Rare Election in AFSCME: Contested and Close

A contested election in AFSCME is a rare thing. A close election is even more rare. The International convention in Boston in early July saw both, as Lee Saunders edged out Danny Donohue in a hard-fought election for secretary-treasurer. Saunders took 50.1 percent of 1.3 million votes.

The opportunity arose with the resignation of Bill Lucy, AFSCME’s secretary-treasurer for almost four decades. Many believe that long-time President Gerry McEntee will not run for re-election when his term is up in 2012, giving the race for the No. 2 spot even more significance.

Saunders, who has held only staff positions in the union, was McEntee’s executive assistant and had his full backing. He is perhaps best known as the trustee sent in to deal with corruption scandals inside New York City’s District Council 37.

Saunders is also about as inside-the-Beltway as you can get. He is on the Democratic National Committee and, while he says that labor must hold Democrats accountable, he strongly advocates for partnership with the party.

Donohue is president of the largest AFSCME local in the country, the 265,000-member New York State Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), and a member of the international executive board. Donohue has held only elected, rather than appointed, positions.

He has led successful battles against furloughs and layoffs of state employees, though his strategy has mostly taken the form of lawsuits. His campaign called for putting more financial control in the hands of the locals and councils rather than keeping it centralized at the International. He is also opposed to AFSCME’s marching in lockstep with the Democrats. Donohue had Bill Lucy’s endorsement—as well as the votes of my union, Local 3800.

NO EASY VICTOR

Going into the convention, most saw Saunders as the easy victor. After all, it’s difficult in any union to beat the “house” candidate. AFSCME doesn’t have a strong history of a reform movement, particularly at the International level.

It was clear from the outset that McEntee and Saunders would run a machine effort. Donohue supporters were harassed for leafleting, and several were escorted from the building by security.

The day nominations were made was particularly raucous, and the convention chairs lost control several times. McEntee chaired the nominations wearing a Lee Saunders T-shirt, and then was given three extra minutes to nominate him.

McEntee returned to chairing still wearing the Saunders shirt, causing the floor to burst into chants of “lose the shirt.” McEntee then interrupted Donohue’s nominator with a one-minute warning. When delegates protested loudly, McEntee said the protest would count as part of the five-minute allotment.

Donohue’s campaign, and Lucy’s support, brought together a broad umbrella of locals and councils pushing for reform, including CSEA in New York and locals and district councils in Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. Some said grassroots organizing on the floor swung the vote by more than 100,000.

Donohue expressed his intent to run for the presidency in the next election. There is hope that the coalition that came together will continue to push for real reform.

NEITHER/NOR

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The problem, however, is that neither Donohue’s nor Saunders’ platforms articulated what is needed: a fundamental shift in the way labor does business. More money in the hands of locals and councils does very little if that money is used only to continue a business-as-usual approach. Nor is it about who labor endorses in the elections, another key point of Donohue’s campaign. Donohue was so bold as to say the Democrats shouldn’t be guaranteed an endorsement—meaning that he’ll back Republicans, too.

Nor were Saunders’ main platform planks the key issues. He argued that AFSCME should continue the current political efforts to keep federal funding for state jobs, as well as for promoting diversity in the leadership.

State budgets are being decimated, desperately needed services are being cut, and public workers are under attack from Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures alike. In many states, government is taking advantage of the economic crisis to bust our unions. The union should be focused on resisting the attacks from whoever is in office, not on who we can elect, because, let’s face it—neither party is standing up for working people.

As the largest public sector union, with 1.6 million members, AFSCME should be at the forefront of demanding full funding for public services. One of our most popular chants at the Capitol in Minnesota should be echoing across the country: “Here’s the fix: Tax the Rich!” Unions will get nowhere by partnering with government to find ways to more gently slash our wages, pensions, health benefits, and jobs.

There are good examples of what to do in the public sector. The graduate employees’ strike at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign is one of the best recent examples. Although Illinois has the second-worst state budget crisis in the country, the grad workers’ two-day strike in 2009 beat back all the administration’s giveback demands and won some victories—a benchmark and inspiration for state employees.

MEMBERS OUT FRONT

AFSCME needs to put members at the forefront of the furlough fight. A contractual or legal strategy alone is unlikely to win. Instead, workplace campaigns, where members demand to see the books and press for the high-paid folks at the top to take the hit before frontline workers, will do more to stymie management’s political ability to furlough staff than simply relying on the courts.

Local 3800, in partnership with other unions, students, and faculty at the University of Minnesota, mounted a “chop from the top” campaign against furloughs this year. Member-organized rallies, petitions, call-in days, and press conferences succeeded in reducing furlough days from 10 to three.

Donohue’s call for more of our members’ money to remain at the local and council level and for that money to support workplace fights is a good start. Only 10 percent of dues currently remains at the local level. Sixty percent goes to the council and 30 percent to the International. Shifting that would be a good thing.

But coming out of the convention, AFSCME activists need to demand that our strategy be partnering with the people who are receiving our services, not the politicians, to fight against every hour of furlough, every layoff, and every cut in public service. Brother Donohue, if he is to build on the support gained at the convention, needs to be at the forefront of this call.

Cherrene Horazuk is a clerical worker at the University of Minnesota, and chief steward of AFSCME Local 3800. Phyllis Walker, president of Local 3800, contributed to this piece.