
Knowledge led to activism. She attended a Statehouse rally
and saw what a difference it made in achieving the union’s
goals. Soon she was asking her local president what more she
could do. Six months later, she was invited to sit on the union’s
executive board. Now chief steward of her local for more than
two years, Cote is anxious to pass on her enthusiasm and
knowledge to younger and newer members.
“Talk to veteran union members,” she advised. “They’re the
ones who fought hard to get us here. They know what’s happening.
You also need to educate yourself. Go to union training
sessions, which AFSCME posts all the time.”
STAY INFORMED
AFSCME’s Online Leadership Academy is another good way
to learn about your union. It features live webinars and selfpaced,
interactive classes for leaders, activists, members and
staff. For more on the current listing of courses, see p. 29
Stay on top of the latest developments about the union.
The magazine you’re now reading – AFSCME WORKS – offers
news about AFSCME – both locally and nationally. Get updates
on breaking news for working families, and take action on
issues that matter to you. Just sign up for email updates on
AFSCME’s home page, AFSCME.org.
You can stay connected to AFSCME by getting mobile
updates on your cell phone. Just text JOIN to 237263.
MAKE A COMMITMENT
Once you’re armed with knowledge about AFSCME and
the causes we’re fighting for, you are ready to become a fully
activated member of the Green Machine (extra credit: That’s
AFSCME’s nickname), the biggest, toughest union in the American
labor movement.
As you build knowledge of AFSCME, and get active, you
will create a stronger union. And a stronger union can fight
harder for working families .
Network of young
members, usually
35 and under
Email comments to cweiss@afscme.org
KNOW YOUR LOGOS
Our fundraisingbased
political
action committee
Our organization for
more than 250,000
retiree members
Glossary
of Union
Terms
Agency Shop,
Fair Share and
“Right to Work”: In an
agency shop, an employee who
is covered by a contract but
declines to join the union pays a
fee (also known as “fair share”)
to help cover what it costs the
union to represent her/him in
bargaining and other matters –
something the union is required
to do for all employees in that
shop. When there’s no agency
shop in a workplace, some
workers known as “free riders”
benefit from the union without
joining or paying their fair
share. So-called right-to-work
laws, now in place in 24 states,
weaken unions by prohibiting
agency shops.
Bargaining Unit: Employees
who share a professional
interest come together in their
union to collectively bargain.
Collective Bargaining:
Workers who are members of a
bargaining unit negotiate with
their employer through their
union representatives over
wages, benefits and working
conditions.
Grievance and
Arbitration: To resolve disputes
between an employee and
an employer, a union contract or
work rules establishes a formal
procedure to reach a mutually
agreed upon solution. That’s
called a grievance. The worker
initiates a grievance through the
union’s steward, who represents
the employees. If the grievance
is not resolved, the union may
be able to appeal to a professional
arbitrator selected jointly
by the union and management
– a process called grievance
arbitration.
Volunteer Member
Organizer (VMO): These
are workers who volunteer to
help build the union through
organizing. AFSCME’s VMO program
trains members to reach
out to co-workers and their
communities and enroll them in
the union. The more members in
our ranks, the more we can pull
together and stand up for working
families. To learn more about
volunteer member organizers,
and to find out how to become
one, visit AFSCME.org/organize.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW, THE PEOPLE COMMITTEE WILL ACCEPT CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY FROM MEMBERS OF AFSCME AND THEIR FAMILIES. CONTRIBUTIONS OR
GIFTS TO AFSCME PEOPLE ARE NOT TAX-DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES.
AFSCME.org 23

AFSCME
ACROSS AMERICA
NEWTOWN CONNECTICUT
AFSCME Fights for
First Responders
Affected by School
Massacre
First responders expect to witness crime scenes with
casualties as part of their job. They are also expected
to rescue survivors and tend to the wounded and
deceased. They don’t run away from danger. They
go to it. It’s their job, they are proud to say. And they
carry on the next day, performing their duties with
dedication and courage.
