From the Blog

• Apr 04 Street Renamed to Honor 1968 Sanitation Strikers Thousands march to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work on behalf of Memphis sanitation workers.
• Apr 04 So Long, “Owlcatraz” GEO Group cancels plan to purchase naming rights to Florida Atlantic University’s football stadium.
• Apr 04 The Struggle Continues in Memphis as Labor and Allies Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Event commemorates Dr. King’s life and his work on behalf of the Memphis sanitation workers.
• Apr 03 Inspired by Dr. King, Member Terry Walker Travels to Memphis California home care provider joins commemorative events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and 1968 strikers.
• Mar 22 Unity Puts Santa Clara Workers Closer to a Contract With United EMS Workers by their side, city workers stand their ground.
• Mar 21 Victory for Humboldt Home Care Workers After two year battle, Humboldt County home care workers reach contract agreement with the county.
• Mar 19 Maryland State Workers Gain Voice on the Job with AFSCME Winning collective bargaining rights was the first step for these public service workers.
• Mar 13 New Orleans Cab Drivers Seek Fair Treatment on the Job Taxi cab drivers are partnering with AFSCME Council 17 for fair treatment on the job.
• Mar 06 Mother Jones’ Hit Job on Unions: With Friends Like These... Magazine inaccurately attacks public service employees who work every day to help our communities.
• Feb 27 Protestors Demand More Money for Schools, Local Governments Rally before Gov. John Kasich’s State of the State speech turns up the heat
• Feb 22 Attacks on Workers’ Rights Continue in Indiana Bill would undermine school employees’ unions by ending paycheck deductions for union dues.
• Feb 19 Kansas Lawmakers Seek to Undermine Union Strength ‘Paycheck deception’ bill is designed to weaken workers’ voices in the political arena.
• Feb 14 New Hampshire Rejects Right-to-Work (for Less) The Democratic-controlled House killed the measure with a 212 to 141 vote.
• Feb 13 Tea Party Favorite Sets His Sights on Our Rights Sen. Rand Paul introduces national right-to-work-for-less law in Congress.
• Feb 12 Saunders Calls for Forging Labor Unity Leaders from nation’s major unions say stronger unity is critical to rebuilding the middle class.
• Feb 11 President Saunders: No Time for Fair-Weather Friends AFSCME leader calls out anti-worker tactics of Philadelphia Mayor Nutter and Illinois Governor Quinn.
• Feb 11 Ohio Workers Protest Effort to Make State “Right-to-Work-for-Less” AFSCME members joined other activists at a rally and press conference in Ashland, Ohio.
• Feb 08 Philly Mayor Goes “Full Scott Walker” Borrowing from right-wing governors, Democrat Nutter targets workers’ rights.
• Feb 08 Cuts in Mental-Health Funding Pose Risks for States Spotlight on intersection between mental-health disease and gun violence highlights need for more support.
• Feb 08 Union Lawsuit: ‘Right-to-Work-for-Less’ Law Violates Michigan Constitution Union coalition and the ACLU file suit, charging law violated Open Meetings Act.
• Feb 06 In Private Hands, Safety Issues Quickly Arise in Ohio Prison The Lake Erie Correctional Institution was sold in 2011 under Gov. John Kasich’s administration.
• Feb 05 California University Employees Demand an End to Executive Excess Administrators must cut executive pay before considering more tuition hikes, layoffs, or cuts to workers.
• Jan 31 Governors Who Reject Medicaid Expansion Will Harm Workers, Families Several governors say they will refuse to set up health care purchasing “exchanges.”
• Jan 24 Thousands in Philly Demand Fairness from Mayor Nutter City workers call on Philadelphia mayor to respect workers’ rights and think about working families.
• Jan 18 In Anti-Nutter Rally, AFSCME Members Support Sisters and Brothers in Philadelphia Mayor Nutter was in DC to chair a meeting of the National Conference of Mayors.
• Jan 15 Register Now for Dynamic Legislative Conference Want to raise your voice for workers? Come to Washington, DC, and do just that.
• Jan 11 Illinois Governor Quinn Continues His War on Public Service Workers Newest effort is to deny collective bargaining rights to 3,580 employees.
• Jan 08 Iowa State Employees Launch Statewide Media Blitz Against Governor’s Double Dealing With contract negotiations underway, AFSCME Council 61 members speak out about Gov. Terry Branstad’s hypocrisy.
• Jan 04 Rush to Weaken Illinois’ Pension System Unwise Governor Quinn uses lame-duck session to undermine workers’ retirement security.
• Dec 21 Maryland Council 3 Holds Founding Convention AFSCME’s newest council held its founding convention Dec. 14-15 in Columbia, Md.
• Dec 21 Wall Street Journal Duo: You’re Not Working Hard Enough Right-wing bloggers Biggs and Richwine ignore data that show lay-offs cut public services.
