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Federal funding to help vulnerable Americans in danger of getting cut

Federal money for programs and services that help millions of vulnerable Americans and employ many AFSCME members could be in jeopardy next year.

Injured on the Job, Corrections Officer Links Safety with Collective Bargaining Rights

Safety Through Collective Bargaining Rights: Kelvin's Story

The day after he was released from a hospital, a bruised and swollen Kelvin Chung told a state Senate committee that state employees like him need collective bargaining rights to advocate for safety on the job. “I want you to see my face. We need a voice on the job, so this doesn't happen again to anyone else,” said Chung, a corrections officer.

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 travel the region caring for our vulnerable and elderly.

NJ Librarian Praises Fast Access to Disaster Relief Grant with the Union Plus Credit Card

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy battered the east coast of the United States, causing billions of dollars in damage across 24 states. The hurricane quickly became known in the impacted region as “Superstorm Sandy.”

Shileen Shaw knows firsthand how the storm got that name.

“We had never seen anything like it,” says Shaw, recalling the damage her East Orange, New Jersey, home suffered at the time.

We Can Do More for Worker Safety

Workers Memorial Day is this Sunday, April 28, when we honor workers killed or injured on the job. On this day in 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was formed.

For almost half a century, OSHA has been charged with helping to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for men and women across this country. But under the Trump administration, OSHA is failing us. As we observe Workers Memorial Day, it’s clear that we can do more – much more – for worker safety.

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.

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 Local 2805 (Council 75). “There's a joke in the office: If you don't come in on the weekends, you’re screwed for the next week.”

The first weekend of April was an exception: It was her wedding. 

AFSCME Celebrates National Library Workers Day

All-knowing sources of information. Tour guides to the highways and byways of history. The friendly voice of a morning story time. If that’s all you think of when you think of your library staff, you’d do well to meet some of AFSCME’s library workers, whose reach goes far beyond their libraries’ walls.

Today is National Library Workers Day, when we honor those professionals who keep our libraries running: librarians, technicians and other staff, including custodians, security and maintenance workers.

We Carry on Dr. King’s Fight

MLK Memorial 2019 I AM | Be The Change | AFSCME Video

Fifty-one years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to help rally the community around 1,300 AFSCME sanitation workers who had gone on strike.

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