But walking into a horrific scene like the one at
Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.,
where 20 children and six adults were repeatedly shot
and killed and many others injured, is something else
entirely. That kind of horror is simply unimaginable.
To the 15 police officers who rushed to the school that
day, it was by all accounts the worst crime scene they’d ever
walked into. They were in shock for days. In the aftermath
of the massacre, a few of these officers – all members of
the Connecticut Council of Police Unions (AFSCME Council
15) – are suffering from severe emotional distress and
have been unable to return to work. Traumatized by the
senseless shootings, these officers had to take extended
time off in order to recover.
Unfortunately, post-traumatic stress is not covered by
workers’ compensation benefits under the town’s current
statute. Council 15 is working
with local officials, state
legislators and the governor’s
office for a change in state law
that would provide emotional
trauma benefits and allow
police officers to take more
time to recover.
“These officers have been
unable to function due to
trauma,” says Eric Brown, an
attorney for Council 15. “But
under the circumstances, they
are forced to use sick and
vacation time and could soon
be at risk of going without a
paycheck. The emotional loads
they’re carrying far exceed
anything they could imagine.
We need to support them in
every possible way.”
State Rep. Stephen
Dargan, co-chairman of the L egislature’s public safety
committee, has indicated his support for such a measure.
“The circumstances are so horrific in Newton,” he said. “We
need to protect those first responders and give them all the
help we can give them.”
The Newtown Board of Police Commissioners is also
supportive. In a resolution passed last week, the board said
that “fairness and compassion dictates” the law be changed
to provide appropriate benefits to those who suffered physical
and emotional injury “as a consequence of their heroic
efforts” on the job.
Newtown, Conn., officer and AFSCME
member Maryhelen McCarthy attends
a memorial service for the victims.
AFL-CIO
Registers
450,000 Voters
from Union
Homes
The AFL-CIO – of which AFSCME is a
leading member – registered more than
450,000 voters from union households
in 2012. Many of these newly registered
voters have AFSCME to thank.
AFSCME members made
thousands of phone calls and visited
work sites to encourage their sisters
and brothers to register.
In addition to member-to-member
contact, AFSCME sent out registration
forms to members previously
unregistered, making the process as
easy as opening their mailbox.
All that effort – combined with the
efforts of the AFL-CIO’s other affiliate
unions – added up to more than
450,000 registered voters. It helped
make the difference in the November
elections.
Last November, 58 percent of voters
from union households nationwide
backed President Obama, compared
to 40 percent who supported Romney,
according to the exit polls. Voter
registration: another example of the
union difference.
24 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013 PHOTO: JULIO CORTEZ

JEFFERSON CITY
MISSOURI
13,000 Home
Care Workers
Win Right to
Bargain a First
Contract
After a four-year struggle to have a voice
on the job, improve working conditions
and strengthen the quality of care for the
people they serve, 13,000 home care workers
have finally won the right to have their
voices heard and negotiate a first contract.
The state’s home care workers – who
provide vital care to the state’s seniors and
people with disabilities – prevailed this past
fall over a right-wing challenge to their 2010
organizing election victory. The Missouri
Supreme Court upheld their victory when it
refused to hear an appeal.
Providers will now be able to bargain
with the state to improve conditions for
Missouri home care providers won a momentous legal battle
court supporting their decision to build dignity and respect
through the Missouri Home Care Union, a partnership between
AFSCME Council 72 and SEIU.
themselves and those for whom they provide
critical services.
More than four years ago, the providers
came together to demand recognition for
the work they do and to fight cuts to their
programs in the state Legislature. In 2008,
voters overwhelmingly passed the Missouri
Quality Home Care Act, which gave providers
the right to form a union. Home care workers
then voted to form their union, but right-wing
opponents sought to stymie them in court.
They were also
forced to have two elections
and wait for this
appeal to take its course.
But they never gave up
and Missouri will have
stronger communities
because of their tenacity.
“This court decision
represents a huge victory
for these workers and
will now finally allow
them to begin bargaining
for their first union
contract,” said AFSCME
Pres. Lee Saunders.
