CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – AFSCME President Lee Saunders visited Massachusetts recently to deliver remarks at an annual Harvard University Law School event commemorating the life and work of former AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf.
In the January 28th lecture, Saunders talked about how unions must adapt to the challenges they face today and highlighted decades of efforts to weaken unions by big businesses and right-wing politicians. He focused in particular on the Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association case currently before the Supreme Court.
"A renewed focus on internal organizing," he said, is key for the 21st century labor movement and critical to preparing for a negative decision on Friedrichs and other similar cases that may come before the court.
Council 93 Executive Director and International Union Vice President Frank Moroney praised President Saunders for his "honest and straightforward" remarks and said he was particularly impressed with the way our International President handled a series of questions from the audience.
"This is a crucial time for our union and the entire labor movement," Moroney said. "We need straight talk and definitive action and President Saunders is delivering in both of those areas. His address at Harvard was a proud moment for our union."
AFSCME President Lee Saunders (James McCray/AFSCME)
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who's still a card-carrying member of Laborers Local 223, introduced Saunders and praised his focus on member-to-member contact and internal organizing, saying that it's "exactly the direction the labor movement needs to take" to remain relevant to working families in America.
Mayor Walsh spoke glowingly of the important work AFSCME members do for the city, noting that their work has helped him earn a great deal of praise in his first term.
"I'm getting a lot of credit in the City of Boston for transforming a lot of things," Walsh said.
"We had the largest budget in history for our parks this year. In transportation, we're looking at a master plan on to address problems in transportation. We're working to make sure the food we serve our kids in the city schools is better and more nutritious. We've changed some policies so that building inspectors are looking out for the rights of people that live in apartments in buildings in the city. We have health inspectors out in the street making sure that our restaurants are clean. We also have safety engineers working out there making sure that our city is safe. Every single one of those industries I just talked about are represented by AFSCME Council 93." - Boston Mayor Marty Walsh
"So when we talk about making changes, it's not simply making changes in the Mayor's Office with his cabinet," Walsh continued. "It's making sure that the people who are carrying out those changes understand too. And the reason why we're getting the credit isn't because we came up with these ideas; it's because of the professionalism of the city employees. Our great city and historic city couldn't run without them, and it's great and historic union belongs to them, led by a great and historic president, Lee Saunders."
Saunders said unions have been essential to his achievements, from the health care his family received because of his father's membership in the bus drivers union to allowing him to go to school.
Because of that experience, he knows that not every union member can be an activist because too many people are too often "stretched to the wall trying to make ends meet" in America today.
"We had to stop talking. We had to start listening," he said.
Through listening, AFSCME found that the labor movement needs new strategies to fight the legal, political, and legislative challenges it faces. Overcoming those challenges requires abandoning "tactics that don't work" and embracing "tactics that do work," Saunders said, which will help "working families all over the country" to "rediscover the value of labor."
AFSCME Council 93 and local members are working together on 1-on-1 outreach as part of the AFSCME Strong campaign. This campaign aims to achieve what President Saunders discussed—a focus on internal organizing that brings members together and makes the union stronger through solidarity.
Saunders closed by saying that it's the labor movement's responsibility to lift up working families across America. "People are sick and tired of being sick and tired," he concluded, "and you see people rising up."