News

WFSE Member Awarded $10k from State Program WFSE Saved in 2023 Legislative Session

After WFSE fought in the 2023 legislative session to bring back the Productivity Board, a Local 443 member won $10,000 for her idea to improve letter translation in the Paid Family Medical Leav

Higher Education: House, Senate and Ferguson Proposals

If these cuts are implemented by the legislature, the colleges will decide how to implement them. Furloughs are on the table and have been utilized in the past. We need to speak up and demand the rich begin paying their fair share.

WFSE Grievance Nets DOC Members Thousands in Back Pay

After a hard fight, WFSE members received an arbitration opinion vindicating our nine Department of Corrections members who teach Defensive Tactics courses who had been unfairly excluded from receiving assignment pay.

First stop for AFSCME’s Staff the Front Lines bus tour: Rochester, N.Y.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – AFSCME’s Staff the Front Lines national bus tour got underway Monday with a stop in this western New York city.

Mayor Malik Evans, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello and New York Assemblymember Harry Bronson joined AFSCME Council 66 members to encourage New Yorkers to apply for open public service jobs.

AFSCME ‘Staff the Front Lines’ bus tour seeks to solve staffing crisis in public service


States, cities, towns and schools face a staffing crisis. Hiring for public service jobs has failed to keep pace with the private sector. In April, for instance, there were 833,000 job openings in state and local governments, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In response, AFSCME is kicking off a national bus tour this summer to recruit talented, diverse and dedicated people to staff the front lines.

Empowered DCYF Union Members Set Priorities

Over 1,000 DCYF union members voted “no confidence” in the leadership of DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter. Here are three ways to capitalize on the strength we have right now!

AFSCME: Supreme Court student loan ruling shows ‘contempt’ for working people

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Biden administration’s landmark plan to forgive up to $20,000 for millions of student loan borrowers.

In a statement, AFSCME President Lee Saunders said, “Today’s decision is yet another example of this court’s contempt for working families.”

WFSE Members at DFI Show What Solidarity Can Do

Just three weeks after officially joining WFSE, several Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) employees were dismayed to learn their pay had been cut. After collecting over 1000 petition signatures, months of organizing, and a planned picket, these members won their fight to have their pay reinstated—and showed their coworkers what solidarity and union power can achieve.

WFSE Corrections Employees Win Multi-Million Settlement

Three union grievances, hundreds of letters, and a statewide petition result in $2k cash payment for all employees in 2023 and a retention bonus of 3% in 2024 for those deemed “essential” by DOC.

Hundreds of AFSCME activists get fired up at Denver organizing summit

Hundreds of AFSCME activists get fired up at Denver organizing summit

Anthony Lockhart. Photo: Miriam Harris

Saunders: Debt limit agreement shows ‘President Biden puts working people first’


AFSCME President Lee Saunders praised President Joe Biden in the wake of a debt ceiling deal that averts a default by the U.S. government on its debt while protecting the interests and priorities of working families and retirees.

Biden signed the deal into law on Saturday.