Local Voices at the Convention: Solidarity, Unity & Struggle
Tuesday, September 10, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
"We feel a sense of solidarity at this
convention" said ATU 689's Roland Jeter, "and
now it's time to take it home and get our union
and our members to embrace that fire that's
been stirred up in everybody here." Labor
lawyer -- and DC Labor FilmFest Advisory
Committee member -- Jules Bernstein has been
attending AFL-CIO conventions for more than
fifty years and called this year's "the
greatest one I've ever attended, because the
labor movement is finally fully coming to
grips with the fact that it's got to represent
every worker in the country, not just workers
in various occupations. Eugene Victor Debs
talked about one big union and this is a move
in that direction." "I see a lot of unity,"
said IATSE's Walter Cahill, "yesterday there
was a lot of discussion about working with
community groups (and) this is something that
helped build the labor movement many many years
ago and I think there's tremendous power in
that." AFSCME Maryland Council 3's Patrick
Moran agreed, saying "This is a good step
forward, in terms of building solid
relationships with community groups that
have the same interests in helping workers
climb the ladder and live the American Dream."
In fact, Moran says, "Council 3 will be hiring
someone to work with our community partners on
things like how we can better work with the
interfaith community. That's an important step
to move forward." AFGE District 14's Eric Bunn
says "We still have a lot of work to do, and
this convention provides us with the direction,
the inspiration and some tools as we continue
the struggle." "I'm inspired to work harder, to
get our message out, to get more workers
involved, to get more involved in politics, and
to be once again, proud to be a union
member."
- report/photo by
Chris Garlock