• Dec 20 Saunders’ Focus: Ending the War on Working Families AFSCME president pledges to stay in campaign mode, fight attacks in states across the country.
• Dec 18 In Illinois, the Anti-Worker Fraternity Gets a New Member in Quinn Pat Quinn joins right-wing governors in scapegoating working people.
• Dec 13 Michigan Battle Extends Beyond Labor Right-to-work isn’t the only legislation that ALEC is moving in Michigan.
• Dec 12 Mich. Emergency Financial Manager Law: The Saga Continues In the midst of Michigan’s right-to-work battle, Governor Snyder brings back the Local Dictator Law.
• Dec 11 Thousands Protest Michigan’s Right-to-Work (for Less) Bills Corporate-driven lawmakers pass legislation to weaken workers’ rights.
• Dec 10 President Obama: Michigan Right-to-Work Bill is All About Politics “What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.”
• Dec 06 A Competition with Very Few Winners An investigation by The New York Times reveals a race among state and local governments for the benefit of large companies
• Dec 06 Michigan Anti-Union Advocates Want to Undermine the Middle Class Supporters of “right-to-work (for less)” law launch battle to undermine workers’ unions.
• Dec 06 Ohio County Workers Join AFSCME Employees overcome anti-union campaign to improve their jobs.
• Dec 05 Arkansas Race for Power Reflected National Dynamics AFSCME Council 38 Exec. Dir. Jim Nickels relied heavily on ground game to clinch victory.
• Dec 04 Illinois Governor Terminates State Contract, AFSCME Responds With no warning or explanation, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn terminated the contract with state workers.
• Nov 30 We Won in San Diego AFSCME-endorsed mayoral candidate Bob Filner prevailed over Carl DeMaio, an anti-worker city councilman.
• Nov 16 Philadelphia Workers Drive Their Message Home to Nutter, Literally Members of AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47 stage candlelight vigil outside the mayor’s house.
• Nov 01 We Are AFSCME: Campaign Volunteer Shares His Story of Activism Public workers are organizing and campaigning for candidates who support working class families.
• Oct 23 Shedding Light on Election Choices in the Sunshine State AFSCME members in Florida urging voters to head to polls early, remember workers’ rights.
• Oct 15 In Ohio, the Next Chapter in a Fight for Workers AFSCME campaign volunteers speak up for Obama and fair Congressional representation.
• Oct 14 Meet the New Mitt. Same As the Old Mitt. With his campaign on the skids, Romney tries on a number of personas – none of them authentic.
• Oct 12 Working People Flying the Unfriendly Skies Aboard Delta Sky magazine praises union-bashing, anti-worker Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
• Oct 11 That Knock at the Door? It’s An AFSCME Member Fighting for Workers. Michigan members hit the streets to rally for candidates and causes that will boost the working middle class.
• Oct 10 AFSCME Michigan Members Stand Up to Local Dictators Thousands of calls focus on threat to democracy from Public Act 4.
• Sep 28 Governor Kasich’s Crusade to Privatize Ohio’s Transportation Department Attacks on public employees in the Buckeye State despite the important work they do.
• Sep 28 Weeks Before Election, Concerns Remain in Ohio and Pennsylvania Fate of Michigan collective bargaining proposal might hinge on voter turnout.
• Sep 27 AFSCME’s ‘Pat Quinn Truth Squad’ Is on the March in Illinois Union spreads message that governor’s proposed budget cuts will devastate critical services.
• Sep 26 We Are Better Off Than We Were Before Economic reality forces presidential contender Mitt Romney to alter his campaign slogan.
• Sep 21 Jindal’s Job Hypocrisy Hurts Louisiana Governor cares about his deep-pocketed campaign donors, not jobs.
• Sep 20 Campaign Activists in Ohio Hear from AFSCME’s President Saunders It’s a family affair as volunteers work the phones for Obama and state candidates.
• Sep 14 Judge Strikes Down Scott Walker’s Law Attacking Collective Bargaining in Wisconsin Unpopular law touched off weeks of protest in Madison by public workers and their allies.
• Sep 12 AFSCME Stands with Chicago Teachers and Public School Children Saunders: Chicago mayor and school board must collaborate with teachers for student success.
• Sep 10 AFT Statement in Support of Striking Chicago Teachers Union Members Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten in support of striking Chicago Teachers Union members.
• Sep 07 Opting for a Medicaid Donut Hole Makes State Budgets the Biggest Loser A bad policy decision by governors in some states carries a devastating health impact.
• Sep 06 AFSCME Next Waver Campaigns for President Obama’s Election – and Her Own For Shannon Schroeder, it’s not enough to vote in the election. She’s running for office.
• Sep 05 Vermont Home Care Workers Organize to Amplify Voice Despite attempts to quash union organizing in other states, Vermont caregivers push ahead.
