American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) grew out of the Wisconsin State Employees Association (WSEA) which was formed in
1932 by a small group of
white-collar and
professional state employees who feared of losing their jobs to
nepotism by local
politicians.
In
1933 WSEA was granted a charter by the
American Federation of Labor. WSEA was now on the
American labor movement's map and
Arnold Zander, a state personnel examiner, became the group's driving force. Zander began promoting the idea of a
national union of
state,
county, and
municipal employees and by
1935, state employee associations had emerged in several states.
At the
May, 1935 AFL convention, Zander's national union—by then called the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees—was made a "department" of the
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). However, this arrangement did not satisfy Zander and other AFSCME leaders who wanted full
independence. Sixteen months later, in
September, 1936, AFGE officers recommended a separate AFL charter for AFSCME. That charter was granted and Zander was chosen as AFSCME's first
International President.
AFSCME's most memorable victory was probably that of the
Memphis Sanitation Worker's strike. The workers, mostly
African-American, were striking for union recognition, dues deduction, wage increases, a four-step grievance procedure ending in arbitration, and end to racial
discrimination in promotions and job assignments. It was during this 65 day
strike that
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated.
AFSCME currently represents over 1.3 million members, the majority of which are public service and health care workers.
AFSCME is affiliated with the AFL-CIO
Most information in this write up is from http://www.AFSCME.org