By JEFF KLATKE
Council 75 President
I am proud to issue this report as President of Oregon AFSCME for May 2015.
The first meeting of the new Executive Committee was on Saturday, May 30 in Salem. The next EC meeting will be on Saturday, June 27 at the Portland AFSCME office at 10 a.m. I mention these dates because I would like to encourage all members to attend these meetings to observe, to participate in the conversation, and see what your elected decision-makers are up to. Participation is the key to a democratically run union.
Also key to a high-functioning union is communication. I have re-learned recently how high a priority good communication is to the member of Oregon AFSCME and I want to honor that demand for communication. There are a number of sources of information for AFSCME members and I will highlight one source of information every month in my report.
If you or anyone in your local is looking for a way to participate in your union, I would strongly encourage you to consider serving on an Oregon AFSCME committee. After every convention we re-set the committee and appoint new rosters. The Board will appoint the new committee rosters at its July 25 meeting, and I am beginning to work on assembling my recommendations for committee rosters during the month on June. This link takes you to a Survey Monkey form for indicating your interest in serving on a committee. All committees (and caucuses) are listed on the form; just indicate which committee you are interested in. And please share this link throughout your local so that all members have an opportunity to participate in our union.
Also key to a high-functioning union is communication. I have re-learned recently how high a priority good communication is to the member of Oregon AFSCME and I want to honor that demand for communication. There are a number of sources of information for AFSCME members and I will highlight one source of information every month in my report. Different people have different methods of communication that they prefer and there is at least one method for everyone that Oregon AFSCME uses. This month I will highlight our e-lert, which is a weekly email update about the previous weeks’ events in the Oregon Legislature. The Oregon Legislature is in its final month and things are moving quickly. To keep up with the legislation that is important to AFSCME members (DOC budget, DEQ budget, PERS, etc) I would encourage you to sign up for our weekly e-lert email list at this link.
Something that was highlighted at our April convention was Oregon AFSCME’s growing focus on equity, inclusion and diversity. Our union has members from many different ethnic groups and cultural traditions and members who speak many different languages. We have members all along the political spectrum, members who practice many different faiths, and live in loving families with an all-encompassing definition of family. We owe it to every member to ensure that everyone feels welcome in their union, has an equal amount of ownership of their union and has the same participation opportunities in their union. In late 2014 Oregon AFSCME embarked on an ambitious project designed to make our union more inclusive and more welcoming for all members of our union, their families, and our communities. Our Diversity Committee will be highlighting community and cultural events beginning this summer and is planning on completing an Equity Lens before the end of the year which will help all committees make sure all members are treated with respect.
I plan to send a president’s report like this every month to local presidents, members of the Oregon AFSCME board, and any member who requests it and gives the Council Secretary a home email address. If you are a local president or other officer, please share this information with the members of your local.
If you ever have any questions or wish to send me a comment, you can reach me at president@OregonAFSCME.com.
Thank you for being active in your union.
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