**VOTING EXTENDED** Vote for your Oregon AFSCME Convention Delegates March 1 – 9, 2023

Hello Local 88,

My name is Manuel Arellano, I work for the Multnomah County Library in the Rockwood Library; a diverse and thriving community.

Currently, I am one of the Co-Lead Stewards for Local 88 at the Library for the last two years and 3 months. One of the biggest challenges that we have in the Stewardship is to represent such a diverse workforce but I believe that during this time and that even though there is a lot of work to be done we can say that we achieved a very efficient communication system that help us to represent in a more efficient manner trying to attend all of our coworkers needs.

By attending the AFSCME State Convention I will be able to learn more about the Union movement in our State and also bring those learnings back to our Local and use also that experience to be able to help our coworkers in seeking a fair place of employment.

I also believe that my participation in the State Convention will be a good opportunity to represent the Latino Coworkers of our Local. Diversity is a value on its own and representing it with our presence is a benefit for our Union.

Muchas Gracias a todos por creer en mi participación y creer que los trabajadores latinos de nuestro Condado deben ser representados en la Convención Estatal.

Si se puede!

Hello Union Siblings!

I am Shelley Ashford. I identify as African American, Queer, and accept fluid pronouns. 

Thank you for your consideration for this honored opportunity to serve the Union as a delegate for the 2023 Oregon AFSCME Convention. 

I am a recently sworn in Union Steward for local 88. I am a new member of the LGBTQ+ Caucus. I endeavor to learn more about the Union. I also seek to serve in leadership roles with the Union. 

I work as a limited duration assignment Employee Wellness Specialist with Multnomah County Central Human Resources. My recent past assignment was as a Black Library Cultural Advocate Library Assistant for Hillsdale Library, Multnomah County Library. 

Solidarity!

Shelley  Ashford

My name’s Joe Clement. I’ve worked for the library as an Access Services Assistant at the Central Branch for 9 years. I’ve been a union member for that whole time, and a steward for about half that time. I’ve never been to an AFSCME convention, but I have attended the Labor Notes conference twice in my 9 years. I would like to be a delegate for Local 88 at the Oregon AFSCME convention to (1) connect issues affecting our members with those of other Locals; (2) advocate for policies that support front-line workers deciding when and how to struggle; and (3) promote social and ecological justice.

Members of Local 88, this is our Union moment. What do I mean by that? According to an August 2022 Gallup poll, 71% of the U.S. population approves of unions, its highest approval since 1965. The Covid-19 pandemic has publicly exposed our nation’s horrible working conditions, and the impact it has had on our health and safety. Workers cannot tolerate these conditions anymore and are organizing to fight them. Recent efforts and wins at Amazon, Apple and New Seasons highlight struggles we too have fought for at Local 88. Union discussions are no longer whispered or dismissed. They have returned to the National discourse.       

For those that don’t know me or have only seen me through Zoom, my name is Kyle Eilenfeldt, Library Assistant at the Central Library and a Union Steward. Since becoming a Steward in October 2021, I have worked hard to improve communication by engaging coworkers on a one-on-one basis and constantly updating our union information board with new updates and the occasional Union meme for levity. As your delegate at the Oregon AFSCME Convention, I will seek to embody the spirit mentioned above and seize this Union moment. On the one hand, I will bring humor and enthusiasm, actively participating in the union business of the weekend. This will not just be in the formal proceedings but also in the casual conversations I have with AFSCME members from around the state. By sharing best practices and struggles alike, I hope to better recognize our solidarity to ensure a more just workplace. Further, I will not be afraid to be robust and ask hard and thoughtful questions at the convention, tirelessly advocating for the best interests of Local 88. Finally, I will not simply attend the convention and move on. I will take the lessons learned from the convention and help to improve our local, from better representing our members to adding more insights at general membership meetings.

This is our Union moment. If elected as your delegate, I will help ensure it becomes a Union era, that enthusiasm for organized labor will be a sustained entity and not just considered a by-product of the pandemic… 

Thank you for your time and please consider me when voting.          