AFSCME Sec.-Treas.
Laura Reyes, a former home care provider,
added, “This is a victory not only for the workers,
but for the people and the communities
they serve.” AFSCME represents the home
care workers in a coalition with the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU).
“This ruling is a huge relief to people like
me who rely on home care providers to help
us live independently and stay out of nursing
homes,” said Edna Austin of Crystal City, Mo.
TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA
AFSCME Wins Ruling
Over Illegal Privatization
Scheme
Acting on an AFSCME lawsuit, a Circuit Court judge ruled
in December that the state of Florida violated the law when
it decided to privatize health care services in three regions
across the state without legislative approval.
Council 79 and AFSCME’s Federation of Physicians and
Dentists/Alliance of Healthcare and Professional Employees,
sued the state to prevent this outright disregard for legal
procedures. During earlier arguments before Circuit Judge
John Cooper, union lawyers argued that a legislative panel
exceeded its authority because the full Legislature had not
taken any action to approve Gov. Rick Scott’s privatization plan.
The judge agreed.
“Today’s ruling proves that the governor can’t skirt the
law in order to give sweetheart deals to his Big Business
buddies that wanted to profit off our prison system,”
said Council 79 Pres. Jeanette D. Wynn, also an AFSCME
International vice president. “Keeping prison health care inhouse
will preserve quality care and save Florida taxpayers
money. Governor Scott’s privatization plan was not only bad
for Floridians, it was illegal.”
AFSCME has successfully fought prison privatization
efforts in Florida and opposes privatization of health care
services on many of the same grounds, such as the fact that
public employees are better equipped to do the job – and for
less money.
Although Judge Cooper said the state “does have
authority to privatize prison health care throughout the state,”
he concluded that “the full Legislature must do so by passing
the appropriate funding mechanism specifically directed to
that goal.”
Now that Governor Scott’s illegal effort to circumvent the
Legislature has been stopped, AFSCME will mount a fight at
the Legislature to prevent the spread of privatized health care
services in the Sunshine State.
PHOTO: VIRGINIA LEE HUNTER
AFSCME.org 25

AFSCME
ACROSS AMERICA
LANSING
MICHIGAN
Politicians
Ram Through
Legislation to
Undermine the
Middle Class
The corporate-driven, right-wing
effort to undermine workers’ rights
by pushing so-called “right-to-work
(for less)” moved ahead at lightning
speed this winter in Michigan. Less
than a week after Gov. Rick Snyder
announced he would introduce the
legislation, the state Legislature pushed
it through and Snyder signed it into law,
without public hearing or comment.
Nearly 10,000 citizens flooded the
Sta tehouse and surrounding grounds
to protest the dangerous law, which
was a page ripped directly from the
Protestors of a hurried and undemocratic, so-called
“right-to-work” law rally outside the Statehouse.
playbook of the anti-union agenda of
the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC) – the source of much
of this legislation across the country.
The corporate backers of right-towork-for-less
in Michigan came out of
hiding when the Michigan Chamber of
Commerce announced support for the
law, ending its neutrality on the issue.
Another pro-business group called
the Michigan Freedom Fund spent $1
million on TV ads supporting this
initiative.
“Right-to-work” is a
misleading term that hides what
its proponents really want to do:
weaken the voices of workers
through their unions. Such laws
do not guarantee a right-to-work.
Instead, they allow workers who
enjoy the benefits negotiated
by a union to avoid paying
their fair share of the costs of
representation. Studies have
shown that workers in right-towork
states lose economically
compared to those in non rightto-work
states.
“This is a fight for the middle
class, for workers’ rights and dignity,”
says AFSCME Council 25 Pres. Al
Garrett. “Those politicians who want to
protect the power of the 1 percent over
the 99 percent are using this right-towork
legislation as a club to get us to
surrender. They’re up to their same old
political tricks.”
