ARP funds are an opportunity to build up communities by investing in public service workers
The American Rescue Plan, which AFSCME members helped make a reality and which President Joe Biden signed into law a year ago, provided $350 billion in funding to states, cities and towns.
Day on the Hill 2019: Making Our Voices Heard
Day on the Hill gives AFSCME members an opportunity to learn about the legislative process, then use that knowledge to engange in meaningful conversations and build relationships with the people we elect to represent us at the Capitol. It’s a chance to come together as...
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...
This Workers Memorial Day, We Honor Those Who Died at Work, Including From COVID-19
Roxie Nelson remembers her father, Ed Nelson, as a caring and passionate man who often put the needs of others before his own.“When I was around him his phone was always busy, and he would take calls from people all the time,” she recalls. “He was always working to help...
Congress has finally passed an infrastructure bill. Build Back Better should be next.
The House of Representatives has passed President Joe Biden’s transformational bipartisan infrastructure plan, which Biden will soon sign into law. The passage earned praise from AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who, in a statement, said, “We are turning a corner.”
AFSCME Volunteer Member Organizers Rise Up
LAS VEGAS — More than 160 AFSCME members gathered in Las Vegas last week to lift up the voice of public service workers and move our union forward. At the AFSCME Volunteer Member Organizer Rise Up conference, VMOs from around the country attended skill-building trainin...
One Local's Direct Dues Challenge
Cindy Ramsey is on fire.The Local 701 member from Hutchinson, who works as a one-to-one caregiver in a state-run care facility for developmentally disabled adults, has spent the past two months on a mission to sign up her entire Local – all 192 members – for Direct Dues...
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...
Year in review: 2021 was a banner year for Cultural Workers United
Walker Worker Union (AFSCME Council 5)
AMRTC Workers Stand Together – and Win Big
Last summer, members of AFSCME Local 1307 joined with members of MNA and MAPE at the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center (AMRTC) for an informational picket to call attention to unsafe working conditions at the facility. As a result of these actions, AMRTC added a new...
AFSCME member’s support for unions earns her AT&T savings
Georgia Veiga has been a proud member of AFSCME New Jersey Local 3440 for the last 17 years. She regularly seeks out opportunities to support companies that employ union workers.
To honor those who died on the job, give every worker a voice in the workplace
Workers Memorial Day 2021 arrives at a moment of the greatest urgency, when the front lines of the war against COVID-19 run through America’s workplaces.
Public Charge Rule Would Turn American Dream into Nightmare for Millions
This summer, I joined thousands of union members at a rally in Philadelphia to speak out against the Trump administration’s family separation policy. I was there to represent our union’s vision and values. We reject an immigration policy based on fear and cruelty. We em...
Taking our 'Rise Up!' Message to Vegas
At the AFSCME International Conference in Boston this year, we remembered that, despite the attacks on labor unions, AFSCME will and does Rise Up! Taking the ‘Rise Up!’ message to Las Vegas, AFSCME International gathered over 160 volunteer member organizers (VMOs) from...
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: A Broken Promise
Megha Desai is a public defender in Multnomah County, Oregon. In a given week, she might work upwards of 60 hours. Right now, she has about 145 open cases.“It's like a conveyor belt. Every day you work on your assigned cases, new ones roll in,” said Desai, a member of L...
Jill Erzar: Minnesota's Ambassadors to the Natural World
Some people have wild stories about their coworkers. Jill’s, though, are unique.Jill Erzar is a zookeeper at Como Zoo in St Paul. Her coworkers are giraffes, bison, reindeer, kudu, zebra, and other hooved animals of all shapes and sizes.Growing up, Jill always loved ani...
AFSCME Activism: A Family Tradition
As AFSCME Local 66 celebrates the union’s 100th anniversary this year, members are looking back on their union’s long, rich history – and how it’s impacted their lives, families and communities. For Sandy Pernu Wallin, the AFSCME connection runs deep. Sandy – a second g...
Caught in Limbo: AFSCME Member Struggles with Student Loan Forgiveness
As a public librarian for the Philadelphia Free Library, Sheila O’Steen embodies what we think of when we imagine a public service worker. Every day, she interacts with members of her community. Whether her patrons are young or old, affluent or impoverished, O’Steen sha...
Thanking EMS professionals is not enough; we must help them solve a staffing crisis
Member-provided photo
AFSCME retiree blasts fiscal commission bill as a backdoor way to gut Social Security, Medicare
AFSMCE Retiree Mary Cannon-James and Connecticut Rep. John Larson. Photo credit: Madalin Sammons/ AFSCME
You, Your Pension & Your Union
When it comes to retirement plans, most working Americans have only a few options. For many public workers, though, a pension promises a secure, dignified retirement after a lifetime of service.
It’s Up to Us: Labor Carrying the King Legacy Forward
The following is adapted from remarks delivered by President Saunders at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s Martin Luther King Day Breakfast on January 14, 2023.Union family, it’s a great honor to spend this special day with you, as we celebrate the life and l...
Local 66 Celebrates 100 Years
AFSCME Local 66 encompasses most of St. Louis County and the Iron Range and is made up of 19 bargaining units, with a membership comprised of workers from all walks of life – from the sanitation workers who keep our communities clean and healthy, to social workers who t...
Vacation Donation a Game-Changer for DNR Award Winner with Terminal Diagnosis
Marvin Timmons is a self-declared union man, through and through. He’s also a veteran; a “mechanical guy;” a loving husband, grandfather and brother; a lover of animals and nature; and, in his own words, a “forever optimist.”And to his coworkers and supervisors at the M...