Respectfully Submitted,

Kyle Eilenfeldt

My name is Megan Gallagher and I am a proud member of AFSCME Local 88. I was raised in a union town in Michigan and believe strongly in the importance of union membership. Getting a union job was life-changing for me and I grew up seeing the positive impacts that unions can have on workers and the community. I am a passionate supporter of union democracy, solidarity, and value the ability and power of workers to create positive change in our workplaces and the places we live and work. 

Prior to moving to Oregon, I worked at Teamsters for a Democratic Union in Detroit, where I learned a lot about the labor movement and the importance of centering rank-and-file voices in our unions. I would be honored to serve as a representative of Local 88 at the Oregon AFSCME Convention. If elected, I promise to use my knowledge and experience to represent our membership in a thoughtful and meaningful way. I promise to support policies and resolutions that focus on strong contracts, empowering members, and accountability for all levels of union leadership. 

I believe that it is important that many voices of our union and community are represented. I am a working-class queer white woman. I am the parent of an Autistic child. I identify as a person in long-term recovery, who has experienced houselessness. I worked at Central City Concern for seven years prior to getting a job at Multnomah County and promise to represent the voices of CCC and TPI workers in addition to those of Multnomah County employees. I currently work as a Corrections Counselor with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, helping individuals currently impacted by incarceration to connect to community resources. 

I have served as a steward for several years and on the Local 88 Executive Board. I also had the pleasure of representing our union at the AFSCME International Convention in Philadelphia last year. I studied my materials prior to the convention beginning, voluntarily attended committee meetings, and tried to ensure that our voice was heard and I hope to do the same if elected to serve at the Oregon AFSCME Convention.  I want to help shape Oregon AFSCME in a way that helps strengthen our union and allows workers and all Oregonians to thrive. 

In Solidarity,

Megan

As a newer (almost 2 years) member of the union, I’ve been working not on where the union has been, but where I’d like to see it go. As a steward, I see a lot of infractions, harm, and inequities done to employees that are from historically excluded backgrounds. As a county who has led the charge in deeming racism as a public health crisis, Multnomah County is not treating its own employees with the same respect and safety that they claim to adhere to. This is unacceptable. As a delegate, I would like to learn more about how we can pivot the strength of the union to finally create spaces within the union where members who are still massively underrepresented can join. 

In June 2022, I was granted the opportunity to attend Labor Notes in Chicago where I learned more about the synergy of the civil rights movements and the union movement, however it is apparent that even in the modern day union spaces, white supremacy reigns. Challenging the rhetoric that things should be done a particular way because they’ve always been done that way is important in demolishing the barriers that keep excluded people from being at the union table and collaborating with us to make impactful, important, and powerful statements to our employers. 

Attending as a delegate will help me understand where Local 88 as a union is thriving and identify where we have gaps that need to be addressed. As a newer member, I feel like I don’t have the historical background or commitment to keep things as they are, my commitment is to make the union appeal to a broader and more inclusive community of members  that are currently not being heard or seen.

Attending the convention will also help me connect with other AFSCME leaders in Oregon who can collaborate in making AFSCME a better place for all members and not only those who have the privilege of time, money, or race. As the Local 88 DEI coordinator, I know there is much I need to learn about AFSCME and our union; opportunities like this grant me the opportunity to strengthen my knowledge, abilities, and the breadth of how I can better serve our union, and that is my ultimate goal.

My name is Charlotte Garner and I currently work at Central City Concern. I have worked in the realm of behavioral health since 2016 and have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Most predominantly I have seen the exploitation of workers who are just wanting to help the most vulnerable populations in our society. In 2019 I proudly voted with my coworkers at Central City Concern Recovery Center to become part of AFSCME local 88-1. Prior to that I had some union experience being a family member of the UBC local 1503 when my ex wife was working in carpentry. I saw the power that the union had in uniting people and creating an equitable and safe workplace. 

In 2019 when my worksite finally voted to join the union I was a newly single mother who was barely making ends meet between rent and daycare costs. I had no idea what I was going to do to be able to afford electricity but I recognized the importance of getting involved. I engaged in steward training and was asked to join the bargaining team. At that time I was still afraid of taking time away from my work so I pulled back.