AFSCME Conferences
Scheduled for 2013
AFSCME members should take advantage of a number of conferences
held throughout the year to strategize for our battles for collective
bargaining rights, retirement security, and against privatization (just
to name a few.) Conferences also offer extensive networking opportunities
and dynamic professional development sessions. Here’s
this year’s lineup:
AFSCME’s first Family Child Care Conference, May 3-5 in
Madison, Wis., will strategize how to grow political, legislative and
organizing strength. Providers will develop skills to support AFSCME’s
fight for respect for their profession and for quality early childhood
education. Participants will support Wisconsin child care providers in
their fight for their union.
The 14th Nurses Congress, May 5-8 (during National Nurses
Week) is in Washington, DC. The conference will examine the impact
of the Affordable Care Act on the nursing profession and health care
employers.
AFSCME’s Next Wave Conference is July 12-14 in Detroit, Mich.
Next Wave is a network of AFSCME members 35 and under. The
agenda: protecting worker rights, including collective bargaining and
the fight for AFSCME priorities such as protecting retirement security.
AFSCME’s role in defending and growing homecare programs at
the federal and state level will be a focus of the Home Care Conference
in Missouri (date and city to be determined). Providers will hear
from key political and community allies. Participants will put boots
on the ground to help our Missouri sisters and brothers win a strong
contract for Missouri Home Care workers.
AFSCME’s Women’s Conference, Sept. 20-22 in Denver, Colo., will
strategize on our fight for retirement security and other union priorities.
The conference is designed to cultivate political activism among
female members, and to encourage women to become leaders of
their local unions.
The union’s Public Safety Conference will be held Oct. 18-20 in
Columbus, Ohio. The conference brings together corrections and
sworn, law enforcement employees from across the nation to discuss
national union priorities affecting their professions, including fighting
back against attacks on officers’ rights, benefits and job security.
26 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013 PHOTO: CYNTHIA MCCABE

ILLINOIS
Anti-Worker
Fraternity Gets a
New Member in
Quinn
At a glance, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn may not
seem to have much in common politically
with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder. Quinn is a Democrat
and the others are staunch Republicans.
But in recent months, Quinn has joined their
shameful fraternity: governors intent on
attacking workers’ rights and scapegoating
public service workers.
In an unprecedented move in November,
Quinn terminated the state government’s
contract with AFSCME Council 31. (Previously,
Council 31 members worked under
a contract extension while negotiations on
a new agreement continued.) The termination
had little practical effect – all terms of
employment are still in place under state
law – it signaled Quinn’s lack of respect for
collective bargaining. And in doing so, he
lumped himself with the likes of Walker and
Snyder.
“In 40 years of collective bargaining, Pat
Quinn is the first and only Illinois governor to
terminate a union contract,” AFSCME Council
31 Exec. Dir. Henry Bayer said, also an
International vice president. “His action will
heighten employee frustration and provoke
instability in the workplace.”
Quinn’s decision to nullify the union contract
follows his refusal to pay a negotiated
wage increase due in the last year of the
contract. An independent arbitrator found
Quinn in violation of the contract and ordered
him to pay, but the administration went to
court seeking to overturn the arbitrator’s
ruling. In December, a circuit court ruled that
the contract must be honored.
In recent months, Quinn has also
launched a full-blown assault on public employee
pensions, attempting to portray them
Members of Council 31 protest anti-worker
policies of Gov. Pat Quinn.
as “extravagant” and blaming them for the
state’s fiscal woes. In fact, the real problem
is the state tax system that favors big business
and the rich.
“Rather than telling the truth, as a real
leader would do, about the fact that the
state’s problems are caused by a broken and
unfair tax system that lets the rich off easy,
Governor Quinn has instead tried to make
public employees a scapegoat,” Bayer said.
MEMPHIS
TENNESSEE
In Memoriam: Two
Valued Labor Leaders
AFSCME remembers two great leaders
of the labor movement in Memphis,
Tenn., who passed away this past fall
– Rev. James E. Smith and Willie Joe
Alexander.
Reverend Smith was executive
director of Local 1733 from 1969 to
1993, and a longtime pastor at the
Union Grove M.B. Church. As a labor
leader, he was known for his direct,
Rev. James
Smith
aggressive style. Reverend Smith passed away Sept. 9
after a long illness. He was 71.
