(DENVER, COLORADO) – They came to the 2023 Organizing Summit in Colorado with the same goal: to expand their Union.

A total of 225 Volunteer Member Organizers gathered this month in The Mile High City to sign up new American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employee (AFSCME) Members and learn the latest organizing techniques.

And they each came with their own reasons for wanting to see their Union flourish.

Some were Activists with decades of organizing experience under their belts, who know firsthand that organizing is the life-blood of Union Power.

For others, though, the VMO summit was their maiden voyage, leaving them excited to return home and use the techniques they learned.

“Pennsylvania Chapter 13 Retiree Kathy Griffiths, a former Nurse from Council 13, remembers what ignited her desire to become a VMO - it was when former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker gutted collective bargaining for Public Employees in that State through ACT 10.

“I remember walking up in the morning of February (2011) and seeing what (Walker) had done to Union Members out there and how devastating that had to be.  I made up my mind that if I didn’t get up and start helping, that could easily happen in Pennsylvania,” Griffiths said.

Since then, Griffiths has drawn on her career as a Nurse when organizing new Members.

“Being a Nurse is helping people.  As a Nurse you’re helping them with physical and mental health issues,” she said. “But (organizing) is impacting people’s lives personally, financially - in their family, in their workplace, because it impacts every part of their lives.”

And Griffiths shares her experiences of the Union Difference - having been both a Union-represented Nurse and having had jobs without a Union.

“One of the stark differences,” explained Griffiths, “is the pay scale.  Without a Union, you’re at the mercy of whatever the employer wants to give you.  Whereas with a Union, you have a Collective Bargaining Agreement and it’s already put in there as to what type of pay raise you will get.”

Belonging to a Union, Griffiths says: “Just makes everything better.  If you have issues at work, if you go one-on-one with your boss, and you don’t have a Union, you really don’t have that much backing behind you.  However, as an AFSCME member, it’s like having (1.4 million) people walking in that room with you.”

That’s why, she adds: “Organizing is the hope of the Union.  We have to keep going, making this great Union much larger.”

To Directly Access This Organizing Labor News Story, Go To: AFSCME volunteer member organizers bring unique perspectives to expanding union | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Photo Credit: Miriam Harris/AFSCME