Congratulations to Melissa Schardine from Local 3448 for winning AFGE’s first-ever Fred McDuff Legislative-Political Coordinator award.
Schardine is executive vice president of Local 3448 representing Social Security Administration (SSA) employees in Cleveland, Ohio. As an LPC, Shardine’s tasked with getting her local involved in AFGE’s lobbying efforts by helping push AFGE-supported bills, and educate members of Congress on various issues. LPCs are an integral part of our union’s efforts to build political and legislative power.
Schardine began working at Social Security in 1991 and has been a member of her local since AFGE began representing her unit in 1994. Since that time, she has involved herself at every level of the union.
She first got involved in the legislative and political work during the efforts we were running for the U.S. Senate race in Kentucky in 2014. She has stuck with it ever since and continues to be heavily involved in our electoral efforts, even securing the victory for a new member of Congress this year that has already shown himself to be a great ally of AFGE.
She has made countless get-out-the-vote phone calls and has knocked countless doors – sometimes bringing her own children along to do so.
Her secret to staying motivated and doing all these volunteer shifts over the years?
“Half of the work is to simply show up,” she said.
At the award ceremony, she thanked her local for the support of the LPC program and all the LPCs across the country for working so hard to build our political power. She also urged all AFGE locals to participate in the LPC program to make our voices heard on Capitol Hill.
“There’s no better way than to have an army of trained LPCs” as our union works to pass the FAIR Act that would give federal workers an 8.7% raise next year. “I’m asking you to show up, just show up. Let’s build that army.”
Schardine also recognized Fred McDuff, the beloved legislative and political organizer and namesake of the award. McDuff passed away leaving his legacy in the LPC program he spent his career creating in District 9 and across the country. He definitely left his legacy in our first-ever LPC of the Year recipient, who herself was trained by McDuff.
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