P.E.O.P.L.E. (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality)

POLITICS AFFECTS EVERYONE

P.E.O.P.L.E. is about the difference between having things happen to you and making things happen. By participating in P.E.O.P.L.E. (AFSCME'S political, legislative and fundraising arm), you can have a direct impact on the political process - from helping shape policies on privatization and other issues that affect us to helping elect the public officials who are your bosses.

As a public employee, your job, wages and working conditions are directly linked to politics. We need the active participation of all members in order to make our legislative/political program strong, and in turn, to be effective when we work on behalf of our members. From possible changes in Social Security retirement benefits to anti-union initiatives in the states and counties, politics affects everyone. No other group of employees has such a direct connection to politics as AFSCME members. That is why P.E.O.P.L.E. matters.

HOW P.E.O.P.L.E. MAKES A DIFFERENCE

P.E.O.P.L.E. works to affect the political process on many levels. Voluntary member contributions to the P.E.O.P.L.E. fund are used to help elect pro-worker candidates.

It is important to realize that pro-worker candidates are generally outspent by opponents - often by more than 10 to 1. Without our member contributions, pro-worker candidates would face almost impossible odds.

But P.E.O.P.L.E. provides more than money to candidates and campaigns. Trained AFSCME volunteers participate in campaigns to give pro-worker candidates the winning edge. Our political activists can make the crucial difference in any race. AFSCME also serves as a strategic resource for pro-worker candidates to help map out successful campaign strategies.

And last but not least, PEOPLE works with AFSCME members at the council and local levels to help create a structure for evaluating campaigns and endorsing candidates in state and local races. Politics is everywhere, but fortunately, so is P.E.O.P.L.E.

P.E.O.P.L.E. NEEDS YOU

Like all aspects of our union, P.E.O.P.L.E. is nothing without our members. To provide a strong political voice for public employees, we need your help. You can become an active part of P.E.O.P.L.E. in many ways. The easiest way is by participating in a P.E.O.P.L.E. check-off program to provide a regular contribution that we can count on as we work with candidates and campaigns throughout the year to make sure our members' interests are represented.

Politicians will make decisions that have a great impact on you - from privatization to pensions - with or without your input. Make your voice heard by joining with other members in P.E.O.P.L.E..

In Hennepin County, you can sign up for P.E.O.P.L.E. and have the funds deducted directly from your paycheck. Please contact any Local 34 Officer or Local 34 Steward to request a sign-up card. Complete the "Authorization for Voluntary Payroll Deduction" card and return it to the Local 34  Membership Secretary.

As a member of P.E.O.P.L.E. at the $50.00/year or $2.50/pay-period level, you also receive complimentary gifts as a VIP member.  CLICK HERE  to see what gifts you can receive. By enrolling as a VIP member, you are also entitled to receive a separate AFSCME jacket from AFSCME Council 5.

LOOK AT JOINING P.E.O.P.L.E. TODAY TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! 

JOIN P.E.O.P.L.E.

If you haven’t yet, you may soon be approached by another union member and who will ask you to contribute to the union’s P.E.O.P.L.E. fund. This fund of voluntary contributions is the money that your union uses to support our friends and oppose our enemies at the local, state, and national level. If you ever wonder why your union leaders are always talking about politics and asking you to contribute your time, effort and money on political activities keep in mind that your job as a public employee is the result of a political decision. When those we elect make good decisions we prosper. When those we elect, like the current administration in Washington, make bone- headed decisions we suffer. The pending lay-offs at Hennepin County are proof of that. Further evidence can be found in the experience of the public employees in the state of Missouri. In 1945 the Missouri Constitution was amended to read,” Employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.” This constitutional amendment didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of determined political action by organized labor. However in 1947 a conservative state supreme court ruled that the language applied only to private sector employees. In 2001 Democratic governor Bob Holden issued an executive order that sanctioned collective bargaining for state employees and permitted dues check-off for union members. In 2005 the new Republican governor, Matt Blunt, revoked both executive orders of his predecessor citing the 1947 Supreme Court decision. In May 2007 the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the 1947 court decision. In explaining the reversal and commenting on the constitutional language the Chief Justice said, “‘Employees’ plainly means employees,” he wrote. “There is no adjective; there are no words that limit ’employees’ to private sector employees”. The decision also overturned a 1982 decision that governments were free to disregard agreements made with employee unions. The five Supreme Court justices who voted in the affirmative were appointed by democratic governors. The two justices that dissented were appointed by republican governors.

That is why you may be approached and asked to contribute. If you survive the layoffs it will be because your union negotiated strict seniority language to prevent the employer from picking who will be laid off and who will stay. Your union is working very hard to turn out of office the right wing ideologues whose mismanagement of the government has resulted in these layoffs and to help elect politicians who will protect the rights of working people. You don’t have to wait to be asked. Talk to any steward or officer and ask for a P.E.O.P.L.E. contribution card so that you can do your part in protecting your future. Cliff Robinson, Local 34 Chief Steward (August, 2008)