Solidarity Forever
“Solidarity forever,
solidarity forever, solidarity forever, for the Union keeps us strong!” This
is one of my favorite union songs, because it is very effective in bringing
people together. AFSCME is all about advocacy, political power, and togetherness
among our brothers and sisters.
“When you mess with one
local, you mess with every local,” Elissa Cadillic, President of Local 1526,
Council 93, explained during the rally. This is an accurate way of describing
the power of solidarity. The rally was held to stop the closing of the
Boston public libraries and facilities for the developmentally disabled.
It was such an empowering and unifying experience because we had thousands of
people marching from the Boston Commons to City Hall. We marched together
in solidarity, for the fight for social and economic justice.
Everybody wore green AFSCME shirts for this special occasion shouting “No
contracts! No Peace!” and “They say cut back, we say fight back!” As we
were marching down the streets of Boston, I heard a little girl say, “Mommy,
why is everybody wearing green?” I wanted to say to her “Solidarity
Forever.” However, I knew she wouldn’t quite understand. When we were
walking to Boston City Hall, people were looking outside of their windows to see
what was going on. We were causing quite the ruckus. Men and women were honking
as they drove by in support of AFCSME. We continued to chant, “Everywhere we
go, people want to know, who we are. So, we tell them. WE are AFSCME, mighty
mighty AFSCME!”
This year was a big year
because it was the election for International Secretary-Treasurer. The
nominations were Bill Lucy’s endorsement, Danny Donohue, and President
McEntee’s endorsement, Lee Saunders. Mark Foley, a minor candidate, was
nominated as well.
Lee Saunders’ color was
yellow, and Danny Donohue’s color was blue during the election. On
Tuesday, all of the Lee supporters decided to show solidarity for Lee and wear
yellow t-shirts. That very same day the Daily newspaper came out in yellow.
The Danny Donohue supporters were upset as it seemed like a major
coincidence that everything was yellow on Tuesday, and it caused some disunity
throughout AFSCME. Some of the Donohue supporters ripped up the Daily
newspaper and used it as confetti during the convention. President McEntee wore
his yellow “Unite for Lee” shirt over his other shirt, after making his
nomination speech for Lee. This caused even more of an uproar. Our President,
Jean Diederich, told McEntee to take off his Lee shirt as it was inappropriate
for the chair to be wearing a “Unite for Lee” t-shirt after making his
nomination. McEntee ignored the request.
Later, we started yelling,
“Take off the shirt! Take off the shirt!” It seemed unfair that the
chairman was wearing his Lee t-shirt when he was supposed to remain impartial
during the election. A delegate yelled, “I thought we were supposed to be
represented by green and all I see is yellow!” We were even told by the
chair that maybe the yellow and blues should “duke it out on the floor.”
This led to a greater division between the Lee and Donohue supporters.
Thursday
was voting day and Lee Saunders won. However, it was a very close race. Council
5 had supported Danny Donohue and all of us were disappointed. We supported
Danny Donohue because he is an elected rank and file member and Bill Lucy’s
choice. Donohue got up after Saunders won and said, “When you put yellow and
blue together, you get green.” These words could define solidarity. The
election separated the union, but only for a short time. After the election, we
were all green again. We will always remain the green machine.
At the Boston Convention, I learned that we can do anything as long as the union stays united. There is power in numbers. We have voice. However, we need to make our voices heard. Council 5 is a rowdy and politically active group that makes our voices heard. I’m so proud to be part of the union and even prouder to be part of Council 5. I noticed in Bill Lucy’s letter of support for Donohue he closed his letter by writing “In Solidarity” and then wrote his name. This is what activism is all about.