• Sep 03 Saunders on the GOP Convention: “All Lies and No Solutions” Pres. Lee Saunders appeared on “Washington Watch” to discuss attacks on working families and unions.
• Aug 31 Romney Opposes Expanding Collective Bargaining Rights for Public Workers At the Republican National Convention, presidential hopeful declares he will fully embrace an anti-worker agenda.
• Aug 29 They Said What?! Remarks from anti-worker governors at the Republican National Convention had us scratching our heads.
• Aug 28 Michigan Appellate Court: Place Collective Bargaining Amendment on Ballot State Supreme Court to have the last word as corporate-backed politicians appeal decision.
• Aug 27 AFSCME Founder’s Grandson Eyes Seat in Alaska State Legislature Andy Josephson’s candidacy fires up labor and community supporters.
• Aug 24 CSEA Cheers Federal Court’s Ruling to Protect Union Contracts Labor leaders expect positive implications for labor-management relations across the country
• Aug 24 Illinois Gov. Quinn Has a Bad Day at the State Fair AFSCME members, working families make their voices heard during the fair’s annual Governor's Day.
• Aug 23 GOP Convention Theme: Another Distortion of the Truth The Tampa Bay Times Forum, site of the Republican Convention, was built with public financing.
• Aug 20 A Vote in Favor of Reclaiming Collective Bargaining in Wisconsin AFSCME Local 502 President La Tonya Johnson moves one step closer to Assembly seat.
• Aug 08 Florida AFSCME Members Organize, Defeat Privatization Scheme North Miami Beach city council overwhelmingly voted down a plan to privatize sanitation services.
• Aug 06 Michigan ‘Local Dictators’ Law Will Go On Ballot for Citizen Vote AFSCME-led coalition pushes for 200,000 petition signers’ voices to be heard.
• Aug 03 New York Members Speak Out Against Parking Meter Privatization Call for city workers to continue their effective job of raising more than $150 million/year in revenue.
• Aug 02 Study Links Good Jobs and Bargaining Power New study from CEPR blames decline of good jobs on workers’ deteriorating bargaining power.
• Aug 02 Don't Blame Union for Bankrupt Cities Saunders: Scapegoating public workers does not address the real problems facing cities across the country.
• Aug 01 Lexington, Ky., Sanitation Workers Win Vote to Unionize with AFSCME Newest members of Council 62 look forward to having an increased say on the job.
• Jul 30 Indiana Judge Condemns Privatization Taxpayers lose out when a plan to privatize the state’s welfare system ends in failure.
• Jul 23 HBO Show “Newsroom” Spotlights Scott Walker’s Attack on Bargaining In the latest episode of HBO’s drama, fictional news anchor reports on the Wisconsin uprising.
• Jul 20 Fighting Back Against ‘Local Dictators’ in Michigan State Supreme Court will hear arguments on ballot access from both sides on July 25.
• Jul 12 California Governor Signs Budget with No New Cuts to Home Care Jerry Brown enacts financial plan with no reduction in In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).
• Jun 29 Muskogee City Employees Win Back Collective Bargaining Rights City council restores rights that were stripped away last spring.
• Jun 25 President Saunders: ‘We Won’t Back Down’ In a New York Times interview, Pres. Lee Saunders lays out his vision for AFSCME.
• Jun 21 California AG Harris: ‘We Are Too Big Too Fail’ Attorney general praises AFSCME members for leading the fight for working families every day.
• Jun 21 Fighting As One Thousands of AFSCME delegates rallied in Los Angeles with their California sisters and brothers.
• Jun 20 AFSCME Members Stand Together, Fight Back Ed Schultz emceed a program highlighting AFSCME's efforts in battles across the country.
• Jun 20 Secretary-Treasurer Saunders: ‘We Don’t Back Down’ In his keynote address, Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders exhorted delegates to pull together and fight.
• Jun 15 Michigan to Vote on Anti-Worker ‘Dictator’ Law, Union Rights Amendment Measures to repeal Public Act 4, protect collective bargaining rights to be on November ballot.
• Jun 12 Romney, Allies Target Public Service Workers Presidential hopeful claims fewer teachers and first responders is what taxpayers want.
• Jun 06 What Happened in Wisconsin The spirit of Wisconsin should continue to inspire our commitment to fight even harder.
• Jun 05 A Fight for the History Books – and Workers Everywhere Wisconsin’s working families fight back against corporate-backed policies that have devastated the state’s economy.
• Jun 05 Volunteers in Walker Recall Election Inspired to Get Out the Vote AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders inspires troops in the final hours of Wisconsin’s recall election.
• Jun 05 For Wisconsin Activist, A Long-Awaited Day Arrives Leah Lipska is ready to recall Scott Walker and win back Wisconsin for working people.
