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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2012)
Il!C ^Jortlartb (©bseruer September 12, 2012 Page 7 O pinion Women of Power at the Forefront Uplifting our families and our nation by M arc H. M orial L eague G uilds, under the current A t the start o f a leadership o f G uild P resident M s. new school year, m il Frankie M. B row n, is celebrating its lions o f w om en and 70th anniversary this year. C o n sid m others are w orking ered the heart and soul o f the U rban overtim e to prepare L eague M ovem ent, the G uild w as their children to return to the class started in N ew Y ork C ity in 1942 by room . I thought this w ould be a M rs. M ollie M oon. T hro u g h its 85 good tim e to rem ind ourselves o f chapters across the U nited States, the m any sim ultaneous roles that the G uild plays an instrum ental role w om en, and especially w om en o f in co n n ectin g the league w ith its color, play in uplifting our fam ilies, com m u n ities, and its m em bers c o n our com m unities and o u r nation. tribute thousands o f volunteer hours W om en have alw ays been at the annually. fo re fro n t o f the U rb a n L e a g u e W om en are also leading the N a M ovem ent. Ruth Standish B aldw in tional U rban League into its second jo in e d Dr. G eorge E dm und H aynes cen tu ry o f service and em p o w er in 1910 as founders o f this o rganiza m ent. T he C E O ’s o f som e o f our tion. largest affiliates are w om en, includ T he N ational C ouncil o f U rban ing A rva R ice in N ew Y ork, N ancy Flake Johnson in A tlanta, E sther B ush in Pittsburgh, M audine C o o per in W ashington, D C, Patricia C o u lter in P hiladelphia and A ndrea Z o p p in C hicago. In addition, the N ational U rban L eague Y oung P rofessionals, our cadre o f volunteers aged 21 -40, is also h eaded by M s. B randi R. R ich ard. O u r young professionals are the next generation o f leaders inside and outside the U rban League m ove m ent; and contribute thousands o f dollars and volunteer hours to local U rban League affiliates. B renda W. M cD uffie, president and C E O o f the B uffalo U rban League w as one o f 11 “ W om en o f P ow er” honored at the recent N a tional U rban League C onference in N ew O rleans. M s. M cD uffie has d evoted h er life to com m unity ser vice and she has led the B uffalo U rban League fo r the past 14 years. O thers chosen as 2012 W om en o f Pow er are L ouisiana U. S. Sen. M ary Landrieu; D eborah Elam , vice p resident, G eneral E lectric; Kim Fields, actress and television direc- to r /p r o d u c e r ; O h io C o n g r e s s - w o m an M arcia L. Fudge; A pril H olm es, athlete and global m otiva tio n a l d e v e lo p e r; D r. D eb ra B. M orton, senior pastor. G reater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church, N ew O rleans; N atalie R andolph, h e a d fo o tb a ll c o a c h at C a lv in C oolidge H igh School and the first fem ale high school football coach in W ashington, D .C .; Sally A nn R ob erts, new s anchor at W W L -T V in N ew O rleans; Laysha W ard, presi dent o f C om m unity R elations and the T arget Foundation; and last but not least, m y m other, Sybil M orial. M y m other has not only nurtured tw o N ew O rleans m ayors - h er h u s band, the late, Ernest “D utch” M orial and me - she has also distinguished h erself as an outstanding educator, co m m u n ity activist and bu siness w om an. Like so m any o f our W om en o f Pow er, Sybil M orial overcam e num erous racial and gen d er barriers to achieve her goals, serve h er c o m m unity and inspire others. There is no doubt, A m erica would not be as strong as it is today and the N ational U rban League M o v e m ent w ould not be the force for em pow erm ent that it has becom e w ithout the indispensable leader ship o f countless W om en o f Pow er. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer o f the Na tional Urban League. Dignity and the Right to a Decent Job First black AFSCME president by N orman and V elma H ill L ittle good (read no good at all) w as voiced about the future o f o rg a nized labor in this country at the R epublican N ational C onvention in T am pa, Fla. This com es on the heels o f an A frican-A m erican labor leader being elected to head one o f the la rg e s t p u b lic e m p lo y e e la b o r unions in the nation. This, like elect ing an A frican-A m erican U.S. Presi dent, is a historic first w ith historical reverberations yet to be realized. Today, Lee A. Saunders helm s the 1,6-million-member American Federa tion o f State, County, and M unicipal Em ployees (A FSC M E). Saunders, w ho has received scant m ention in the national media, faces an era w hen organized labor is under blistering assault, including by the likes o f the R om ney-R yan ticket and its support ers. Yet, the Saunders election remains important, and vastly m ore im portant in this election year. For starters, the A FSC M E presi dent plans to allocate $ 100 m illion on political cam paigns this year, 65 per cent o f it for non-federal cam paigns. That is essential because public em ployees have been the prim ary target o f state and local R epublicans seek ing scapegoats for budget deficits. W e live and, if we are fortunate enough, work at a