This is the Federation Hotline updated Oct. 7. 13 from ’13: Thirteen things you might like to know about the just-concluded 2013 convention The 45th Biennial Convention of the Federation is history, with four new officers, a series of resolutions to direct the union for the next two years and a renewed commitment to organizing, political action, field services, communications and al other facets that have put this union at the forefront in the fight for working families. Delegates elected Sue Henricksen of Local 53 as president, Thornton Alberg of Local 443 as vice president, Terri McCullough of Local 1466 as secretary and Don Hall of Local 1466 as treasurer. Delegates at Friday’s banquet and through the weekend also paused to honor members for the values of PEOPLE, valor, leadership, courage, organizing and job actions. The biennial convention adjourned about 5 p.m. Sunday right after delegates honored members who passed away since the 2011 convention – including a special tribute to Laurie Merta, the Federation’s late director of field services. The convention welcomed 370 delegates, 15 alternates and 37 guests. Now if you’re a Federation convention junkie, you probably followed this past weekend’s action from Seatac on the Federation’s live streaming of major speeches, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and the website. See more details and photos at wfse.org/convention-photos/ and in the online version of this hotline at wfse.org. But after all that, it’s nice to have the Cliff Notes version. So here are 13 bullet points from the convention – 13 from ’13. • Four new officers elected As we said earlier, Henricksen, Alberg, McCullough and Hall were elected. But in a first and as a sign of transparency, the delegates directed that vote totals be released. Here are those results: PRESIDENT Sue Henricksen, Local 53 – 20,585 Claude Burfect, Local 341 – 7,562 VICE PRESIDENT (runoff) Thornton Alberg, Local 443 – 14,776 Judy Kuschel, Local 313 – 12,410 SECRETARY (runoff) Terri McCullough, Local 1466 – 14,156 Brooks Salazar, Local 304 – 13,030 TREASURER Don Hall, Local 1466 – 19,857 Don Cline, Local 443 – 8,162 • Nine resolutions, one constitutional amendment adopted Delegates voted to amend the WFSE/AFSCME constitution to allow a non-voting representative of the Retired Public Employees Council of Washington on the union’s Statewide Executive Board (Amendment 2, as amended). They also adopted the following resolutions: Resolution 3 (Layoff Units/Institutions, as amended) Resolution 5 (Location of WFSE Conventions – as advice to Executive Board) Resolution 6 (Transparency/Written Notifications of Decisions of Non-Support from Statewide Grievance Committee, as amended) Resolution 8 (Shop Steward Oath) Resolution 9 (Big Green Machine) Resolution 10 (Student Debt Assistance) Resolution 11 (Organizing Retired Members) Resolution 12 (Local 1671 Dues) Resolution 14 (In Support of Farmworkers, as amended) Also: Resolution 7 on Local Financial Assistance for Union Functions was referred to the WFSE/AFSCME Executive Board. • Other measures debated, but not adopted A convention is about open debate and decision-making so the delegates also discussed but ultimately voted down several other measures: Constitutional Amendment 1 (Removing the Dues Cap) – Not adopted Resolution 1 (Geographic Pay) – Not adopted Resolution 2 (Publishing Percentage of Supported WFSE Grievances Approved for Arbitration) – Not adopted. Resolution 13 (Climate Change) – Not adopted (after a standing 64-66 vote that followed respectful and nuanced debate centering on the coal terminal in Bellingham). Also, Resolution 4 on the Selection Process for the Council 28 Statewide Grievance Committee was ruled out of order as unconstitutional. • Valor At Friday’s convention banquet, Gov. Jay Inslee presented the 2013 WFSE/AFSCME Medal of Valor Awards to: Liquor Enforcement Officers Almir Karic and Paul Magerl (both Local 313), who thwarted a bank robbery near Vancouver in April; and Local 1299 member Angie Garces, who performed CPR to save the life of a client who collapsed in the Wenatchee Community Service Office in July. • Courage The union’s George Masten Courage Award for individuals outside the Federation who’ve stood behind WFSE/AFSCME members went to Speaker of the House Rep. Frank Chopp of the 43rd Leg. Dist. (left) and House Majority Leader Rep. Pat Sullivan of the 47th Leg. Dist. They led the effort to block bad bills to cut pensions, health care, workers’ comp and collective bargaining rights. • PEOPLE Rainier School Local 491 President Joy Cage accepted the Howard Ocobock PEOPLE Award at Friday’s banquet for the local with the highest percentage of PEOPLE MVP members. • Leadership Margaret McDonald, Local 843, received the Rosella Charvet Leadership Award Saturday afternoon for her 45 years of activism and grace in the face of unfair managers. • Organizing Former WFSE/AFSCME President Howard Jorgenson conferred the Organizing Award named in his honor to Max Phipps and Laura Little of Local 1020 for their internal organizing efforts to mitigate the 3 percent pay cuts at Everett Community College in their last contract. • Job Actions Previous winner Julianne Moore of Local 1326 on Sunday presented the Job Action of the Year Award to The Evergreen State College Student Support Services Staff Union for their one-day strike and months of job actions that won a fair, first contract. Allie Van Nostran accepted the award. This followed a presentation spotlighting successful organizing efforts at the Military Department Youth Academy, TESC, supported living and the Liquor Control Board, among others. Throughout the weekend, delegates signed a petition supporting a fair wage re-opener in negotiations at Washington State University. • Community Organizing Thanks to the efforts of the union’s Next Wave Committee of young leaders, delegates on Saturday afternoon marched for the Living Wage in Seatac, where underpaid