If you are interested in organizing a union or have questions about organizing, please see our organizing team information below.
Organize With Us Today!
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) District Council 47 is a progressive labor union that represents workers and retirees in the Non-profit, Higher Education, Cultural/Arts, & Government sectors of the greater Philadelphia, PA area.
We fight for:
- The rights, safety, and protections of all workers
- Racial and social justice
- Economic equity and fair taxation
- Affordable health care for all
- Equality
- Quality public education
- Public community services
- Jobs with family sustaining wages and benefits
- Retirement security for all workers
Be a part of history!
Join AFSCME DC47's organizing wave, with recent cultural worker union wins at:
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Penn Museum
- Please Touch Museum
Organizing Team
Paul Dannenfelser
Council Representative/Organizing Director
e-mail: pdannenfelser@dc47.org
phone: 215-893-3764
Paul Dannenfelser was a Steward, Recording Secretary, and President for AFSCME Local 1723 at Temple University. He worked for 2 years as a member organizer and 3 years as a staff organizer for the American Federation of Teachers helping to win union elections and negotiate first contracts for adjuncts in higher education. Paul is the Council Representative/Organizing Director for AFSCME District Council 47. He assists union Locals in negotiating successor agreements, first contracts, oversees the grievance and arbitration process, and coordinates internal and external organizing. He has worked as a social worker in mental health. He teaches classes in social work at Temple University and Rutgers University. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Social Work from Ramapo College of New Jersey and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University.
Sarah Shaw became an organizer with AFSCME DC47 in October, 2020. Having come to organizing as a worker-activist at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she now focuses on building unions with museum and cultural workers in the Philadelphia area, winning contracts for museum workers, and educating other arts and culture workers about organizing. A former Philadelphia public school teacher and museum educator at the PMA, Sarah received a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College and a Master of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Alex Kauffman
Organizer
e-mail: akauffman@dc47.org
phone: 215-554-0086
Alex Kauffman is an organizer with AFSCME DC47. Alex joined DC47 following more than a decade in the Philadelphia cultural sector, holding curatorial and education positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and teaching undergraduates in the History of Art and Cinema Studies programs at the University of Pennsylvania. Working in the European Painting and Sculpture Department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Alex helped organize a successful wall-to-wall union drive there in 2020 in affiliation with DC47. Alex received a BA from New York University and an MA and PhD in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania.