“It was exciting to work with him,” remembers
Evelyn Liggins, an administrative assistant at Local 1733.
“There was never a dull moment.”
Liggins recalls a wildcat strike – or a strike by workers
without union authorization – with the Regional Medical
Center at Memphis in which the center’s president
fired 450 of the staff after they walked off the job. Later
everyone was allowed back except 13 employees who, in
Liggins’ words, were “very strong union members.”
As it turned out, Reverend Smith did not give up on
those 13 members but fought back
until all of them were reinstated to
their jobs.
“He opened doors for a lot of
people,” said Liggins. “He could
generally get things done during his
tenure with the local.”
Willie Joe Alexander was
Willie Joe
Alexander
president of Local 1733 from 1994 to
2001. He is remembered as a strong
fighter and as someone whose
authoritative manner made him “very straightforward
and to the point,” in the words of Liggins. Alexander died
Sept. 6. He was 72.
Alexander retired from Shelby County Corrections
Center, and was a former employee of Firestone Tires and
an honorable member of the Free Masons.
PHOTO TOP: DAVE MILLER; PHOTOS ABOVE COURTESY OF THE FAMILIES
AFSCME.org 27

AFSCME
ACROSS AMERICA
PHILADELPHIA
PENNSYLVANIA
Workers in Philly
Demand Fairness from
Mayor Nutter
Public employees in Philadelphia, and members of AFSCME
District Councils 33 and 47, have called on Mayor Michael
Nutter to respect workers’ rights and think about working
families, not corporate profits.
Despite four years without a pay increase, city workers
pulled together to find real solutions to their city’s budget
problems. In the meantime, Nutter went out of his way to cut
taxes for the wealthy while asking for more sacrifices from
public employees.
Nutter offered city employees a 2.5-percent increase while
trying to take thousands from their pockets with threatened
cuts in overtime pay and forced furloughs. He cut public
services and shut down schools and libraries, while standing
with corporations and the city’s powerful institutions.
AFSCME District Council 33 Pres. Pete Matthews
and District Council 47 Pres. Cathy Scott called out Nutter’s
disingenuous plan, pointing out that it’s not a raise when you
take away more than you give.
Earlier this year, AFSCME sisters and brothers —along
More than 3,000 rallied in Philadelphia this winter to protest
Mayor Michael Nutter’s attacks on working families.
with members of other labor unions, community groups and
organizations — came out by the thousands in solidarity. At
rallies in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, they made it clear
they will continue to stand with the city’s labor force until
Nutter’s policies begin to build a better Philadelphia for all.
At the Philadelphia rally, Matthews and Scott were joined
by AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders, who told a crowd of 3,000
during the weekend commemorating the birthday of Martin
Luther King Jr., what he thinks of the Mayor of the 1 Percent.
“Mayor Nutter considers himself a man of the people
– but in reality, he’s a man of only certain people: the top 1
percent,” Saunders said. “He advocates for the wealthy, not
the workers. He supports the corporations, not the cops. He
champions the people with a lot, not the folks with too little.”
BATON ROUGE
LOUISIANA
Governor’s Job
Hypocrisy Hurts
Louisiana
We hear it from politicians all the time: Jobs
are priority number one. Then something
strange happens. Instead of creating more
jobs and helping working families climb out
of the recession, they destroy middle-class
jobs that already exist in the public sector.
In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal has taken
a page out of this hypocrisy playbook. During
his last re-election campaign he touted his job
creation efforts and promised more in his next
term. Yet state government – in which Jindal
serves as chief executive – has eliminated a
staggering 5,743 classified positions and 3,167
employees since Jindal took office 2008, according
to The Times-Picayune.
Even Jindal’s Republican allies in the
Legislature were shocked when he announced
last September the closure of the C.
Paul Phelps Correctional Center – destroying
250 more jobs in a rural community.
