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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.
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