Minneapolis, MN – More than 400 rank-and-file members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) joined the picket lines of the nurses on strike at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Friday, Sept. 23. They held a solidarity rally and walked the picket lines together with striking nurses, undeterred by the rain. Eight buses and many cars full of AFSCME members went together from the AFSCME Council 5 convention in Bloomington, which brought together AFSCME members from throughout Minnesota.

Almost 5000 nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) have been on strike since early September against Allina. Before the solidarity picketing on Friday, MNA President Mary Turner spoke to the delegates at the AFSCME convention, where she was received with warm solidarity and standing ovations for the nurses’ bold determination to strike against Allina’s greedy demands that nurses accept significant health insurance cuts.

AFSCME Executive Director Eliot Seide announced that AFSCME had donated $10,000 to the nurses’ strike hardship fund and would continue to make additional significant donations if the nurses are forced to continue their strike. Several AFSCME local leaders also announced that their locals would make donations to the nurses’ strike fund so the nurses can stay on strike as long as it takes to win.

Later that evening, federal mediators called Allina management and the Minnesota Nurses Association back to the bargaining table this coming Tuesday, Sept 27.

#MinneapolisMN #strike #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #AFSCMECouncil5 #MNA #Strikes

Minneapolis, MN – About 600 people, chanting “the banks got bailed out, we got sold out,” joined Occupy MN, along with labor unions and community groups for a march on the banks here, Oct. 29. The protest coincided with the anniversary of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

Starting at Peoples Plaza, the march moved through downtown Minneapolis. Coffins bearing the words “corporate greed” were delivered to the front of major banks.

“This is a great event,” stated Deb Konechne of the MN Coalition for a People’s Bailout, who helped MC the protest. “We have had enough of the rich and their banks,” she continued.

Speakers included labor leaders Elliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, Michelle Sommers, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, Gerardo Cajamarca of the International Mission of the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL which has fought against corporate abuses of Colombian workers and faced severe repression, and others.

#MinneapolisMN #SINALTRAINAL #AFSCMECouncil5 #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMN

Solidarity with Immigrant Workers

One resolution called for AFSCME Council 5 to actively support the immigrant rights movement. While this resolution passed, it was the only one out of the 21 resolutions presented at the convention that aroused any debate and that some delegates voted against. The 20 other resolutions were all approved unanimously. About three quarters of the delegates voted in favor of the immigrant rights resolution, the Council 5 Executive Board supported it and one of the Chair Officers spoke strongly in favor of it.

But a quarter of the delegates voted against the immigrant rights resolution. This shows why it is so important to bring forward such resolutions, to bring the debate about immigrant rights out into the open in the labor movement. It is important to have the discussion openly, to try to convince those that disagree that this is about solidarity, and that immigrant workers’ fight for legalization and full equality is the fight of all workers.

The immigrant rights resolution that was passed at the Council 5 convention is one of the more progressive immigrant rights positions taken by a union in the U.S. Some unions have played a fairly bad role at the national level, such as SEIU, by supporting the ‘compromise’ Kennedy-McCain bill. This bill would create a massive second-class guest worker program, a three-tier program that would call for the immediate deportation of the millions of immigrant workers who have been here less than two years, impose a highly restrictive process that would exclude the majority of immigrant workers and a system where it would take more than ten years for the few who do qualify to get any sort of legal status.

The resolution passed at the AFSCME Council 5 convention is better than this. The resolution was modeled on the resolution passed at the AFSCME International Convention in August, but is more concise. It clearly comes out in favor of legalization, against expanded guest worker programs, and against ‘enforcement-only’ and ‘enforcement-first’ policies. It also states clearly that AFSCME is against NAFTA-style free trade agreements. The resolution calls on Council 5 and on locals within the Council to actively support and participate in the immigrant rights movement. It also commits AFSCME Council 5 to work against anti-immigrant legislation at the state level. The passage of this resolution was made possible by the generally progressive resolution that was passed at the AFSCME International Convention. It is significant that AFSCME Minnesota has taken a position against expanding guest worker programs as well as against enforcement-first or enforcement-only policies. This resolution puts AFSCME against all the main existing legislative proposals, from the Sensenbrenner bill to the ‘compromise’ proposals that Bush supports, which include vastly expanded guest worker programs and vast new walls and more troops on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Solidarity with Flight Attendants at Northwest Airlines

The other important resolution that was passed was a resolution in support of the flight attendants at Northwest Airlines, who are in the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union. They are in a sharp battle with Northwest Airlines, who is trying to block the flight attendants’ right to strike – saying that since Northwest is in bankruptcy the workers should not be allowed to strike. Northwest has imposed a contract on the flight attendants with 40% wage cuts and other concessions. The flight attendants have voted to reject the proposed contract twice.

