Honoring Public Safety Telecommunicators

by Clyde Weiss  |  April 09, 2012

It’s National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, in which we honor 911 dispatchers and other public service employees who perform related, critical work for our communities. That includes an estimated 200,000 women and men nationwide who do their jobs almost anonymously, over telephone lines and radio waves.

Congress designated the week in 1991 to acknowledge their service.

This distinguished group includes David Mancini, a member of AFSCME Local 884 (Connecticut Council 4) and an employee of the New Haven 911 Emergency Communications Center. Mancini helped save the life of a 4-year-old boy who fell into a pool last year. Even so, he credits family members and co-workers, saying simply, “We were all doing our job as a team.” Read more about Mancini’s story here.

Most dispatchers receive no public acclaim for their efforts, and they ask little except public support for the work they do, and respect from their employers. AFSCME is proud to represent them, and we work through collective bargaining to ensure they receive the decent wages, benefits and retirement security they deserve and earn.