Good afternoon, everyone! We hope you all enjoyed your early dismissal!
We have a few new additions to the mailing list, and we’re thrilled about it! These emails, and the accompanying blog posts, are not secret by any means and we absolutely encourage you to spread it around. We even have a small handful of Local 2187 members on the list, who have proven to be allies of organized labor in general, and Local 696 specifically.
Post summary:
- Election news!
- Workplace Safety Concerns at the Library
- Dorney Park!
- Meetings!
- What can you do to help?
Election news:
There isn’t any!
It’s now been 9 days since the AFSCME Local 696 election was overturned by AFSCME Judicial Panel Member Denise Gilmore. Local 696 has until July 22, 2023 to complete a re-do of the election. The Election Committee has until tomorrow to appeal the overturn of the election.
Presidential Candidate Sharon Thorpe and Business Agent Candidate J. Matthew Catron are currently trying to discover more information. You have our promise: When we know, you will know.
Workplace Safety Concerns at the Free Library:
This only applies to Free Library employees, though I would encourage all members of Local 696 to read. A conservative terrorist group called “Moms For Liberty” has publicly threatened to attend and protest several pride-related events that the Free Library of Philadelphia is hosting.
Business Agent Candidate J. Matthew Catron will be attending several of these events as part of a counter-protest movement to keep Library workers, and the public, safe. Members of the general public will also be counter-protesting.
To keep things brief, the threatened locations are Independence Branch, Philadelphia City Institute, and Parkway Central. For more details, email us at info@696rabblerousers.com . We would happily accept more folks to stand as a barrier to keep our workers in both 696 and 2187 safe.
We will not be agitating, provoking, or harassing Moms For Liberty in any way. We are simply acting as a barrier to keep the situation from escalating. We are a response, not a provocation.
Dorney park:
Apparently, there are a large number of Local 696 members who were unaware that District Council 33 is having a special Dorney Park visit day TOMORROW, JUNE 17, 2023. We are very sorry that we did not more actively bring this to your collective attention. We were under the impression that the word had effectively gotten out- an assumption we will not be making in the future.
If you are able to get to the union hall, they are open until 6pm tonight and from 8am-1pm tomorrow. It is $10 for a ticket to Dorney Park, $15 for a dependent (checked against your DC33 medical insurance), and $35 for up to two guests. If you come tomorrow, you can use the same ticket again for another Dorney Park visit FREE during the 2023 season.
Tomorrow’s visit includes free parking, and an all-you-can-eat buffet from 12:30pm-5:30pm. Your second visit this season will not include those perks.
Again, we are terribly sorry that we weren’t more proactive in getting this information to you sooner. You have our word that going forward, we will make no assumptions about what you are or are not hearing about Local 696 or District Council 33.
Meetings:
As the election season begins anew, the candidates of the Rabble Rousers want to meet with YOU, the membership! We want to let you know about the union, what it does, what it doesn’t do, what it should do, and what it’s not doing. More importantly, we want you to tell us about the issues that matter to you most.
We will begin on Zoom, next Wednesday night at 6pm. It is not currently clear if we will be able to host in-person meetings just yet.
Expect a new email Tuesday with the link. The link will be the same for all future Wednesday meetings.
What can you do?
We’ve received several offers of support from the membership, and we are humbled. So, let’s say you are interested in helping the Rabble Rousers get into office of AFSCME Local 696. How can you do that? It’s easy to say, “get involved,” but we don’t find that particularly useful. Here are some small, practical ways that you can be a part of our movement!
1. Tell your coworkers!
Local 696 is unique in that we have few centralized meeting points. Library workers are divided up across 57 separate locations, L&I, Revenue, Procurement, 311, and all the other departments 696 represents all have unique, locked offices among over 100 work locations- including many who work from home. It’s an incredible challenge to speak to our membership, so please engage with all your coworkers. Tell them what’s happening- the election, the overturning, the work the Rabble Rousers are doing to connect with the membership- and convince them that this is their future we’re all fighting for.
2. Spread this blog post and our email list around!
We prefer to do all our business in writing. Emails, texts, videos- concrete documentation that can be pointed to and cited specifically. Word of mouth, handshakes, and phone calls are nice, but without proof and documentation, there can be no accountability. Forward these emails to your colleagues (OFF of City emails, please!) so that they can also have first-hand documentation of what’s going on in their Local. Anyone- AFSCME or not- may ask to join our mailing list at info@696rabblerousers.com .
3. Attend our meetings!
Our meetings are the best way to get our attention, but they will also contain lots of information on your union representation and what you’re entitled to. Do you want to know more about your union, but don’t know where to start? Come to us, and we will show you! (see above, link coming soon!)
4. VOTE!
The most effective way to get your voice heard is to vote in the coming election. We don’t have much information on how it will be conducted this time around, so stay tuned! We will tell you when we know.
That’s all for now. Have a wonderful weekend! Please respond with any and all questions regarding this email specifically or our Local in general.
In solidarity,
The Rabble Rousers