In his keynote address during last week's AFSCME 46th International Convention, AFSCME International President Lee Saunders celebrated our union’s victories over the past two years and presented a bold vision for the future called the “Fearless Agenda.”
“The Fearless Agenda will focus on the concerns members have every day at work, like health and safety on the job,” Saunders said. "Whether it’s corrections officers who fear being assaulted or groundskeepers who work in extreme heat," he said, the Fearless Agenda will prioritize a fundamental right to return home at the end of the day unharmed.
The Fearless Agenda will also continue to address the staffing issues that "still push AFSCME members to the breaking point," he said, with a commitment to continue on with the Staff the Front Lines initiative. The initiative aims to improve recruitment and retention and to bring qualified and passionate people into public service. This includes the AFSCME Job Training and Development Center to help affiliates meet their workforce needs.
Organizing wins topped the list of victories, across a broad swath of sectors throughout the country. OCSEA brother Eric Kusky was one of those union members spotlighted at the convention for his activism in organizing. An activist from OCSEA Trumbull Correctional Chapter 7820 and the Corrections Assembly and a member of the OCSEA Board of Directors, Eric was spotlighted for his efforts as an AFSCME Volunteer Member Organizer (VMO).
Eric was one of four VMOs tapped to lead a workshop about members' work volunteering to organize new and current members around the nation. From Colorado to Michigan, Eric has spent countless hours working to grow the power of labor by talking to potential and current union members about the importance of having a union voice and building strength amongst public employee union members. In Colorado, he worked to organize new union members who work in the state's counties. In Michigan, he worked with other AFSCME leaders to recruit new members and talk to non-members about the importance of the solidarity of membership.
"The key to talking to potential union members and non-members is to be friendly, find common ground, and really listen to their concerns and issues," said Eric. "I listen to their story and tell them mine, connect with them and let them know I'm a public employee just like them," he said.
Eric also knows it's about calming fears about joining a union and laying out the real reasons for embracing what it means to be a union member: unity and strength that puts workers in the drivers seat to make a real impact in the workplace without fear of retaliation.
"I continue to do this work because, deep down, I know it’s a positive thing. I believe I can make a difference in growing our union because I believe, to my core, in being union," he said.
Eric, a union activist for nearly 15 years, received his VMO training through AFSCME. He hopes to continue growing the labor movement in Maryland and again in Colorado in the coming months. Interested in being a VMO? Learn more here.