Tier 1 National Org

What is PEOPLE?

PEOPLE — Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality—is the legislative and political arm of AFSCME. The PEOPLE program influences public policy and legislation by involving AFSCME members in four related activities:

• Registering AFSCME members to vote and providing them important information on the issues and candidates' records
• Lobbying elected officials
• Working to elect candidates who will act in the interest of AFSCME members and their families
• Making voluntary contributions that fund these and other union political activities.​

Through the political process we can be involved in setting important public policy. Through the political process, public employees can elect representatives who are sensitive to maintaining vital public services and committed to dealing with workers fairly.

PEOPLE's Endorsement Process

Elected officials can dramatically affect the lives of AFSCME members. That's why the AFSCME PEOPLE program has established an endorsement process to give members the information they need to make the best choices on Election Day.

The process is democratic — all Local unions can participate. By setting up such a process, AFSCME "speaks with one voice."

Each PEOPLE committee uses a variety of tools to decide who to endorse in a particular race. Voting records, questionnaires, candidate interviews, and information provided by the legislative staff are all considered.

Party affiliation is not a basis for endorsement. The bottom line is the candidate's support for issues that benefit working families.

During election seasons, the candidates that Council 57 recommends will be listed on this website. Check our endorsements, print them out, and take them with you to the polls on election day.

Get Involved

Members have many options for getting involved in the PEOPLE program, including participating in voter registration drives, lobbying on specific issues and bills, working on campaigns-from walking precincts to working phone banks-and making voluntary contributions that fund these and other union political activities. 
 
If you are an AFSCME member and would like to be more involved, contact us today. 

What is PEOPLE?

PEOPLE — Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality—is the legislative and political arm of AFSCME. The PEOPLE program influences public policy and legislation by involving AFSCME members in four related activities:

• Registering AFSCME members to vote and providing them important information on the issues and candidates' records
• Lobbying elected officials
• Working to elect candidates who will act in the interest of AFSCME members and their families
• Making voluntary contributions that fund these and other union political activities.

Through the political process we can be involved in setting important public policy. Through the political process, public employees can elect representatives who are sensitive to maintaining vital public services and committed to dealing with workers fairly.

PEOPLE's Endorsement Process

Elected officials can dramatically affect the lives of AFSCME members. That's why the AFSCME PEOPLE program has established an endorsement process to give members the information they need to make the best choices on Election Day.

The process is democratic — all Local unions can participate. By setting up such a process, AFSCME "speaks with one voice."

Each PEOPLE committee uses a variety of tools to decide who to endorse in a particular race. Voting records, questionnaires, candidate interviews, and information provided by the legislative staff are all considered.

Party affiliation is not a basis for endorsement. The bottom line is the candidate's support for issues that benefit working families.

During election seasons, the candidates that Council 57 recommends will be listed on this website. Check our endorsements, print them out, and take them with you to the polls on election day.

Get Involved

Members have many options for getting involved in the PEOPLE program, including participating in voter registration drives, lobbying on specific issues and bills, working on campaigns-from walking precincts to working phone banks-and making voluntary contributions that fund these and other union political activities. 
 
If you are an AFSCME member and would like to be more involved, contact us today. 

With Election Day in the special election for Senate District 40 almost here, the AFSCME SEIU Florida PAC is continuing its strong push to turn out the more than 6,000 workers represented by the two unions that live in the district.

The joint program, which has focused heavily on in-depth door-to-door conversations over the past few months, sent two additional direct mail pieces to drive working families to participate in the last weekend of Early Vote or on Election Day.

Both pieces in support of Annette Taddeo are in English and Spanish.

“Defender” details how Taddeo has a history of standing with working families on issues such as wages, health care and retirement. With many members working in health care, the attacks on the Affordable Care Act threaten not just coverage but their jobs as well. Unlike her opponent, Taddeo has a plan to expand access and opposes legislation that would strip workers of their voice on the job.

“Make A Plan” lets voters know when and where they can participate in Early Vote as well as where they can find their polling location if they prefer to vote on Election Day.

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With Election Day in the special election for Senate District 40 almost here, the AFSCME SEIU Florida PAC is continuing its strong push to turn out the more than 6,000 workers represented by the two unions that live in the district.

The joint program, which has focused heavily on in-depth door-to-door conversations over the past few months, sent two additional direct mail pieces to drive working families to participate in the last weekend of Early Vote or on Election Day.

Both pieces in support of Annette Taddeo are in English and Spanish.

“Defender” details how Taddeo has a history of standing with working families on issues such as wages, health care and retirement. With many members working in health care, the attacks on the Affordable Care Act threaten not just coverage but their jobs as well. Unlike her opponent, Taddeo has a plan to expand access and opposes legislation that would strip workers of their voice on the job.