“Do the nurses and correctional officers
who get laid off have any less trouble paying
their mortgage than their neighbor who got
laid off from the factory?” asked Paul Wilson,
a corrections officer for more than 20 years
at Avoyelles Correctional Center and president
of AFSCME Local 3803 (Council 17). “Our
jobs don’t count to politicians like Jindal, yet
our communities suffer all the same.”
Jindal campaigned relentlessly last year
to privatize and sell prisons to profit-hungry
corporations. Where he was unsuccessful,
he simply closed three state prisons and
shrugged at the resulting job losses.
Leonal Hardman, president of AFSCME
Council 17, says that at the same time
middle-class civil service positions are being
eliminated, the governor has given more six
figure salary jobs to his friends at the top.
“We are trying to help the residents of this
state realize that the governor talks fast, but
look at what he’s really doing. He’s hurting
the middle class. He’s taking away from
those who are less fortunate and handing
over more to the richest 1 percent.”
28 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013 PHOTO: GEORGE JACKSON

New Online Courses
Offer Tools for
Growth. Check Them Out!
AFSCME’s Online Leadership Academy has a new lineup of
OnDemand courses this year dealing with financial standards,
the Next Wave and a leadership course for women.
These courses are available 24/7 and can be reviewed or
completed at your own pace. Here’s the rundown of the latest
offerings:
■ The Financial Standards Code is for
local union officers who are responsible
for union finances. Here, you can learn
how to handle expenses, keep records
and make financial reports.
■ The Leadership Course for Women
will examine Eleanor Roosevelt’s leadership
and her relationship with the labor
movement. The Education department, in
partnership with Brigid O’Farrell, an independent
scholar affiliated with Mills College, developed
this one-hour course. This course will be initially offered
as a live webinar and later launched as an OnDemand
course with interactive learning activities.
■ Coming later this year is a class on AFSCME’s Next
Wave, designed to help your local develop the next
generation of union members and leaders. Learn about
key events in the history of Next Wave, and how to
start or build a Next Wave network of members age 35
and under. A recorded version of this webinar will be
available for playback.
■ The Online Leadership Academy continues to offer an
OnDemand course called Respect in the Workplace,
an introduction to a sample harassment policy,
including how to identify, respond
and report unacceptable conduct in
the workplace.
These other online courses also
are available on the Leadership
Academy’s website: Analyzing
Public Budgets; A Guide to
Health Care Reform; Marketing
for Child Care Providers; Health
and Safety for Child Care
Providers; Women in Unions;
Workplace Safety and Robert’s Rules of Order.
To find OnDemand courses, go to
AFSCME.org/academy.
AFSCME’s
Political Rebate
Procedure
Article IX, Section 14, of the
AFSCME International Constitution
includes a rebate procedure
for members who object to the
expenditure of union funds for
partisan political or ideological
purposes. The rebate is not available
to those who are members
under a union shop or similar
provision – or to non-members
who pay agency shop or similar
fees to the union.
The timing of the rebate
procedure is tied to the International’s
recent fiscal year, which
ended December 31. The procedures,
including the requirements
for submitting a proper
rebate request, were adopted
by delegates to the International
Convention and are spelled out
in Article IX, Section 14, of the
International Constitution and
summarized below. THESE
REQUIREMENTS ARE STRICTLY
ENFORCED.
Eligible members who object
to the expenditure of a portion of
their dues for partisan political or
ideological purposes and want
to request a rebate must do so
individually in writing. Written
requests must be postmarked between
April 1 and April 16, 2013 ,
and must be sent via registered
or certified mail to BOTH the
International Secretary-Treasurer
AND the council with which the
member’s local is affiliated (or
if no council affiliation, to the
member’s local union).
The request must contain
the following information: the
member’s name, Social Security
number or member number, home
address, e-mail address, if available,
and the AFSCME local and
council number to which dues
were paid during the preceding
year. This information must
be typed or legibly printed. The
individual request must be signed
by the member and sent by the
individual member to: Laura
Reyes, International Secretary-
Treasurer, AFSCME, 1625 L St.,
NW, Washington, DC 20036-5687,
AND to the council with which
the member’s local is affiliated
(or if no council affiliation, to the
member’s local union). Requests
from more than one person may
not be sent in the same envelope.
