AFSCME Local 207 Newsletter

On Tuesday December 2^nd, at 5:30 PM, a union trial will be held regarding the false charges filed against Local 207 President John Riehl, Secretary-Treasurer Michael Mulholland and former General Unit Chair Bruce Conway. The trial will be held at the AFSCME Building, 600 W. Lafayette at Third, 3^rd floor Conference Room. It will be conducted by three members of Council 25’s Executive Board. Members of all AFSCME locals should attend this trial and demand that Bennett stop these divisive attacks on the member’s right to elect our officers.

These charges were filed by Eleanor Bennett as part of her on-going campaign of lies against Local 207’s elected leaders. If the charges are upheld, those accysed could face removal from office, and be prohibited from holding office for 4 years.

Bennett’s whole campaign is an effort to weaken our local’s fight against the Mayor’s schemes, such as his latest attempt to privatize sludge incineration. Kilpatrick is also trying a mayoral takeover of the Detroit Public Schools. If he succeeds he will bring more charter schools in, and reappoint CEO Burnley. And Burnely will continue privatizing and attacking the school unions and destroying public education. Kilpatrick’s school plan is an assault on the democratic right of majority-black Detroit to elect a school board with some real power. United action by City workers, teachers, students and community and civil rights activists is needed to defeat Kilpatrick’s plans both in the schools and in the City. On Wednesday December 3, members should attend the meeting being sponsored by the City Council and the Detroit Federation of Teachers to oppose the Mayor’s school power-grab. The meeting’s from 5 to 7 PM on the 13^th floor auditorium of the City-County Building,

Bennett and a few failed candidates for union office oppose linking the fights against the mayor’s anti-Detroit attacks. Instead, they would like to isolate Local 207 from the allies which we need, and in effect do nothing. That would make us powerless and vulnerable. Management would love to be rid of Local 207’s elected fighting leadership. But the members didn’t let that happen.

The membership overwhelmingly elected the City Workers for Justice Slate for the second election in a row. Local 207 has already held a spirited rally on Thursday November 20, demanding that Kilpatrick pay us our retro pay. Our law suit demanding our retro pay goes before the judge at 9 am on Friday December 5, Room 1421 on the county side of the City-County Building. Be there! President Riehl meets with the City and another judge Wednesday December 3, on the “Frozen Minimum” case – we’ll soon have a settlement or a trial. We are an activist leadership. We’re proud that the members elected us to lead the fight.

Bennett has filed charges against Bruce Conway too. That’s because last summer as an Executive Board member Conway wouldn’t back her plot to suspend Riehl and Mulholland. Bennett’s plot was however supported by Council 25 Rep Jimmy Hearns who hoped to punish Riehl and 207 for opposing the sellout contracts Hearns negotiated. Hearns thought he had a friend in Bennett because she was the only Local 207 officer to vote against strike authorization in September 2002.

Bennett’s implications of financial wrong-doing against Riehl and Mulholland are total BS. Local 207’s leadership is more democratic, open and financially responsible than ever before. The charge against Conway involves a $54 oversight from March 2001 which Conway has now repaid to the local. These are phony and frivolous charges.

Bennett originally filed these charges to try to trick the members into electing her as president, but her plan backfired. Out of a field of six candidates she placed a distant third, with 11.4%. But she refuses to accept the members’ decision. Instead, she is continuing her campaign of false and petty accusations, trying to get some force outside Local 207 to overturn the members’ votes and put her in charge. She wants to focus the elected leaders’ attention on defending themselves, to sow confusion, and to make it easier for management to attack our union and its members. We will defend ourselves against her slander, but Bennett’s games will not paralyze this local. She is not that important by a long shot – the membership is!

Her suspension plot failed last summer, her phony charges will fail now. And the election protest Bennett and unsuccessful presidential candidate Brian Sherman have cooked-up will fail too. The members don’t support Bennett or the other candidates, they support Riehl. The trial body members should recognize dirty campaigners and sore losers when they see them. And sore losers have no right to overturn the members’ decisions. Come to the trial. Defend the right of the members to choose their leadership. Bennett’s divisive campaign of lies must be stopped!