“Make A Plan” lets voters know when and where they can participate in Early Vote as well as where they can find their polling location if they prefer to vote on Election Day.

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With Election Day in the special election for Senate District 40 almost here, the AFSCME SEIU Florida PAC is continuing its strong push to turn out the more than 6,000 workers represented by the two unions that live in the district.

The joint program, which has focused heavily on in-depth door-to-door conversations over the past few months, sent two additional direct mail pieces to drive working families to participate in the last weekend of Early Vote or on Election Day.

Both pieces in support of Annette Taddeo are in English and Spanish.

“Defender” details how Taddeo has a history of standing with working families on issues such as wages, health care and retirement. With many members working in health care, the attacks on the Affordable Care Act threaten not just coverage but their jobs as well. Unlike her opponent, Taddeo has a plan to expand access and opposes legislation that would strip workers of their voice on the job.

“Make A Plan” lets voters know when and where they can participate in Early Vote as well as where they can find their polling location if they prefer to vote on Election Day.

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Most times, you can find longtime AFSCME member Bert Walthour serving the City of Miami Beach as a heavy equipment operator. He and his coworkers at Local 1554 (AFSCME Florida), where he serves as vice president, make one of the world’s most iconic cities function every day.

But these past few weeks have been anything but normal, not since forecasters put Florida squarely in Hurricane Irma’s path.

“Life got real busy real quick,” said Walthour. “We implemented our hurricane preparation for the city as well as making sure our houses and families were getting ready.”

Since much of South Florida, including Miami Beach, fell under one of the largest mandatory evacuation orders ever, sleep became as hard to find as water, canned goods and gasoline.

For Walthour and public employees across the state, the storm was just the start.

“Everyone has what is called a landfall team, the first folks that go out once the worst is over, even with the wind and rain still going, to get critical streets, bridges and other places passable for police, fire and recovery personnel to start doing their jobs,” said Walthour.

His landfall team members reported to a secure building and tried to get what rest they could as the storm struck Florida on Sunday, September 10. Then, at 6:00 a.m. Monday, even as Irma continued to unleash heavy rain and fierce winds on South Florida, Walthour and his team went to work – cutting up fallen trees, clearing debris, repairing and replacing signs and signals and doing everything else necessary to allow families to return to their homes and begin rebuilding.

“We didn’t leave until 4 p.m. on Tuesday,” said Walthour. “We slept in our trucks when we could, and if we were so lucky we laid down a bit at our building in the public works yard after a bite of hot food. … This is when public workers really shine, when the clouds turn dark and the path forward is not clear, we are the ones who help make the rebuilding possible.”

Like Walthour, AFSCME-represented public service workers are working across Florida to help their communities dry out and recover from Irma. And they’re progressing at a steady pace, though there are still mountains of yard debris to clear, thousands of street lights to restore and street signs to fix, eroded beaches to refill, power to be restored and entire communities to rebuild in some of the hardest-hit parts of the state.

To these selfless sisters and brothers, we say thank you.

To see photos of AFSCME Local 1554 at work, click here.

 As part of the Political and Legislative Action Committee program, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla dropped by Council 36 in recent days to discuss new bills that would improve the state’s current voting system.

CA Secretary of State, Alex Padill

While voting rights are being rolled back in other states due to right-wing voter suppression campaigns, Padilla intends to reverse the tide in California. He is authoring, sponsoring or supporting a number of bills designed to enfranchise voters, particularly in working families and communities of color, by making the process of casting ballots easier and more accessible.

For example, the California New Motor Voter Act (AB 1461), will automatically register every eligible citizen when they apply for or renew a driver’s license or state ID card. He anticipates this will substantially increase the number of people who vote because all registered voters receive ballot information in the mail, and that increases the likelihood that they will become involved.

Another innovative bill is The California Voter’s Choice Act (SB450), which would enable voters to return the ballots they receive in the mail within 11 days and at any “vote center” in the County -- not just at your own designated polling station. Vote centers would look and feel more “updated” and equipped with modern technological features like full database of voters rather than pre-printed lists. Already implemented in Colorado, not only does this increase voting accessibility, it has been shown to actually lower County expenses on voting by 20% to 25%.

Padilla is also trying to move legislation that would put California at the forefront of the national primary elections, and make our state more influential. That bill, which is culling bi-partisan support according to Padilla, changes the date of its presidential primary elections to three months sooner than it is currently. Padilla reasoned, we are the most populous state in the nation and “the State of the Resistance,” so why should we be the last state on the map to have a say?

When elected Padilla stated he never imagined his responsibilities would include Twitter battles with the President. Trump, since being elected, has continuously leveled unfounded accusations of fraudulent voting at California. Though he provides no evidence whatsoever, he has created a new “Advisory Commission on Election...