What's the difference?

As you can see Sylvester did not get on and take up the blog. I even left it alone for this week. Of course, most people have made their decision and sent in their ballots by now. But I think it is only fair to address what the difference would be between me and Toney Bishop other than race and sex.

For about six years Toney Bishop has been the face of AFGE for the State Department. He has encouraged people with issues and concerns to call and e-mail him and to keep doing so until they get a response. His problem is that he is just one person. He does not have anymore hours in the day than any of the rest of us. He cannot be in more than one place at the same time.

My approach will be to work as a team with the rest of the AFGE officers, stewards, and members so that we can work together to take care of employees' concerns. I have been contacted by personal services contract employees wanting to know if they can join AFGE. I have told them that we are all one organization and that we want to see them join us as GS employees.

Divide and conquer is the game as old as empire, but we do not have to fall for that. I want AFGE to be courageous without being adversarial with our colleagues. I want us to be out in front of the issues for GS employees advocating for them and protecting them.

I would like every eligible employee to feel that AFGE is the union that is there for them. I hope that when you are considering who to vote for that you will vote on issues, goals, and what we can do as a team. I can promise you that if you send an e-mail to me (provided you are not spamming), you will get a response on the first try. If there is someone else who can take up the issue better than me, I will pass your concern to someone on the AFGE team.