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Upcoming Events Executive Board Meeting 1/19/08 MLK Holiday Event 1/21/08 AFSCME Lobby Day 1/31/08

Make Your Choice - VOTE

Vote this February 5, 2008 in the Democratic Caucus. NM has a strong voice in the selection of the Democratic Party nomination for US President.

Unions Will Impact the 2008 Political Races

Unions will impact the 2008 Election. Recently, much press and many articles have been written, discussing the extent of Unions impact and how will their impact really affect US politcal races. Download a collection of articles about the AFL-CIO Unions' impact on the upcoming elections.

21st Century Initiative
Summary of Recommendations

A new game plan.
Public employees are under attack. We’re all feeling it. It’s getting harder to negotiate good contracts. The politicians are privatizing our jobs. Our workloads are up and staffing is down. We’re paying more for our health care and our pensions are on the chopping block. Things have been bad before, but this time it’s different.

We can’t stop these attacks if we do things the way we always have. We need a new game plan. Without one, we could lose our pensions, our health care and even our jobs as the politicians take work from the public to the private sector.

We can do it.
When we fight, we win. Take the battle to stop Bush from privatizing Social Security. We got our members involved, held politicians’ feet to the fire and won. That’s what AFSCME’s 21st Century Initiative is all about.

Endorsed by the International Executive Board, these are the major recommendations:

Build Member Involvement. The best way to make our union stronger is to educate our members and get them more involved at the local level. We can’t have people sitting back – we need everyone to step up. To help locals get their members active, the International Union would create a training institute for leaders that gives them the tools and support they need to build a strong and active union.

Hold Politicians Accountable. We elect our bosses, so we’ve got to elect politicians who support us and hold them accountable. AFSCME would create a year-round political action program that focuses on educating and involving our members – because we’re only as strong as our members are active. The goals: create a 40,000 member activist army; register 90 percent of our members and get them to vote; and recruit 25 percent of members to participate at the MVP level in the PEOPLE program, our political action committee.

Make Health Care Universal and Affordable. Skyrocketing health costs are making bargaining harder and we’re paying more and getting less coverage. The system must change. AFSCME would make health care a top priority and lead a national fight for comprehensive reform. We’ll push a clear policy and force politicians to take action.

Increase Our Membership. Strength comes from an active and large membership, so we’ve got to get bigger by helping workers form new unions with AFSCME. Affiliates would be responsible for recruiting new members annually at the rate of 3 percent of their membership, and the International Union at the rate of 2 percent of national membership. Financial assistance from the International would reward affiliates that make growth a priority.

Raise New Resources. We can’t turn things around without the resources to back up our new plan. The International Union dues would be raised by $3 per member per month, phased in over three years.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
Gerald W. McEntee, International President • William Lucy, International Secretary-Treasurer
4/28/06

Contact Your Representatives

For a list of New Mexico legislators click on the following link www.legis.state.nm.us

For a list of US Senators and Representatives click on the following link
www.Congress.org

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