Each request must be sent
individually. Requests must be
submitted in writing each year.
Upon receipt of a valid
rebate request, an application for
partisan political or ideological
rebate will be sent to the objecting
member. The objecting member
will be required to complete
and return the application within
30 days of its issuance. The application
will require the objecting
member to identify those partisan
political or ideological activities
to which objection is being made.
In determining the amount of the
rebate to be paid to any member,
the International Union and each
subordinate body shall have the
option of limiting the rebate to
the member’s pro-rata share of
the expenses for those activities
specifically identified in the application.
Any member who is dissatisfied
with the amount of the
rebate paid by the International
Union or any subordinate body
may object by filing a written
appeal with the AFSCME Judicial
Panel within 15 days after the
rebate check has been received.
Appeals should be sent to the
Judicial Panel Chairperson at the
AFSCME International Headquarters
at the address listed above.
The Judicial Panel will conduct a
hearing and issue a written decision
on such appeals, subject
to an appeal to the full Judicial
Panel. If dissatisfied with the
Judicial Panel’s ruling, a member
can appeal to the next International
Convention.
AFSCME.org 29

Q&A
PRES. LEE SAUNDERS
AND SEC.-TREAS. LAURA REYES
Lee Saunders is AFSCME’s
fourth president, elected
in June 2012 at the 40th
International Convention.
Previously, Saunders
was secretary-treasurer.
He joined the Ohio Civil
Service Employees
Association in 1975
and began his AFSCME
career in 1978 as a labor
economist. He and his
wife Lynne have two
children: Lee Jr. and Ryan.
Laura Reyes is the
secretary-treasurer of
AFSCME, elected in June
2012. In 2002, she joined
the United Domestic
Workers (UDW) Homecare
Providers Union/AFSCME
Local 3930 and in 2008,
she was elected president
of that union. The next
year, she became an
AFSCME International
vice president. She has
three children: Damian,
Christian and Diana Ruth.
We asked AFSCME
members if they had any
questions for the officers
about the work ahead and
here’s what they said:
A lot of folks think
unions don’t matter
anymore. I even see
that attitude among my
fellow members. How
do I convince them
otherwise?
—Jennifer Hargreaves,
president of Local 622 in
Nevada, Mo., and the newly
elected secretary-treasurer of
Council 72
Lee: Tell them the divide
between the rich and the
poor is worse than it’s ever
been and that when unions
are strong, the middle class
is strong. Workers earn a
good living and get decent
benefits and have a secure
retirement when unions are
strong. Through unions, we
can balance the power of
the super-wealthy people
and corporations that
spend billions to influence
state and federal laws and
policies. They tried to buy
the last election, but they
couldn’t do it because of us.
What motivates you
to fight for workers’
rights?
—Judy Wahlberg, president
of Minnesota Council 5
Lee: I talk a lot about growing
up in Cleveland, with a
dad who was a bus driver
and a member of the ATU
[Amalgamated Transit
Union] and a mom who was
a community activist, and
later, a community college
teacher and member
of the AAUP [American
Association of University
Professors]. We’d talk at the
kitchen table about workers’
rights and how important
it is for workers to stand together
in solidarity. For me,
there’s just no better way to
impact the lives of working
families and the issues of
fairness, justice and equality
than as a union activist.
Laura: My oldest son was
born two and a half months
early. The doctors told me
that he would have severe
Cerebral Palsy, be unable
to speak and confined to
a wheelchair. But when
he was just a few days
old, I realized that I could
walk around being angry
at the world, or I could do
something about it. So, I
decided to do something
about it. I became a home
care provider and a union
activist.
I’m president of my
local. One of the
hardest parts of my
job is getting members
to actually show up to
meetings. Do you have
any tips or tricks from
your experience?
—Michael Torres, president
of Local 3395 Indianapolis
Public Library (Council 62)
Laura: At UDW, we worked
hard to make meetings as
convenient as possible.
