Public Employee Press
DC 37 News
New AFSCME secretary-treasurer addresses union delegates
“Our members are the backbone of our communities,” McBride said. “They staff our libraries, maintain our roads, care for us in times of medical crisis, ensure the safety of our children and much more.
“Trump’s budget is a frontal attack on public services and unions,” she said, that would “skin us alive and strip every program created for decent people to live.”
“Our members have a real impact on the lives of countless individuals because we never give up and we never quit,” said McBride, who is a former educator and organizer. She joined the labor movement as a member of the United Auto Workers District 65 in 1989. McBride worked with factory workers to form unions and win first contracts in several right-to-work states, including North Carolina and Texas.
McBride shared her philosophy that made those organizing victories possible: one-on-one communication, workplace power and direct action with workers coming together and standing united.
“In this anti-worker climate, unions have to prepare for a new fiscal reality and be ready no matter what. Fight back by sticking together and standing together,” McBride said.
From 2001 until her appointment as secretary-treasurer of DC 37’s national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, McBride served as AFSCME’s director of education and leadership training.
— DSW
