John,
It’s been another week full of important work being done by AFGE members across our federation. Here are some of the most important things you need to know this Friday.
Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice this Memorial Day
As we approach Memorial Day, we ask each of you to pause and reflect on the terrible price our nation’s military families have paid in losing a son, a daughter, a father, mother, sister, brother, or sibling to war. Too often we breeze past this holiday thinking that it is the just the opening of the beach or swimming pool, the beginning of summer. But it should be a day of somber reflection. And we should all go out of our way to teach this to our children, so that they know what military service really means.
Those of us who have served always understood the risk that we might make the ultimate sacrifice, and there are very few of us who haven’t lost a friend to a service-connected injury or illness. Of course, at AFGE, not only are so many of us veterans, we are also the ones who provide care for those “who have borne the battle” at the VA, including the graves of the fallen and the lifelong pain from the injuries of war.
Keep victims of ATU shooting in San Jose in your thoughts and prayers
On another somber note, I am sure that you have read that the mass shooting at the San Jose rail yard took place at a meeting of Local 265 of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). This local lost two of its members to COVID-19 in the past year – the railroad workers were considered “essential” and like so many AFGE members, continued to come to work on the front lines throughout the pandemic. And now this tragedy. ATU Local 265’s request to the public consisted of one word: “PRAY”
Sending solidarity to striking UMWA mineworkers
In Alabama, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) members are on strike against Warrior Met Coal. That company forced pay and benefit cuts on the miners when it was losing money but is refusing to share the wealth now that it’s earning huge profits. Warrior is also trying to criminalize picketing by having miners arrested for trespassing.
While I was home, I drove over to Brookwood to walk the picket line with them. I assured the strikers that AFGE members have their back, and that we understand what it’s like to work for an employer that has absolutely no regard for the health or economic welfare of its workforce.
If you have a chance, please find a way to show some solidarity with these brave mineworkers striking for a better future.
Organizing in the South
There was lots of focus on the South this week. District 5 held its annual training conference and we had a chance to talk to the group about the NOW organizing for power plan and urge everyone to recognize the uniqueness of this moment where we have a pro-union president of the United States and majorities in Congress who support our legislative agenda.
The AFL-CIO Southern District also held its meeting this week, focused on the trials and tribulations of trying to organize and bargain in a region that is historically so hostile to unions. If we could remove retaliation and intimidation against union supporters from the equation, workers in the South could drive the future of the labor movement. That’s part of why we need the PRO Act. If employers can’t threaten the workers, organizing in the South could really take off.
AFGE organizing was in full effect during this trip. We had a held a lunch and learn organizing event with AFGE Local 1945 and got 7 new members.
Organizing across the labor movement
AFGE also participated this week in an important training with the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute. Our organizers discussed how we can do the important work of helping strengthen our local unions to make sure each local is strong enough to WIN. It’s all part of our strategy to make sure our AFGE leaders from top to bottom are getting the help and resources they need to run strong, effective, growing local unions.
President Biden’s Budget and Union Organizing Task Force
We have put together a workgroup at AFGE to make formal recommendations to the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment made up of AFGE leaders from across the union. We’re treating this as the once-in-a-lifetime chance to get obstacles out of the way to recruiting and engaging more members, and we will not let this opportunity slip away.
President Biden also put out his 2022 budget proposal to Congress today. It has a 2.7% pay increase and substantial increases to staffing at almost every agency.
The 2.7% is not nearly enough to compensate for the losses in buying power of federal wages and salaries over the past decade and we’re asking for an already modest 3.2%. But we’ve got to recognize that compared to the budget requests we’ve seen from previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, this Biden budget is very good for agencies and holds out the promise that we might get some relief from eons of the “doing more with less” austerity that has driven us so hard.
Have a safe and healthy Memorial Day weekend!
In Solidarity,
Dr. Everett Kelley
AFGE National President
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