AFSCME MEMBERS: The Nation Is Watching Wisconsin

[Omaha Steve]

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Workers are facing an unprecedented attack in Wisconsin and need our help immediately to fight back.

Late last week, Gov. Scott Walker introduced radical legislation that would deny nearly 200,000 union members in the state their full collective bargaining rights. Contracts would be limited to one year. Pay for members of our three Wisconsin councils would be cut and capped. Home health care and child care workers would be denied all collective bargaining rights, as would many employees working in the state universities and hospitals. The governor even threatened to send out the National Guard to our rallies, protests and demonstrations.

And that’s not all.

All other collective bargaining units in Wisconsin would be required to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues. Members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues. Unions would no longer be able to negotiate on issues such as health care, retirement or working conditions. All of these proposals are included in a thinly disguised ‘budget repair’ bill that also imposes pay cuts in the form of cost shifting for pensions and health insurance.

These extraordinary and dangerous proposals may be voted on very soon by the state Legislature.

Busloads of union members from surrounding states are pouring into Wisconsin to help stem this disastrous tide of union busting. You may live too far away to join your brothers and sisters on the Wisconsin battlefield, but you can still help by contributing to AFSCME PEOPLE, our political action fund. We need all the money we can raise to fight this fight and the ones to come.

Contribute now to PEOPLE in this all-out fight for our survival (must be an AFSCME MEMBER) https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4002/c/51/t/2106/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=187

If we don’t stop this all-out attack on public employees, members’ rights in other states will be jeopardized next. It’s a matter of time. In Indiana and Missouri, the governors wiped away collective bargaining rights with the strokes of their pens, canceling executive orders that had been in place for years. In Ohio, the governor has threatened to do the same and more—stripping public employees of their pension and health care negotiating rights. Don’t let these actions spread to your states. The contributions you make to AFSCME PEOPLE go to fighting these fights wherever they surface and we need your donation now more than ever.

With a contribution to AFSCME PEOPLE, YOU CAN HELP NOW: https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4002/c/51/t/2106/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=187

Our survival is at stake and we need all AFSCME members to join the fight with a contribution to PEOPLE, your political action fund. Your PEOPLE dollars enable us to help STOP THE LIES by fighting back against those who would dissolve collective bargaining and our union with it.

This attack on public employees is a slap in the face to all AFSCME members. You can help yourself and your brothers and sisters by stepping up to the plate NOW and contributing to PEOPLE. Give whatever you can—a recurring contribution or a direct contribution of $25, $50 or $100. NOW IS THE TIME.

Click here to make your contribution.

Wisconsin is the birthplace of AFSCME. We have a long and proud history in the state. Now, in a matter of days, all that we have built in the past 75 years has been profoundly jeopardized. If the anti-union elected officials in Wisconsin succeed in their efforts to cripple us, others will follow suit. We are already seeing this happen. The very existence of public employee unionism is now on the line. Unless we persevere this week, it will take decades to rebuild and restore the strength of our union.

Your action is required today. Click here to donate to AFSCME PEOPLE and help push back the forces that seek to destroy our union.

We cannot overstate the importance of the union’s need to win this battle.

These radical proposals to strip state and local public employees of their rights to organize and collectively bargain pose an unprecedented challenge to our members in Wisconsin. But they also pose a challenge to our union wherever our opponents are organizing.

Make no mistake, every affiliate in the country will be impacted by the results this week. Now, with only days to go before the legislature votes, it is imperative that we all come to the aid of our sisters and brothers in the Badger State.

We are counting on your help. DONATE now to join the movement to prevent this outrageous attack on your sisters and brothers.

Remember, every donation counts. And it is critical that we all contribute.

Please take a minute to do so now!

In solidarity,
Gerald W. McEntee Lee A. Saunders

GERALD W. McENTEE
President


LEE A. SAUNDERS
Secretary-Treasurer

[midnight]

1. My favorite AFSCME video: Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27kDtIoL1L4

[jtrockville]

2. I donated via a link I found in a different topic. Hope it wasn't a scam.

https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4002/wi-response

It says it's AFSCME. I hope I didn't give to the wrong place.

[Omaha Steve]

3. Looks ok to me

Anyone can donate to this fund bte. It's not a PAC. :-) And thanks for donating.