FPE/AFT locals mobilize for political action

Crumbling budgets in an election year have created a tenuous environment at all levels of government but especially at the state and local levels. As lawmakers turn up the rhetoric, members of the FPE/AFT are turning up the volume.

This spring, an unprecedented number of FPE/AFT members have been turning out for rallies at their state capitols. In short, they are answering the calls of their local leadership, getting involved and speaking out.

"Now, maybe more than ever in Wisconsin, we need the support of all state employee union members to make sure our governor and the Legislature understand the importance of state employees and the essential work that [we] do," says Marie Stewart, president of the FPE/AFT-affiliated Wisconsin Science Professionals.

Stewart's local was one of several Wisconsin FPE/AFT affiliates that joined forces in March to present a united front against Gov. Scott McCallum's "budget reform plan." Gov. McCallum and some state lawmakers believe that one solution to the state's $1.1 billion budget deficit is a reduction in the state work force. No doubt, their voices were heard. The lunchtime rally in Madison drew more than 3,000 state employees, despite the cold, damp, finger-numbing chill. But the weather did not dampen or numb members' vocal cords. Months of back and forth between lawmakers and the governor, Democrats and Republicans, over state employee issues had workers primed. The chanting and cheers could be heard on the other side of the capitol.

Since the rally, Wisconsin's FPE/AFT affiliates, led by their state federation, the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers (WFT), have continued to speak out through letter-writing campaigns to legislators and a media campaign to educate the people of Wisconsin about how proposals to cut state government are proposals to cut the state's responsibilities to its citizens.

"We know that the state is facing some very difficult fiscal decisions," says WFT president Bob Beglinger. "But some of our political leaders are trying to take the easy way out without thinking through the consequences. Proposals to cut state government without a clear understanding of the essential services state employees provide are not just shortsighted, they are irresponsible and unacceptable."
 

Forget Us Now, Forget You In November

In Kansas, more than 300 state employees turned out for a lunchtime rally at the capitol in Topeka. There, lawmakers want to take a bite out of the $780 million budget deficit by taking a chunk out of employee salaries by "postponing" salary step increases and requiring employees to take six to 10 unpaid days of leave from work.

"We are tired of the word 'cut,'" says Betty Vines, president of the FPE/AFT-affiliated Kansas Association of Public Employees (KAPE), "especially when they are talking about tax cuts. They have cut taxes too deeply, and now state employees and services are paying. One of our points at the rally was that there are a number of taxes that could be reinstated that would not have any noticeable effect on rank-and-file taxpayers."

Instead of addressing the difficult issues of the budget crisis in a fiscally and socially responsible way, Vines sees lawmakers jockeying for votes in November, subtly maneuvering with semantics. For example, Vines says, lawmakers removed furlough language from proposed legislation, yet a bill is under consideration that would give employees pension benefits based on their full salary in the event of a furlough. "If they weren't expecting furloughs, why would this legislation be proposed?" Vines asks.

In her opinion, lawmakers removed the furlough language from proposed budget legislation because "there are provisions in the statutes that allow agencies to furlough or lay off [workers] if the Legislature underfunds the agencies."

"State employees, don't be fooled," Vines says. "They don't have to put it in the bill. It's already there."
 

The Retiree Factor

The pay and benefits of workers are not the only subjects on the budget chopping block. In Kansas, for example, the Legislature also has told retired state employees not to expect cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) this year, which is bad news for retirees living on fixed incomes. COLAs help retirement income keep up with inflation.

"State employees are willing to give, but not time after time after time," says Sharon McDorman, a member of KAPE who retired from state service in December 2001. McDorman, who participated in the rally to show support for the union, says it is hard for many retirees to make ends meet--especially when the Legislature freezes COLAs.

"Prices, from utilities to healthcare, are going up," says McDorman, "so we are just becoming poorer."
 

Changing Members' Attitudes

"In the past, people have said, 'What is the union doing for me?'" says Siles Johnson, a union steward for the FPE/AFT-affiliated Wisconsin Professional Employees Council (WPEC) at the Department of Work Force Development. "Now, it is time for people to start asking what they can do for themselves because you are the union--the membership."

That is exactly what many FPE/AFT members are doing. "I saw some people at the rally that I was really surprised to see there," says Johnson. "It is a good thing, too, because at least they are starting to pay attention."

"For far too long, there has been a disconnect between members and politics, the feeling being that the union shouldn't be involved in politics," says Beglinger. "Today, members are beginning to realize that we need to be involved. We've seen our participation in COPE just mushroom as people, many for the first time, realize that their work lives are directly affected by what happens in the state Legislature."