AFSCME members oppose ballot initiatives that limit rights

The union resolution, adopted Friday at the Council 5 convention in Duluth, states, in part, “All Minnesotans have a right to bargain collectively, earn a decent income, retire with dignity, live in a safe community, immigrate without discrimination, vote without barriers, and marry whomever they choose.”

Council 5 and its locals will work to defeat the proposed amendment to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota, the union said. In addition, members will work to defeat four other ballot initiatives expected to advance from the Republican-controlled state Legislature.

Other initiatives expected to be on the 2012 ballot would:

• Destroy unions by adding “right to work for less” loopholes to the state constitution
• Eliminate same-day voter registration and disenfranchise more than 144,000 citizens by requiring all voters to present a photo ID at the polls
• Add more gridlock in the Legislature by requiring not a simple majority, but a supermajority of at least 60 percent, in order to increase taxes, fees or other revenue
• Cripple state budgets by restricting future state spending to the revenue raised in past budgets

Delegates vote twice to ‘vote no’
Delegates, meeting at the Duluth convention center, actually passed the “vote no” resolution twice. After they approved it the first time, supporters voted to reopen consideration after opponents said they did not have a chance to offer amendments before debate ended.

Local 915’s Nick Witter then proposed stripping the voter ID and same-sex marriage provisions from the resolution. Delegates decisively defeated that option, then voted a second time to adopt the “vote no” resolution in its entirety.

Witter said the voter ID and same-sex marriage provisions were “politically divisive” and should not be part of the union’s political activities. Similarly, Nancy Gierczewski, of Local 602, said the marriage ban was a “moral issue, not a union issue.” But they were the only two to speak against the resolution.

The battle for rights is not finished
Nearly two dozen other delegates gave forceful, personal and, at times, gripping testimony about why AFSCME should stand for voter rights and same-sex rights, not against them.

Ron Madson, of Local 637, was among those who called the same-sex marriage issue the next hurdle in AFSCME’s long fight for justice. “This is a civil rights issue,” he said. “Martin Luther King died helping AFSCME people get their civil rights, their rights to organize, their rights as human beings.”

Local 4001 member Grace Jones said that as a black woman, she has fought discrimination her entire life. “If we give up this fight, what other rights are they going to come for next?”

Barb Bezat, of Local 3937, and others called the proposed amendments an attempt to distract and divide — to turn AFSCME members and other workers against each other, to prevent workers from standing up for each other. “We cannot go backward,” she said.

“Sisters and brothers, this is not about others, it is about us,” said Cherrene Horazuk, of Local 3800. “It is about our members, it is about our families. The marriage amendment is about taking away the rights and dignity of our members … We are your sisters and brothers in the labor movement. This is what true solidarity is about.”

This article is reprinted from the Council 5 website, where you can find more coverage of the convention.