WHEREAS:

Rapid change in the American society and economy has become the hallmark of the twentieth century. As we near the beginning of the twenty-first century the pace of change and its effects on all of us is accelerating; and

WHEREAS:

Some powerful institutions, such as multi-national corporations and commercial health care giants, have responded to these changes with destructive effects on their employees and consumers, including massive layoffs, monopolization of markets, and in the case of multi-nationals, the ability to operate without effective national restraints; and

WHEREAS:

Workers in our country have been left behind in the struggle for economic and political power in the United States; we have discovered that it is no longer enough to bargain contracts and administer them, when our hard-won benefits are stripped from our members by economic and political forces sometimes far beyond our ability to deal with them; and

WHEREAS:

American workers face an entirely new set of challenges that our institutions have great difficulty dealing with, such as participation in the control over the vast public employee pension funds -- which are our members? money; and the battle against privatization and conversion of everything from health care to jails into profit-making businesses unresponsive to the public interest and concerned only with making money; and

WHEREAS:

Corporate America has increasingly looked to the federal government for its own welfare programs at the same time it works to destroy the social safety net for American workers created painstakingly over the past 50 years; as these subsidies grow and add to already obscene corporate profits, the public funds available for genuine people services are reduced and the plight of working America becomes ever more critical; and

WHEREAS:

Forward-thinking unions undertook to change the leadership and direction of the AFL-CIO and to charge it with the responsibility to explore and develop the new approaches and mechanisms the labor movement must have if it is to survive the twentieth century and move forward into the twenty-first century; these changes include new leaders, restructuring the AFL-CIO to include a focus on the fight against corporate welfare, a commitment to organize the entire American work force, and support for affiliates in their struggle in the international marketplace against threats to undermine and destroy the working conditions and benefits of American workers; and

WHEREAS:

A number of unions that brought about these changes in the AFL-CIO have themselves undertaken significant internal efforts to restructure their own unions and to redefine their objectives for the new conditions they face.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That it is essential that AFSCME undertake an intensive study and analysis of the challenges facing our union and the adequacy of our institutions and policies to deal with these challenges; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That such a study and analysis should include in its work examination of AFSCME?s jurisdiction in view of the increasing movement of public services into the private sector and the need for AFSCME not only to follow its jobs into the private sector, but to organize and bargain for all workers providing public services, no matter how they are funded; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That included in the study should be an examination of ways and means of reflecting the interests of public employees in the pension funds that have accumulated billions of dollars and that are too often being used for purposes contrary to the welfare and interests of workers in both the public and private sectors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That with special reference to AFSCME?s affirmative leadership in the program to redesign government, the study should also examine the effectiveness of the struggle against privatization and should attempt to determine whether there are other policies and actions that can better serve AFSCME members; of special concern is the increasing role of multinational corporations that are moving to privatize America public services, such as health care, sanitation and water supply and sewage treatment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That any study and analysis must include the health care crisis in this country and the need to determine how best health care workers can be involved in the process of getting control over costs and the quality and effectiveness of health care delivery; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That an important factor in any study is the destructive effects on state and local tax bases caused by competitive bidding between jurisdictions seeking new plants and other employment-generating activities; of special significance is the kind of corporate responsibility exhibited by employers who take huge subsidies and tax breaks with no intention of keeping the promises they made to the community. AFSCME should support the phase out of the tax loss carry-forward and carry-backs that give corporations the ability to pay little or no taxes; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That a Task Force For AFSCME's future shall be created by this 32nd International Convention, with its members to be named by the International President.

SUBMITTED BY:

Gerald W. McEntee, International President
William Lucy, International Secretary-Treasurer