AFSCME Convention

Thank you for sending me to represent you in Boston for the AFSCME International Convention.  It was loud and raucous, it was tiring, frustrating and maddening, and finally it was done.  At the heart of this Convention – beyond Bill Lucy’s retirement recognition, beyond the resolutions we discussed, beyond the dynamic, politically charged calls to action by Donna Brazile and MSNBC’s Ed Schultz – was the election contest between Lee Saunders (Gerry McEntee’s right-hand man) and Danny Donohue (Bill Lucy’s choice and Council 5’s candidate).  In the end, Lee Saunders was elected by 652,000 – 648,000 over Donohue, with 1500 votes for a California Local’s president.  AFSCME was at war between two factions;  McEntee won – but it was much closer than his side expected. The 2012 Los Angeles convention will be a new battleground, with two offices to likely elect, and our Council 5 delegation led by Mike Buesing and Eliot Seide will be in the thick of it.  

I was a rarity in Boston. I came there a neutral, and stated that my votes (310 as it turned out) were not set for Donohue – or Saunders.  I saw merits in both men, and asked to be persuaded by the nominating process, even as many talked with me about their concerns for Lee Saunders’ election and the positives of electing Danny Donohue. The nominating process was persuasive.  There are legitimate questions of whether AFSCME funds paid for the Saunders campaign’s phone calls, balloons, t-shirts and signs. Favoritism was shown in the length of their speeches and celebration. Gerry McEntee not only sent a letter of support for Saunders, he also nominated Saunders from the floor, and proceeded to wear a yellow Saunders shirt while conducting the Donohue and Foley nominations from the podium. McEntee even called on the Donohue seconding speeches out of their expected order.  If it seems that I’ve turned anti-McEntee & Saunders, I have – and yes I did cast my votes - as perhaps 99% of Council 5 voters did – in favor of change represented by Donohue. I have written President McEntee (and the IVPs)  to express my anger and disappointment.  

I also represented you at the Delegates Reception, the Council 5 reception, the two workshop sessions (I got to one on Health Care Benefits and one on trying to get more membership involvement) – neither of which were particularly good or memorable, the rally on Boston Common (which was good), and the special sector caucuses (I went to the Public Assistance caucus, where everyone talks about their own parochial issues – using jargon - and we ‘busted’ relatively generic myths.).   

I’ve found that one of my favorite times is the informal Local 34 dinner together (at Summer Shack, a seafood restaurant near the Hilton Hotel we were staying at).  It was fun and relaxing, joining my fellow delegates and some spouses – Cheryl and I, Jean Diederich, Sabrina Denson, Heather Hemmer, Andrea Lazo-Rice and Zachary Rice, and John and Colleen Herzog.  All nine of us are AFSCME members.  I’m proud to have served the Local with all five of my fellow delegates (and our ‘sister’ Colleen Herzog). No votes were missed, and we each did our best in Boston.  

Wes Volkenant