Speech by Phyllis Walker, AFSCME 3800 president

St Paul, MN – An increasing number of local labor unions are speaking out against a possible war with Iraq. The following is a speech given by the president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3800, Phyllis Walker, at an anti-war rally Oct. 26, 2002 at the Minnesota State Capitol. More than 10,500 people attended that rally.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 400 clerical workers showed up in the mid-February cold to celebrate the growth of their union and to kick off their contract campaign. The event coincided with the ten-year anniversary of the founding of AFSCME Local 3800 at the University of Minnesota.

St. Paul, MN – Anti-war, low-income, labor and student activists have mounted a new legal challenge to Saint Paul’s policy of curtailing protests at the Republican National Convention. The lawsuit, filed in Ramsey County District Court by attorney Bruce Nestor of the National Lawyers Guild, seeks to open up additional areas for protest at the Republican National Convention.