hotel, airlines and other employees work. They trouped to the corporate headquarters of Alaska Airlines, which tried to keep the measure off the ballot. This is part of the stepped-up movement to reach into the community to join in the fight for the Middle Class. “We can’t do it alone...,” AFSCME President Lee Saunders said earlier in the day. “We’ve got to make very effort to engage our partners, our allies, our coalitions to stand with us in our battles....If we expect them to stand with us, then we must stand with them.” • Bipartisanship The convention welcomed Republicans and Democrats as part of the traditional view that political affiliations aren’t as important as where a politician stands on working family issues. Take Sunday, where delegates viewed a special presentation in support of the re-election of Democrat Sen. Nathan Schlicher in the special election in the 26th District – the only senator who forfeited his pay during the prolonged special sessions when a state shutdown and furloughs were threatened. Hours before, a packed Federation Conservative Caucus breakfast meeting welcomed Republican Sen. Andy Hill of the 45th District, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Hill defended the initial Senate Majority Coalition budget for not raising taxes and funding all the Federation’s new collective bargaining agreements. Conservative Caucus members challenged Hill to defend lunchbox issues and resist attacks on state employees of all political stripes who make up the safety net. Hill applauded state employees for ideas he said saved $200 million dollars. “You’re our eyes and ears on the ground,” Hill said. Hill also distanced state Republicans from the Republicans in Congress whose obsession with rolling back Obamacare has shut down the federal government. Legislative Republicans could have fought that law, too, by opposing Medicaid expansion. “We could have had the exact same shutdown we have right now in Washington...,” Hill said. “I didn’t think that was responsible and quite frankly the other team scored a touchdown on you. You can’t take the touchdown back – you gotta go and try and score another one.” • Great quotes from guest speakers, including: Gov. Jay Inslee – “I like being on this team.” Gov. Jay Inslee applauded WFSE/AFSCME members and assured them his Results Washington initiative is about improving services “while trying to make your jobs easier and less stressful.” He said the health care agreement reached Oct. 1 with the Federation and other unions holds the line on costs instead of asking state employees to once more make sacrifices. He thanked the members for standing with him and other legislative leaders against attacks on working families. “We’re all in this together....,” Inslee said. “Washington state is going to move forward, not backward, and that includes taking care of our working families.” “I like being on this team,” the one- time state high school basketball champ said as he looked over the union audience. AFSCME President Lee Saunders on federal shutdown crisis – “Enough is enough!” AFSCME President Lee Saunders blasted the “extremists” in Congress holding public services hostage in the budget crisis. The federal shutdown will affect WFSE/AFSCME members in state programs funded by the federal government, including Employment Security and Health. “This is no way to run a government,” Saunders said in Saturday’s convention keynote address. “We’ve got to make our voices heard loud and clear. “Enough is enough!” WFSE/AFSCME Executive Director Greg Devereux: WFSE/AFSCME Executive Director Greg Devereux touted the union’s accomplishments and outlined a course to engage members even more. And part of that is to fight back against the “scoundrels,” outsourcers and others who attack public employees as the villains in The Great Recession. “I’m sick and tired of Democrats, Republicans, bankers, financiers...who created the damn problem and then they blame us,” Devereux said Saturday. Sen. Ed Murray – “The struggle is not over” Sen. Ed Murray of the 43rd Legislative District praised the WFSE/AFSCME LGBTQI Committee for its leadership in winning marriage equality in Washington. Murray, a leader in that fight, said “the struggle is not over.” “We have a lot that we have to do to make this a national movement...,” Murray told the Saturday breakfast audience. “It’s an exciting time, but a difficult time.” Murray is running for Seattle mayor. • Dotlich honored Outgoing WFSE/AFSCME President Carol Dotlich received a surprise -- a well-deserved honor for her nine years as union president and 44 years as an activist. AFSCME President Lee Saunders flew in a day early to lead the accolades for Dotlich at Friday’s banquet. (Dotlich finished out her term as president after retiring from state service.) “There is not a stronger trade unionist, one who is dedicated, one who is committed, not only in this state, but across this country, and that’s Carol...,” Saunders said. “She bleeds AFSCME Green every single day.” “You’ve been my family all these many years,” Dotlich told the audience. “I can’t tell you how much I have loved the journey we have taken together.” Dotlich received other accolades throughout the weekend, including a special President’s Cup from her home local of Local 793 at Western State Hospital. The local also renamed its highest honor for shop stewards the Carol Dotlich Shop Steward of the Year Award. Shared leave request: IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Bernie Cliff, a social services specialist 2 at the Kennewick Community Service Office of DSHS and a member of Local 1253, has been approved for shared leave because of a serious medical condition. To help with a donation of eligible, unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact your human resource office. That’s it for now.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 06:17:54 +0000
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