time when one- third o f this nation’s public em ploy ees are unionized, com pared to just 7 percent o f private-sector workers. That gives public em ployee unions like A FSC M E an outsized influence on organized labor, which has suf fered a severe dow nturn in m em ber ship since the m id -1950s. Back then, about one-third o f the o verall A m erican w o rkforce b e longed to unions, while today that figure is closer to 10 percent. A nd back then, tow ering national leaders, including African-Americans A. Philip R andolph and B ayard Rustin, argued that there was a natu ral nexus o f the aim s and aspirations o f the civil rights and labor m ove ments. M any have forgotten that the full nam e o f the landm ark 1963 M arch on W ashington included the words “for Jobs and Freedom .” Randolph, presi dent o f the first black-led labor union to gain a contract from a m ajor com pany, the Brotherhood o f Sleeping C ar Porters, long connected hum an dignity to the right to a decent jo b at Jlort lattò (Obstruer Established 1970 Charles H. Washington EDiTOR.Michael L eig h to n A ssistant to P ublisher , P ublic R elations : M ark W ashington C reative D irector : P aul N e u feld t A ssistant to P ubijsher , O ffice M anager /C lassifieds : Lucinda Baldwin A ssistant P ublisher : Leonard Latin A dvertising M anager , P u b lic R elations : Tony Washington S taff W riter / P hotographer : Mindy Cooper E d it o r - i n - C h i e f , P u b l is h e r : a decent, living wage. W e are con vinced that the sam e is true for Saunders, w ho since 2010 had held his union’s second-highest post as its secretary-treasurer. Saunders, the son o f a Cleveland, O hio bus driver, has the opportunity to pick up the mantle o f The M ove m ent politic and reinvigorate orga nized labor by em phasizing the rela tionship betw een civil rights and eco nom ic justice. In som e ways this re flects a central tenet o f R ustin’s 1965 call to action, from Protest to Politics. In it, Rustin wrote “The labor m ove m ent, despite its obvious faults, has been the largest single organized force in this country pushing for pro gressive social legislation.” The union m ovem ent has been the m ost dem ocratic, integrated m ass organization in the U nited States. S au n d ers’ presidency o f a large, black-m inority union puts an excla m ation point to such a characteriza tion. N o doubt black trade unionists seeking high leadership posts will be e n c o u ra g e d . T he d e leg a te s also chose Laura Reyes as its first w om an secretary-treasurer. S aunders’ election carries addi tional signi ficance. His opponent criti cized the union’s previous longtim e leader for overspending on national elections. Saunders rightly disagrees. USPS 959-680 C ontrol o f the W hite H ouse and C ongress, and its consequences for the U.S. Suprem e C ourt’s com posi tion - never m ore clear in the 5-4 decision upholding President Barack O bam a’s A ffordable Healthcare Act — are o f param ount importance. A m ore progressive C ongress could reform A m erican labor law to give unions a level playing field in organizing. H undreds o f thousands o f public-sector workers have been laid off, and deficits have been used as an excuse to rip into the collective b a rg a in in g rig h ts o f w o rk e rs . W isconsin’sG ovem or Scott W alker, backed by fellow Republicans in the state legislature, did just that last year. His survival o f a recall election last m onth was a m ajor defeat for unions and the m iddle class. But Saunders and A FSCM E reject the com m onplace idea o f irrevocable union decline. Just as im portant as the W isconsin vote, they point out, was the big victory in O hio last N o vem ber in which 62 percent o f vot ers— significantly higher than the 53 percent that voted for W alker— backed repeal o f a law gutting the bargaining rights o f civil servants. Also, D em ocrats captured the W is consin state senate. Saunders is seeking m ore wins with stepped-up militancy. For ex- am ple, he is already w orking to pro m ote a referendum for repealing a shockingly anti-democratic law; a 2 0 1 1 M ichigan statute allow ing the gover nor to replace elected local govern ments facing deficits with “emergency m anagers” em pow ered to reduce deficits by revoking public em ployee contracts. This puts Saunders on the side that unions custom arily find them selves - the side o f dem ocracy. He also pledges stronger opposition to the privatization o f public services, which alw ays leads to low er wages and often to inferior services. And Saunders is creating a task force to find answ ers to the pension crisis that may stym ie further drives to cut pensions. W e can feel A. Philip R andolph, M artin L uther K ing Jr., and others w ho have been friendly to labor, giving S aunders a sort o f cosm ic nod o f approval. N ow S aunders and his A F S C M E m em bership m ust be bold enough to co n tinuously forge a path that history w ill fondly re member. Norman Hill was the sta ff coor dinator ofthe 1963 March on Wash ington fo r Jobs and Freedom, is president emeritus o f the A. Philip Randolph Institute. Velma Hill is a form er vice president o f the Ameri can Federation o f Teachers. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. 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