"Council 5 is on the move!" declared AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee at the inaugural convention of the new council Friday in Duluth.

The gathering marked the first convention of Council 5, created by the merger of Councils 6, 14 and 96. The new council represents 40,000 public and non-profit employees in Minnesota.

McEntee's remarks had barely faded from the air of the convention center before when hundreds of delegates boarded buses to travel to the St. Louis County Government Center to rally for a fair contract for county workers. Council 5 Vice President Deb Bloom, who works for the Duluth Public Schools, began the rally boasting, "I am AFSCME!"

"In Northeastern Minnesota, union brothers and sisters support union brothers and sisters," Bloom said. "We realize that each of our struggles are all of our struggles. This is what today is all about. For the first time, we are standing as a statewide union, 40,000 members strong!"

Bloom said all members supporting each other across the state is what the rally was all about. "Today we stand together for our 1,800 brothers and sisters who work for St. Louis County and Arrowhead Regional Corrections."

Audra Lenzen, who says she is "newly active in the union", is a first-time negotiating team member for the county basic unit.

"One thing I have learned," Lenzen said, "is that my union is only as strong as I and my fellow workers make it. We are all in this together; whether we work for the City of Duluth or St. Louis County, Hennepin, Ramsey County, the State of Minnesota, Minneapolis or St. Paul.

"We are AFSCME! We are proud!"

Negotiations with St. Louis County begin soon, the union said.

At the convention, more than 500 delegates took part in discussions on building their membership.Reprinted from the Council 5 website, www.afscme.org