Members could bring their
children or their clients. And
if they couldn’t make it in
person, they could call in.
I’ve heard other locals use
Skype for members unable
to attend. The key is to
remove as many obstacles
as possible that stop
members from participating.
30 AFSCME WORKS WINTER 2013
PHOTO : TESSA BERG

Secretary-Treasurer
Reyes, as our first
female International
officer, how do you plan
to help more women
become leaders in our
union?
Virginia Ortega, chapter
president of Local 449,
Tucson, Az.
Laura: In collaboration
with the National Women’s
Advisory Committee, I
am working to develop
a Women’s Leadership
Academy. This Academy
will be focused on three
things: education,
mentorship and collective
action. It’s crucial that we
help more women climb the
ladder in our union.
What can we do at the
local level to bring in
younger members?
—Mark A. Square, Council 17
retiree, district vice president
for the Bogalusa, La., area
Lee: I’m not exaggerating
when I say AFSCME has
the best program for young
workers in the American
labor movement. Our Next
Wavers aren’t handed some
pre-packaged program. They
create their own programs,
they plan meetings and they
take action on their own. So,
at the local level, make sure
you aren’t just trying to get
younger members to come
to your meetings. Make sure
you have opportunities for
them to lead.
I get a lot of requests
to donate money to
AFSCME PEOPLE. I
thought we already
gave for political action
through our dues?
—Linda McPherson, Head
Start coordinator, Local 95
(New York DC 1707)
Laura: For public workers –
for all workers and retir ees
– the people we elect mean
the difference between
surviving and thriving. Our
wages, benefits, pensions,
working conditions, health
and safety, and even
whether we have jobs
at all, are in the hands of
policymakers. That’s why
we’ve got to be active in
politics. Federal election
law and some state laws
prohibit using dues for
campaign contributions and
other political activities.
I am the secretarytreasurer
in my local.
What is the best
advice you can give
for someone in our
position?
—Lou Maccarone, secretarytreasurer
of Local 2881
(Rhode Island Council 94)
Laura: As secretarytreasurers,
we’ve got
the duty to protect
members’ dues. That’s a
big responsibility. Across
the country, our members
are facing unprecedented
attacks. So, it is crucial
that we spend our dues
wisely. Luckily for us, we
aren’t on our own. There
are procedures, rules and
guidelines to help all of us do
our job and do it well. And
AFSCME is here to provide
assistance and help us be the
best we can be.
We here at WORKS couldn’t
resist putting them through
a lightning round:
Favorite book?
Lee: My favorite author is
David Baldacci. But he’s
written too many great
books for me to name my
favorite!
Laura: The Red Tent by
Anita Diamant.
Historical figure who
has most profoundly
influenced you?
Lee: Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Laura: Dolores Huerta, cofounder
of the United Farm
Workers of America.
Have any pets?
Lee: A golden retriever
named Crickett and a mixed
retriever-akita named
Tumbo. And they’re both
spoiled rotten.
Laura: Sadly, my new house
in DC doesn’t allow them.
Do you have a quote
that guides you?
Lee: “If there is no struggle,
there is no progress.”
– Frederick Douglass
Laura: “Optimism is
the faith that leads to
achievement. Nothing can
be done without hope and
confidence.” – Helen Keller
Connect with Lee and
Laura on Facebook
at facebook.com/
leeasaunders and
facebook.com/laura.
reyes.798
PHOTO: HELEN COX AFSCME.org 31

WORKS
The Magazine of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
Wall of Honor
This recently installed “I Am a Man” mural in Washington, DC, was inspired
by an iconic photo of the striking Memphis sanitation workers of AFSCME
Local 1733. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the workers the day
before he was gunned down. The mural, by artist JR (that’s his full name), is
at 14th and T Streets in the city and serves as a larger-than-life reminder of
the struggles of the American labor movement and all workers.
PHOTO: KHALID NAJI ALLAH
For more on AFSCME’s
history, head to
http://75.afscme.org
or scan this QR code
with your smartphone’s
QR code reader.