HARRISBURG — The largest of the unions representing Pennsylvania’s state and local government workers has, temporarily at least, been placed under the administrative oversight of its national office due to unspecified but “serious” financial problems.
The announcement concerning Harrisburg-based Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents about 65,000 public sector workers statewide, was made Thursday in a brief press release.
AFSCME International blamed “serious financial problems currently impacting Council 13′s ability to live up to its obligations to the national union.
“These issues are not the result of financial impropriety or the fault of any one individual,” the notice said. “And despite its best efforts, Council 13 has been unable to resolve them. Therefore, AFSCME International is placing Council 13 under an administratorship.
“The goal of this partnership is to resolve Council 13′s current financial situation so that it remains a strong, effective voice for Pennsylvania’s public service workers in the months and years ahead,” the union’s statement said.
Procedures for a national takeover are set out in the union’s constitution.
Such moves are extraordinary, but not unprecedented.
This winter, AFSCME executed a more comprehensive takeover of Michigan-based Council 25, replacing its executive board and leadership with a new “Michigan Organizing Committee.”
The statewide council in Florida was placed in administratorship last summer.
It was not immediately clear what “obligations” Council 13 has failed to keep, and in a follow-up exchange of emails with PennLive Friday, AFSCME spokesman Tim Cauley said those “are internal union matters and we are not releasing specifics at this time.”
But AFSCME rules require all councils and locals to pay a per capita carve-out from collected dues to the international union.
Cauley added: “The decision to place an AFSCME affiliate under an administratorship is never made lightly. In this case, there are serious financial challenges that if ignored threaten the council’s long-term stability... The administratorship will help correct the issues and strengthen the council.”
AFSCME has been a giant in Pennsylvania’s public-sector workplaces since the late 1960s, when many public service employees in Pennsylvania commonly worked under the patronage system — meaning they were hired and fired at the will of their political employers.
After a massive organizing campaign, Council 13 was chartered and became the voice of more than 75,000 workers in state, county and local governments.
The single biggest unit within Council 13 is state workers, and the biggest sign of Council 13′s clout there is that the master contract with the AFSCME workers has long served as the template for economic packages worked out for almost all other state worker unions.
Just last summer, its leadership successfully completed talks on a new four-year contract that will raise the pay of workers not already at the top of their longevity-based pay scales by an average 22%.
But AFSCME’s membership number has been declining for some time.
At the start of this century, AFSCME represented more than 55,000 state workers. In 2010, as far as back as state workforce statistics go online, Council 13 counted 32,851 members across state government, which was 43.3% of the total workforce at that time.
By July 2023, its membership had dropped to 26,678, or 37.5%, of all state employees under the governor’s jurisdiction.
This week’s move likely is only tangentially tied to the membership moves, however, as the total state workforce has also been declining over that time.
For the time being, Mike Sukal, AFSCME International’s Director of Organizing and Field Services since 2012, has been appointed administrator of Council 13. According to the union’s constitution, he will have nearly complete control of union operations for as long as the appointment lasts.
David Henderson, who took over as executive director of Council 13 in January 2021, will serve as one of two deputy administrators under Mr. Sukal, along with AFSCME Area Field Services Director Maximus Weikel.
AFSCME, in its release, stressed that the administratorship will have no direct impact on local unions or member services.
Mr. Cauley also said there are no plans to lay off any paid union staff.
“Local union officers remain in their elected positions. All Council 13 and District Council offices will remain open, and Council 13 staff will continue to be available to service the membership and support the critical work our members do,” he said.
Importantly, union locals are technically not under the administratorship.
Mr. Cauley could not say how long the oversight will last.
“Council 13 is a large, diverse union and the administratorship will take time. While there is no predetermined timetable, the administratorship will not last a moment longer than necessary to achieve its goals,” he said.
First Published March 1, 2024, 9:21pm
