AFSCME Local 2406

What's New

Dec 01, 2011 (17:08:51)

Featured Action: 9 Demands of the 99%
What do you think we need to do to make America ‘work’ for the other 99% and not just the super rich? We have created eight demands, and it’s up to you to make the 9th. Here's your opportunity to say what you think will get our country back to work. 9 Demands of the 99%

Victory in Ohio

What The Ohio Vote Means
President Gerald W. McEntee discusses what the defeat of Issue 2 means for the Buckeye State and the rest of the country.
Ohio Voters Send A Message
AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders joined host Ed Schultz live on MSNBC on election night. “This night clearly sends a message here in Ohio that working families and the middle class are fighting back, we are making our voices heard like never before. This will carry from Ohio across this country,” said Saunders.
Putting Ohio in Perspective
Sec.-Treas. Saunders appeared on Washington Watch with Roland Martin recently to discuss the resounding defeat of Issue 2 in Ohio.

News From Across The Nation

Congress Must Now Refocus Their Energy On the Jobs Crisis
Statement of Pres. McEntee after the Congressional Super Committee failed to reach a deficit reduction agreement.
Court Says A Promise Is A Promise
The California Supreme Court gives a big win to retired employees of the Golden State.
Toomey Super Committee Plan would raise taxes on working families to protect Wall Street
Sen. Toomey’s proposal would end or limit tax exclusions for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance (ESI).
MN Child Care Providers Win Right to Vote for Union Representation
Minnesota executive order sets the stage for negotiations over standards, funding and quality of care.
Remembering Taylor Rogers
We remember the former president of Local 1733 in Tennessee and his historic involvement in the 1968 "I Am A Man" strike in Memphis.
Government Unions Are Helping to Cut Taxpayer Costs
Pres. McEntee’s Wall Street Journal letter-to-the-editor addressing the role of collective bargaining in the workplace.
McEntee: Congressional Republicans Are Partying with the Tea Crowd While Working People Get Stuck with the Hangover
Statement of Pres. McEntee after the House of Representatives voted on a proposed Balanced Budget Amendment.

Featured Videos

Think Again: Taking Back Ohio
Working families in the Buckeye State made history and told corporate-backed politicians to think again.
AFSCME 2011 National Women’s Conference
Highlights from our Women’s Conference in Milwaukee, Wis.

AFSCME Family Scholarship
AFSCME members’ children, who are graduating high school seniors, can apply for the AFSCME Family Scholarship. The scholarship provides $2,000 a year for up to four years. Applications must be postmarked by Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. Apply now! AFSCME Family Scholarship

AFSCME Web Store: AFSCME Knit Scarf
It’s getting cold outside so warm up with a knit scarf for only $8, while supplies last! Order your scarf today. Knit Scarf

AFSCME Debit Card
Save on finance charges, late fees and over-the-limit fees with this pre-paid debit card. You are guaranteed approval and there is no monthly maintenance fee with direct deposit. Get your card today! AFSCME Debit Card

AFSCME Online Leadership Academy: Register Today!
Did you know that as an AFSCME member you can take online trainings—for free? These live, one-hour sessions are part of the newly redesigned AFSCME Leadership Academy. Find out more and sign up today! AFSCME Leadership Academy

Alternative Union Break
Are you a student looking for a way to make a difference? Join us in January in Madison, Wis., for an incredible union break that will give you the tools, confidence and power to change lives. Learn more about how you can become an AFSCME organizer. Alternative Union Break

Prayer Action/Speaking Program

Dec 01, 2011 (17:07:14)

On Thursday, December 8, 11:00 a.m., there will be a We Are the 99% prayer action and speaking program, led by Pastor John Reed, Jr. of Fairview Missionary Baptist Church, in front of the office of Representative James Lankford, 1015 North Broadway. This will be followed by a delegation visit to Representative Lankford's office to present hinm with white flowers, symbolizing joblessness. We will ask that he vote for a clean bill to extend unemployment insurance benefits before December 31.

If you know someone, preferably living in the 5th District, who is long-term unemployed and would be willing to address the group, please give us contact information.

Please let us know if you, or a representative from your local, church or organization, will be attending.

Ohio Victory

Nov 16, 2011 (20:56:47)

Dear Elaine ,

I’m in Ohio right now, where working families just won an incredible victory.

Ohioans overwhelmingly voted to repeal Senate Bill 5—Gov. John Kasich’s attack on middle-class jobs that was designed to destroy collective bargaining rights in Ohio.

We pieced together a short, powerful video summing up the amazing energy that went into this. I hope you’ll take a moment to watch:

Watch now.

Tonight’s victory represents a turning point in our collective work to protect good jobs, working families and workplace rights. But it’s more than that. It’s a long-overdue return to common sense.

From the very beginning of our jobs crisis, anti-worker politicians like Ohio’s Gov. Kasich have used our poor economy to push a cynical political agenda that favors the richest 1 percent at the expense of the 99 percent. Today, Ohio voters rejected that agenda.

During this campaign, firefighters, nurses, teachers and other public employees were joined by construction workers, bakery workers and all kinds of private-sector workers. They came together to ensure the survival of the middle class. And together, we’ll keep doing it. Politicians who side with the richest 1 percent will find their radical efforts stopped by working people who want America to work for everyone.

Watch the energy and dedication that went into this huge victory—and join us.

This is our moment, and we won with solidarity. We won because the working people of Ohio—public and private sector, union and nonunion—stood together.

But the solidarity went even further than that: Volunteers traveled not just from neighboring Wisconsin—but from states as far away as California and New York—to help get out the vote. And activists from dozens of states as far away as Alaska gave up their nights and weekends to call Ohio voters from home.

Solidarity means that when workers anywhere are under attack, we will all do whatever we can to help. It means we’re in it together.

Watch our video. See what solidarity looks like.

I hope you’ll celebrate this moment in your own way. But the most important thing is to find a way to keep your own energy going and growing—so you can be a part of sustaining and growing our movement for all working people—the 99 percent.

This fight we’ve taken on and won—and the threats we face going forward—are about more than Democrats or Republicans, or 2012 battleground states. They are about good jobs and our right to a voice on the job.

Together, we're building a new kind of politics. A politics that works for the 99 percent, not just the 1 percent.

We’ve got to start getting ready now to win tomorrow’s victories. Over time—together—we’ll build a future that works for working America.

Thank you for being a part of this movement, and for all you do for America’s workers.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. America is waking up. Here’s one big reason we won in Ohio—people can see that the firefighters, teachers, nurses and snowplow drivers hurt by SB 5 didn’t cause our economic problems. Wall Street did. Ohio voters saw through Senate Bill 5—they understood it was a plan to make the 99 percent bear the burden of Wall Street’s recklessness—and that it would do nothing to create jobs.

Take a moment to watch the incredible energy that went into this win.