Dear Members:

I got a call on Friday asking me to travel to Chicago (at AFL-CIO expense) to receive a certificate from AFL-CIO President Sweeney and the President-elect of the NEA this Wednesday.

Of the 15 million union members in the US, about 10 million belong to a union that is part of the AFL-CIO. The NEA, MTA's parent union, is not a member of the AFL-CIO. When we were with SEIU, we were members of our local Central Labor Councils, or CLCs. The CLCs are organized and run by the AFL-CIO, and any AFL-CIO union may join without incident. When we left SEIU, we also left the AFL-CIO, and lost our memberships in the CLCs. We have been trying to find a way to get back into the CLCs, and asked at the MTA Annual meeting that they step in and help. Turns out that the NEA (MTA's parent) brokered a deal with the National AFL-CIO.

The benefits of belonging to the Central Labor Councils are intangible but important: we hear about the struggles and successes of other local unions, create alliances, and are involved in the larger labor movement and community. (We will be needing people to serve as our delegates on the councils. We will send more information on that.)

I am guessing that we (PSU) are the first to take advantage of this deal, and so they have asked me to go to the AFL-CIO National Executive Committee meeting to meet the President of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, and the President-elect of the NEA. They will present me with a Certificate to join. This is a big deal for them. They have asked MTA to send someone, and NEA is sending someone, as well.

This is just another example of PSU leading the way for our members.

In Solidarity,