On March 4, 2002, eight members of AFGE Local 2578 attended the AFGE sponsored 2002 AFGE Legislative and Grassroots Mobilization Conference. The Conference focused on issues such as parity between military and federal civilian employee pay raises in 2003. We can be sure the corporate enemies of government employees will come after us with all of their considerable resources. They will fight to sharply increase government employee health insurance premiums, slash government employee pay, and accelerate the turning over of vital government services to profit-hungry corporations.

The overwhelming attendance of AFGE members from NARA was quite impressive. Attendees included, from the Washington Area, AFGE Council 260 President & Local 2578 Vice President Peter Jeffrey; AFGE Local 2578 President & Council 260 Vice President Vernon Early; Local 2578 Treasurer Nkenge Sims; and Council 260 & Local 2578 Secretary Ted Hull. Through member support, we excitedly welcomed to Washington representatives of AFGE Local 2578 from the Philadelphia and Dayton Federal Records Centers. Mitchell Buffone and Bonita Fleming traveled from Philly and Pamela Bullock and Kathy Wells made their way from Dayton to attend this crucial event and the follow-up training session.

The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, is the largest union for federal government employees, representing 600,000 federal workers in the United States and overseas, as well as employees of the District of Columbia. To learn more about AFGE, visit www.afge.org.

On March 5, 2002, AFGE Local 2578 members headed to Capitol Hill to meet with their local representatives to discuss issues of importance to all federal workers and to bargaining unit employees of NARA. Legislative conference attendees, joined by Benefits Coordinator Deborah Edge and Chief Shop Steward John Powers, brought our issues to the forefront. Members from Dayton and Philadelphia met one-on-one with their local congressional staffs in the House and Senate to discuss issues related to pay, rising health care costs, and transit subsidies for NARA field operations. Representatives of Washington DC area NARA facilities met face-to-face with Eleanor Holmes Norton, Albert Wynn, and Jim Moran to make them aware of our critical EEO and diversity concerns. Steny Hoyer and Connie Morella also received copies of our issues paper.

A full day of lobbying was capped by a reception at the newly renovated Botanic Gardens, where all partook of refreshments and speeches by congressional leaders including Sen. Joe Lieberman.

John Powers armed NARA visitors to the Hill with copies of a brilliant Issue Paper. The paper detailed for our representatives the bread-and-butter issues of importance to NARA employees. We liberally left copies of this paper with our congressmen to let them know of our concerns. These concerns include:

• PAY & HEALTH CARE COSTS: We have over 1600 employees in the GS 1-8 pay scale out of 2800 employees NARAwide. Because of rising premiums, they must choose between feeding their families & paying for health care

In November 2001, you overwhelmingly voted to accept the new National Agreement. Thank you for your earnest support and your continuing faith in the leadership of AFGE Council 260. Our heartiest congratulations go to our negotiators Vernon Early, Peter Jeffrey, and John Powers! The Archivist accepted the new contract in early January and you should look to receive your copy of the new contract by the time it goes into effect on April 1, 2002. This is our contract for the next five years, so take the time to read it, study it, know your rights, and ask questions. Your AFGE representatives will be happy to discuss them with you. In addition to our Local leadership, your AFGE Local 2578 representatives include:

Since mid-2001, AFGE Council 260 President Peter Jeffrey has instituted an intensive training program for representatives. To get us ready for the new contract, on March 6-8, 2002, Peter, joined by John Powers and Gony Frieder, an attorney with AFGE’s Fair Practice Department, provided reps with an intensive introduction to the new contract and the labor-management relations statute (5 CFR Chapter 71); EEO Laws, rights and obligations; OSHA; and a grievance workshop. We are now more capable then ever to fight for your rights! Thank you Peter, John, and Gony!