News

The coronavirus pandemic won’t be controlled until states, cities, towns and schools – and particularly health departments – have the funding they need from the federal government, says AFSCME Reti

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has sent a letter to Congress that echoes what AFSCME has been saying for months: It’s long past time to robustly fund the front lines.

In his first days on the job, President Joe Biden has taken swift executive action to protect and empower public service workers, strengthen public services and help working people.

The work Joe Martinez does for the Los Angeles County Fire Department is emblematic of countless AFSCME members: he’s never in the spotlight and he’s always under pressure while lives are on the line.

After years of debate and delay, Congress has finally passed a bill to ensure that first responders who suffered health problems after responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will receive health care and other compensation for as long as they live.

With former Vice President Joe Biden confirming his participation on Tuesday, the AFSCME-sponsored presidential candidate forum on Aug. 3 will be the biggest event of its kind in our union’s history.

Today, the latest attempt by the Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act will unfold at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, where oral arguments in Texas v. Azar will be heard. The case threatens the future of the ACA, which provides health care to millions of Americans.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents recently approved their 2020 budget, which includes tuition increases, the possibility of health care hikes, and a wage increase that doesn’t do enough to keep workers out of poverty.

Local 3800 Members Address University Board of Regents

AFSCME is on a roll. We are notching victories coast to coast – at the bargaining table, in the organizing trenches and in state capitals.

Following a brutal workplace attack in October that left her unconscious and hospitalized, Tina Suckow is speaking out. She and her AFSCME sisters and brothers are raising their voices against her firing by Iowa state authorities and in favor of a federal bill that would help prevent such workplace attacks.

Back in 2015, workers at the Children’s Adolescent Behavioral Health Services facility found out about a budget plan to transition the program out of the state’s hands and into the private sector and got right to work opposing it. AFSCME members from Local 701, alongside community allies and elected officials from across the state, fought hard to keep the program alive. They pointed out that many of the youth in the workers’ care would be unable to find housing or adequate treatment with private providers, who can turn away clients arbitrarily.