Fast forward a few years and I was again asked to be a part of the bargaining team. This time as a single mother who was in school full time. But I knew the strength and the power that can come from uniting as a whole. During this time I have been afforded many opportunities through AFSCME local 88 to understand the power of solidarity and the ways that we can create change. I am hoping that by attending the Oregon AFSCME convention as a delegate that I can help continue to form that solidarity within our union and create the change that we need in order to help support our members.

No candidate statement submitted

No candidate statement submitted

TLDR. I work in the Library and I look at conventions as a way for me to give back to my union that has invested in me over the years. My role at conventions has transitioned from being a wide-eyed, young rabble-rouser thirstily drinking from the union firehose (we came up with a resolution in 1 night after being turned away to sell our union-made, sweatshop-free merch at our table in 2007), to becoming an innovative leader who had various roles within Local 88 and Council 75 including Local VP, Council E-Board, Council County Sector VP, and various roles on committees and caucuses.

I helped to create a young worker program at AFSCME International, the Next Wave. We met as a group of about 30 members of young worker programs from a few parts of the US, built a toolkit (which was emulated by the AFL-CIO’s “Next Up” young worker program) and hosted a 500+ young member conference the following year. 

I also helped raise AFSCME’s voice in the fight against climate change with the Environmental Caucus. Specifically, we convinced AFSCME to join the Keep Nestle out of the Gorge coalition, and after many years with the instrumental help from water protectors including members of the Columbia River Tribes including the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Yakama Nation, as well as the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to pass local measure 14-55 in Cascade Locks that lead to the governor withdrawing the transfer application which convinced Nestle to give up this fight.

I have used my knowledge of the business at conventions, through resolutions I authored or helped to author, that used our union power to oppose (through divestment) from ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), carbon (a reality for New York State, where the majority of AFSCME workers live), and private prisons. 

I also helped Oregon join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. We joined the compact in next full legislative session after the resolution our local brought to the 2018 OR AFL-CIO convention.

All of these accomplishments that I am so proud of came through the business at conventions, and I hope to teach other Local 88 members how to get their union to work more for us. If elected, I will use my understanding of our union and its processes to guide other members and assist them to realize the potential of their ideas and visions for a future they wish to create. I agree that we need to bring young workers to conventions to invest in their understanding of unions, and I want to serve as a mentor to aid in their development and help our delegation understand the possibilities of what participating in our union at conventions could mean. Therefore, I humbly ask that you vote for me to go to this convention.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Percy Winters, Jr. I work in the Health Department as a Project Manager. I am currently responsible for the receipt, storage, and distribution of all the Covid 19, flu, and tubersol vaccines.

I am the past President of Local 88, current Local 88 Executive Board member, current Executive Board member for AFSCME Council 75, and one of three co lead stewards for the Health Department.

I would like to attend the Oregon AFSCME Convention for the following reasons:

• To learn new tools and tactics to help expand our union 
• To gain skills and knowledge to help reduce income inequality 
• To learn how to navigate the political landscape 
• To learn how to recruit, train, and retain younger and people of color members
• To enhance my knowledge in organizing new members
• To network and establish new relationships with other union leaders
• To develop ideas to support members during this inflation and staff shortages

It would be a pleasure to represent Local 88 and our members at this convention.

Hello union siblings!

My name is Hilary Zust, I use she/her pronouns. I’m a proud Union Steward, an AFSCME Executive Board Member, and a past contract Bargaining delegate. 

I’ve worked at Multnomah County for 8+ years, currently as a Human Services Investigator in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Division. My role as a Steward, providing advocacy for social justice and workers rights, and our work to collectively support community safety, are at the heart of my core values.

Our union has done so much to advance working conditions for our members, but we still have further to go. 

I’m asking for your vote so that I may attend the AFSCME 2023 convention in order to bring back additional knowledge, so that we may continue to grow, to support one another, and to continue to strengthen our union together.