Local 328 Shop Talk

Reflections on the AFSCME international convention in Boston:

It’s been said that AFSCME is a member driven, democratic organization. Based on some of things that I witnessed in Boston, I don’t think that statement has ever been truer of AFSCME.

Over several days I was part of the delegation that was sent to represent local 328. There was standard convention fare; workshops, delegate receptions, inter-council events and so on. But -like any good convention- the important matters took place on the floor.

Our beloved secretary treasurer William (Bill) Lucy decided to retire in the middle of his four year term. However, he timed his retirement announcement so that his successor would be elected at 2010 convention, rather than be appointed directly by the international president.

I’ve attended several conventions, both at the state and international level; however I’ve never seen a floor fight like the one that ensued during nominations. Bill Lucy was supporting member leader and CSEA president, Danny Donohue. Gerald McEntee the international president was supporting Lee Saunders, his executive assistant, who oversaw district council 37 when it was put into receivership.

To say that there was a lot of passion in the room during the nomination portion of convention would be putting mildly. Each side had passed out various forms of noisemakers (whistles, plastic hand clappers, and inflatable cheer sticks) that were utilized by either side throughout the process.

There was some intense debate regarding the manner in which the elections would be conducted. A heated moment in particular occurred between international vice president Henry Bayer (from district council 31 in Chicago) and acting secretary treasurer Tony Caso (from council 93 in Boston). As they debated back and forth, I think it whipped the delegates up to be more and more vocal about their feelings. From the floor it appeared that there was an even split of support between the two candidates.

As the nominations progressed, the chair started losing control and at one point proclaimed: “I can wait all day!” … To which half the delegates started chanting/screaming: “SO CAN WE! SO CAN WE!” Eventually, they had the delegates recite the pledge of allegiance to restore order.

At the last minute, there was also a dark horse candidate who no one had ever heard of who threw his hat into the race.

When the dust settled on the day of the elections, Lee Saunders had the most votes, but only by an exceedingly small fraction. (2/10th of a percent) The dark horse candidate had picked up a negligible amount of votes, but there were also some questions as to whether or not Lee had won by an outright majority. (This is required by the international constitution to be certified the winner)

Putting to bed any questions about the election, Danny graciously conceded and the matter was settled. That being said- with Lee being elected midterm to replace Bill Lucy, the secretary treasurer race will be held again next international convention in 2012. President McEntee’s term will also expire at that time, and there’s speculation if he’ll run again which could create two dynamic races.

In addition to the secretary treasurer’s race, there were also some controversial resolutions that were hotly debated- both of which related to immigration. One resolution called for universal health care for all, regardless of citizenship. The other strongly condemned the new Arizona law and called for an AFSCME boycott of the state until its repeal.

While my personal preferences for these resolutions didn’t come to fruition, I can assure you that all points of views were heard from through intense discussion and each resolution was democratically voted on by the body. All in all, we voted on over 50 resolutions.

In closing, I’d like to say that I feel this convention contained some of the most democratic, member driven moments in AFSCME history. Democracy isn’t a pre-scripted event where everyone nods in agreement after their leaders have stated what should happen. People have different points of view and things can get messy. When everything is said and done, the membership made tough decisions and gave the international union direction about where it should be headed over the next few years.

I can’t stress how important it is to send a full delegation and to make sure that each local 328 member is represented during the convention proceedings. I’m sure that that we’ll be back in full force in 2012 with enthusiasm, passion, and a commitment to transparency and democracy.

Thanks for sending me a delegate.
Matt Hilton