AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride on Tuesday celebrated the power of our union’s members and encouraged them to continue organizing and mobilizing to improve the lives of working Americans.
McBride, who is leaving AFSCME after the 47th International Convention in Chicago, delivered her last keynote address as the union’s second-highest ranking officer. She praised members for building power and pointed the way forward to give even more workers a voice on the job.
Seventy percent of Americans support unions and half of U.S. workers want a union at their workplaces, McBride noted.
“But 90% of workers in this country have no union voice on the job,” McBride told thousands of Convention attendees. “Think about that gap between the workers who want a union on the job and those that have a union on the job. We can and we must bridge that divide and help new groups of workers organize unions for the first time.”
She pointed out that public service workers in almost half of all states have few or no collective bargaining rights.
“We cannot rest until every public service worker in our country has the freedom to collectively bargain,” McBride said. “And it is up to you, the current members of our union, to support the future members in winning their campaigns.”
McBride urged AFSCME members to talk to their friends, neighbors, family members and co-workers using themselves as examples of how workers can benefit by securing a voice on the job.
“There is no better messenger than you. At a time when faith in institutions of all kinds is on the decline in our country, faith in unions remains rock solid,” McBride said. “You can break through the noise the way that no one else can. You have the power to bring hope. You can shine a light on our path forward. And our communities are looking to you for leadership.”