This resolution called on AFSCME Council 5 to support the flight attendants in their struggle, to mobilize for their rallies, as well as to take up a collection at the convention for the flight attendants’ strike fund. Over $2100 was collected from delegates on the floor of the convention and then the convention voted to have the Council 5 Executive Board match that amount, doubling the contribution to over $4200.

Camilla Wolkerstorfer, Interim President of Council 95 of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, was a guest at the convention and spoke about their struggle with Northwest Airlines. She received standing ovations, and she was brought to tears when they announced the amount of money collected at the convention.

Both of these resolutions represented a broad-minded spirit of solidarity with all workers who are struggling for their rights. This kind of solidarity – with mostly unorganized immigrant workers and with flight attendants taking on a vicious anti-union corporation here in Minnesota – is key to revitalizing the labor movement.

#BloomingtonMN #ImmigrantRights #News #AirlineIndustry #FlightAttendants #immigrantWorkers #AFSCMECouncil5

Duluth, MN – The 4400 workers on strike against Northwest have received almost no support from other unions at Northwest or from the national union federations (AFL-CIO and Unite to Win). Scandalously, the strikers are being left to fight on their own without vital support and resources that the labor movement could bring to bear.

At the statewide convention of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 5, Oct. 6-8 in Duluth, some union activists tried to change that. AFSCME Local 3800, the clerical workers’ union at the University of Minnesota, brought forward a resolution to support the Northwest strikers from the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA). It called on AFSCME Council 5 to publicly support the strike and donate to AMFA’s strike fund. Asked why they brought this resolution forward, AFSCME 3800 delegate Stef Yorek said, “Northwest is out to destroy their workers’ unions. These workers have fought back against incredible odds. It’s criminal that almost no unions are supporting them.”

Council 5 officials went all out to defeat support for the Northwest strike. They organized a campaign to vilify AMFA. They tried to change the issue from solidarity with workers on strike to a debate about the history of AMFA. Convention delegates were given copies of a letter from an International Association of Machinists official wildly attacking AMFA. The Council 5 Executive Board made it clear that top officials would oppose any support for the Northwest strikers. In the floor debate on the resolution, one anti-solidarity speaker went so far as to compare support for the AMFA-led strike to date rape!

They hate AMFA because AMFA is independent and has grown by ‘raiding’ AFL-CIO unions, particularly units represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM). The Northwest mechanics used to be IAM members but voted in 2000 to switch to AMFA. The IAM officials have bitterly attacked them ever since. It’s true that AMFA made their appeal to the mechanics on a narrow craft basis tinged with elitism. But it’s also true that the workers had good reasons to throw the former IAM leadership out.

Resolution Defeated but Solidarity Grows

Delegates from four AFSCME locals spoke in favor of the resolution. But that wasn’t enough to overcome the Council leadership’s opposition.

Lynn Stetler, a delegate from AFSCME 2822, whose husband is a striking Northwest mechanic, said, “I’m incredibly disappointed by how it turned out. I supported the resolution because it’s about solidarity. We’re supposed to be united in this brother and sisterhood that seems to have been forgotten when it comes to dealing with AMFA. It really is a matter of principle, the age old quote that an injury to one is an injury to all.”

Though the resolution lost, a real debate happened and those who opposed it were forced to publicly defend their anti-solidarity position. Some delegates tried to take a middle ground, saying they felt sympathy for the strikers but opposed giving money to AMFA. They had been convinced the vote was about whether they liked AMFA or not.

According to AFSCME 3800 delegate Brad Sigal, “AMFA isn’t the issue – the issue is solidarity with workers on strike against a union-busting employer. We wanted official support and money from our union for the strikers. It became clear that would be defeated due to opposition from Council officials, so an amendment was made to just take up a voluntary donation for the strikers from delegates on convention floor. Incredibly, they even opposed that. We won’t forget this. We’ll continue to fight to make our union truly stand for solidarity.”

