WHEREAS:

The 14 Locals affiliated with Public Servants United of Puerto Rico (SPUPR)/AFSCME Council 95 present to the brothers and sisters of AFSCME this resolution of support approved during an Assembly May 23, 2010, in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and

WHEREAS:
On March 9, 2009, the legislative bodies of Puerto Rico and Gov. Luis Fortuño-Burset (R), both from the New Progressive Party (PNP) of Puerto Rico, passed Law 7, the Special Law Declaring a State of Fiscal Emergency and Establishing a Comprehensive Plan to Stabilize the Economy and Save Puerto Rico’s Credit, in force until January 1, 2012. Gov. Fortuño claims that Puerto Rico has a structural deficit of over $3.2 billion, and this law intends to save $2 billion in record time as a compromise with bond holders; and

WHEREAS: 
Phase II of Special Law 7 included a plan to layoff public employees of government agencies included in the Law of Fiscal Emergency, excluding very few worker classifications; and

WHEREAS:
The plan to reduce the government payroll was implemented by the Board of Fiscal Reconstruction and Stabilization, formed by directors of agencies related to the government budget, coming from the private sector without any experience in government or public administration. This board decided to dismiss permanent public employees with less than 13.5 years of public service unilaterally, without explaining the reason for this time limit and without providing employees with a forum to challenge such decision; and

WHEREAS:
This plan has dismissed more than 20,000 public employees, of which 3,303 are affiliated with AFSCME locals in Puerto Rico. This has affected the dues revenue of these locals and the number of members in the District of Puerto Rico. These employees are fathers and mothers, with these salaries as their only source of income, and without the opportunity to receive help from social security in the middle of a financial crisis in the United States. This has provoked a critical economic and emotional situation in the homes of thousands of our dismissed members, who now do not have enough money to cover basic needs for their families; and

WHEREAS:
Law 7 suspended all economic benefits and salary increases negotiated in the collective agreements, and froze the process of collective bargaining until March 9, 2011, delaying negotiations for an additional year and opening the door to requests for new union elections for union representation in public agencies, thus challenging the current exclusive representation of SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95; and

WHEREAS:
The administration of Gov. Luis Fortuño-Burset (R) takes action against public employees of Puerto Rico without listening to the claims and proposals of Puerto Rico’s unions and without considering the social and emotional impact these dismissals have on workers and their families. These dismissals have resulted in the loss of homes, cancelations of bank accounts, bankruptcies, repossessions, the killing of two guards from the Department of Natural Resources, members and delegates of SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95, and even suicides; and

WHEREAS:
Gov. Luis Fortuño-Burset, the Senate and the House of Puerto Rico, by restructuring state agencies, promote privatization through public-private partnerships. This public policy of a Republican government threatens the right to collective bargaining and the cancellation of labor gains achieved over decades. Privatizing our agencies aims at benefitting the wealthy, destroying public service, and eliminating the right to collective bargaining; and

WHEREAS:
In the face of this difficult situation for the Puerto Rican labor movement, unions that do not support the Public Employees Unionization Law opt for raids. These unions visited worksites where SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95 is the exclusive representative and collected cards to petition for new elections with lies regarding the false benefits of a new election after 10 years of exclusive representation, within the 12 public agencies represented by SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95 and petitioned for two of our three largest units; and

WHEREAS:
The government of Puerto Rico has an anti-worker agenda that does not recognize exclusive representation, negotiated agreements, nor labor rights or labor laws, with the government’s only goal of eliminating unions in government agencies and returning to a totalitarian control of public service.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
Members and delegates of AFSCME accept this resolution presented by the brothers and sisters of Puerto Rico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME notify Gov. Luis Fortuño-Burset (R), the Puerto Rico Senate, and the Puerto Rico House of Representatives that we are aware of the government actions with regard to our brother and sister members; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
 That AFSCME condemn all actions aimed at privatizing public agencies of the government of Puerto Rico and the elimination of the right to collective bargaining within the public-private partnerships; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME condemn mass layoffs in the government of Puerto Rico. These layoffs need to be replaced with fiscal savings measures, with public employees providing ideas and solutions through their unions in order to reduce expenses and increase revenues; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME reinforce its support to Puerto Rico locals and assist them during any union representation elections to guarantee that SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95 prevails as the exclusive representative for our members in Puerto Rico; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
AFSCME reinforce its lobbying efforts in Congress and the White House in support of Puerto Rican workers and reinforce its support to SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95 efforts to have the Puerto Rico legislature end Law 7 or amend it to allow contract negotiations before its expiration in March, 2011. 
 
SUBMITTED BY: 
Braulio Torres, Delegate
AFSCME Council 95, Local 3647
Puerto Rico