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Williams, Gage, Sullivan Re-Elected, Urge Fast Action to Rescue America’s Workers |
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Saying the best is yet to come for working people, three affiliated unions called for teamwork and urged their members to take advantage of the new political landscape in Washington to help working families.
Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) President James Williams, AFGE President John Gage and Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) President Michael Sullivan, who all were re-elected at their unions’ conventions, echoed AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka’s call for union members to work together to take back the country. Trumka spoke at all three conventions.
Williams said the challenges facing working families will require unity and teamwork.
It’s all about team…we can’t overcome the challenges ahead of us all alone, we need each and every one of you to help us.
Gage told delegates to AFGE’s convention that with new leadership in Congress and the White House, the focus for public workers is now on the midterm congressional elections and making sure the American people have the public services they deserve.
We plan to help elect a Congress with men and women who are actually responsive to the needs of the American people, particularly the nation’s working families.
Sullivan attacked those in Washington who are resisting changes that would benefit workers.
There are still people in Washington who like the way things used to be. I call them the do-nothing, right-wing hate mongers who never did a real day’s work in their lives.
Speaking last month at the IUPAT convention in Las Vegas, Trumka called for a union movement that “believes change makes us stronger.”
We should not become complacent about our recent political victories, especially those in the White House, Trumka said, but instead we should be further spurred into action.
We can’t let it be a record we stand on; we need to make it an achievement we build on. We don’t have a minute to spare. Working people today are being crushed out there.
He stressed that the job of rescuing the nation’s middle class rests squarely on the shoulders of union members.
Even though we weren’t the people who got us into this mess, we are the people who are going to lead America out of this mess.
Along with Williams, IUPAT Executive Vice President Kenneth Rigmaiden and IUPAT Secretary-Treasurer George Galis also were re-elected.
AFGE Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox also was re-elected. Augusta Thomas was elected as the new vice president for women’s and fair practices. She succeeds the late Andrea Brooks, who died in April. Thomas previously served as fair practices coordinator for AFGE’s District 6, which represents federal employees in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The three officers will serve three-year terms.
In addition to Sullivan, SMWIA Secretary-Treasurer Joseph Nigro was re-elected.
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AFGE National Convention Endorses HR 676
Reno, Nevada. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is
the twenty-second international union to endorse HR 676, single payer
healthcare legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).
On August 27th the 38th AFGE National Convention passed Resolution #4003,
“Endorsing Universal Health Care H.R. 676.” The resolution was submitted
by Local 2157 which represents workers at the Portland, Oregon, Veterans
Administration Medical Center. AFGE represents 600,000 federal and
District of Columbia workers in a wide variety of agencies, including
Social Security, the Veterans Administration, and the Bureau of Prisons.
Betsy Zucker, RN, FNP, and a convention delegate from Local 2157, said
after the vote:
“AFGE members from around the country overwhelmingly endorsed H.R. 676,
Single Payer Health Care, on August 27. Federal workers understand that
Medicare-for-All will save money, provide health care to all, and start
addressing health care as a human right, not a commodity to be bought and
sold to the highest bidder. AFGE supports health care for people, not for
profits!” #30#