#DuluthMN #AirlineIndustry #AMFAStrikeAgainstNorthwestAirlines #AFSCMECouncil5 #AircraftMechanicsFraternalAssociationAMFALocal33 #NorthwestAirlinesMachinistsStrike

This merger weakens the locals while strengthening the statewide bureaucracy. Under Council 5, fewer locals have representatives on the Council’s decision-making body. Additionally, the new Council’s dues structure drains money from the local unions and redirects it to the Council, through a higher per-capita tax. This higher per-capita tax forced most locals to either raise dues or face cuts in income of up to 60% after two years. Union locals are the most grassroots level of the union, where workers directly elect their leaders from the rank and file; if the locals are weaker, the union is weaker.

The decision to try to merge AFSCME Councils 6, 14, 96 and 65 was made by some state AFSCME leaders over a year ago. Rank-and-file members didn't get to vote on the merger – it was decided by a handful of delegates representing each local. The merger was sold to local union leaders as a way to increase unity and power in the face of an anti-worker state and federal government.

After a year of trying to line up support, the merger was formally rubber-stamped this past summer at special conventions of delegates to Councils 6, 14 and 96. But Council 65, which represents about 12,000 members, voted against joining Council 5. The director of Council 65 told Workday Minnesota that delegates were concerned about potential loss of autonomy among smaller locals and about accountability in a single state council.

Others have also questioned how this merger will increase the power of rank-and-file workers. And some have questioned why the Council leadership insisted on attaching a significant dues increase to the merger proposal. Kelly Alaghamdi Zimmerschied, a delegate from Local 3800 to the Council 5 founding convention, said, “I think most members are positive about the unity involved with the merger, but I think they’re very apprehensive about the dues increase and the expenditures by the new Council in general. A merger shouldn't cost so much more.” According to Kelly Ryan, another delegate to the founding convention, “For most members, the main visible effect of the merger will be the dues increase.”

Delegates from AFSCME Local 3800, one of the largest locals in the Council, raised their concerns at the Council 6 merger convention by supporting a motion to allow a direct vote of all members on the merger instead of just delegates deciding. They also proposed to take separate votes on the merger and on a dues increase. Both efforts were unsuccessful.

At the Council 5 founding convention, Local 3800 delegates waged a floor fight by presenting amendments to the proposed Council 5 constitution. The main amendment would have altered the proposed Council 5 dues structure to make it progressive, so that locals with a lower average wage would pay less per capita dues to the Council.

When this amendment failed after vigorous debate, another amendment was offered that would have maintained the current dues structures, hence blocking a dues increase. Phyllis Walker, Local 3800 president and convention delegate, stated, “I talked to a lot of Local 3800 members about this council merger and the dues increase that would come with it. The members I talked to said they supported more unity in AFSCME, but didn't want a dues increase. Our amendments failed, but we represented the will of our members by doing all we could to try to stop the dues increase. We had a big impact on the convention. We'll continue to fight for a progressive dues structure in Council 5 and for more rank-and-file democracy and participation.” Walker was elected to the Council 5 Executive Board at the convention.

One bright spot of the merger is that a newly formed organizing department will put significant resources into trying to organize more people into AFSCME unions. This is a shift in Minnesota AFSCME. The old Council 6, for example, hasn't organized any new locals since 1991 and the other Councils didn't put a lot of resources into organizing either.

But some caution that just creating an organizing department doesn't guarantee organizing victories. According to J. Burger, a Local 3800 delegate to the Council 5 founding convention, “After decades of declining union membership, those at the top of the union bureaucracy have finally acknowledged a crisis. But they only seem to come up with bureaucratic solutions like this merger. More people will want to join unions when they see unions actually stand up and fight for workers. Unions need to lead protests, strikes and other creative actions to win decent wages, health care and more power. It was bold and militant actions like the 1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis and the Flint sit-down strike in 1937 that paved the way to organize millions of workers into unions in the U.S.”

Burger continued, “At best, bureaucratic shuffling like this AFSCME merger might make some marginal improvements in the union structure, but it isn't the key to increase union power. Unions have to mobilize their rank-and-file members to stand up and fight back against attacks from the bosses and politicians. Then more people will want to join unions.”

#Minnesota #MN #AFSCMEMerger #AFSCMECouncil5