• Jun 05 Solidarity Knows No State Boundaries Support for Walker recall transcends Wisconsin’s borders.
• Jun 05 Returning the Favor: Ohio Workers Get Out the Vote to Recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Volunteers from Ohio’s OAPSE/AFSCME help Wisconsin voters recall Governor Walker.
• Jun 04 Face to Face, and Call after Call, Volunteers Are Making a Difference in Walker Recall Effort AFSCME Council 24 member Paul Spink gets out the recall vote.
• Jun 04 Getting the Walker Recall Vote Out in Wisconsin Two volunteers on the front lines of the fight talk about why they do it.
• Jun 04 The Unsung Heroes behind the Wisconsin Recall Campaign Meet some of the volunteers who perform the less glamorous but essential campaign jobs.
• Jun 02 Rock the Vote Rally Energizes Wisconsin Recall Effort Campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker hits a musical high note.
• Jun 01 AFSCME’s Saunders Hits the Airwaves to Discuss The Main Street Moment Book examines the unprecedented attacks on workers’ rights by right-wing politicians and their corporate backers.
• May 30 North Miami Beach AFSCME Members Fight Sanitation Privatization Member mobilization, community outreach put the brakes on city manager's push to privatize sanitation services.
• May 30 AFSCME’s McEntee and Saunders Release Book: The Main Street Moment Book offers searing look at income inequality and a plan for rebuilding the American Dream.
• May 29 Wisconsin Recall Race in a Dead Heat New polling shows Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett closing in on Gov. Scott Walker.
• May 22 “We Are Wisconsin” Documentary film shows the experiences of six regular people who joined the Wisconsin uprising.
• May 21 AFSCME Members Fight to Protect Jobs, Pay Raises in Maryland, Missouri Hard bargaining and grassroots legislative activism secures pay raises for the upcoming fiscal year.
• May 21 San Diego AFSCME Members Overwhelmingly Ratify One-Year Agreement One-year deal with the city protects the pay and rights of working families.
• May 15 Walker and Gingrich Share a Donor No surprise: Anti-worker casino owner Sheldon Adelson backs Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s re-election.
• May 15 Arizona Legislature Champions the Rich, Corporations, but Attacks Workers Legislature wipes out civil service protections but fails to kill collective bargaining.
• May 11 AFSCME Members Fired Up to Recall Wisconsin Governor Walker Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wins primary. Next step: Beat Governor Walker.
• May 10 Public Job Losses Hit Women, African-Americans Hardest New EPI report reveals the human costs of cuts to public services.
• May 10 Romney: “Governor Kasich Is Doing a Heckuva Job” At a campaign stop in Ohio, presidential candidate praises the state’s unpopular governor.
• May 04 Public Pension Opponents Argue from Both Sides to Distort Truth Dean Baker contends that politicians are “using heaping doses of the politics of envy" to divide workers.
• May 03 Governor LePage’s Mean Words Maine’s first-term governor steps up his anti-worker rhetoric, adding to his string of outlandish statements.
• May 02 San Diego Businesses Speak Out Against Threat to Retirement Security from Proposition B The measure is being used to score political points at the expense of city employees.
• May 02 Missouri Home Care Providers Win Historic Court Ruling Vote by 13,000 workers for representation with AFSCME upheld by Court of Appeals.
• Apr 30 Saunders: AFSCME Members Are Everyday Heroes On progressive radio show Rebuild America, Secretary-Treasurer Saunders discusses attacks on public service workers.
• Apr 27 In Michigan, Democracy Loses to a Technicality Voters unfairly denied a chance to decide whether the “dictator law” should stand.
• Apr 27 Random Drug Testing of Florida State Workers Unconstitutional, Judge Rules Suit, brought by AFSCME and the ACLU, overturns Gov. Rick Scott’s executive order.
• Apr 26 Jindal Bows to Public Pressure, Halts State Prison Sale Louisiana governor’s plan to sell a prison called off due to public outcry.
• Apr 25 Walker’s Cronies Get Bonuses While Working Families Cut Back As Wisconsin leads the nation in jobs lost, governor’s top staff get big payouts.
• Apr 25 Under a Spotlight, ALEC Continues to Lose Supporters The American Legislative Exchange Council loses a member as it pursues its right-wing agenda.
• Apr 20 Memphis School Workers Remind School Board of Public Workers’ Value Future of community’s public education at stake as city-county school systems merger approaches.
• Apr 19 Florida AFSCME Members Fight Privatization Members of AFSCME Council 79 participated in the Push Back Summit to Save South Florida.
• Apr 13 Californians Preparing to Fight Corporate Power Grab New video highlights deceptive ballot measure that would limit union members’ political power.
• Apr 13 California Child Care Providers Recognized for Service Community recognizes contributions of child care providers during Cesar Chavez Day festivities in Orange County.
• Apr 12 Louisiana Gov. Jindal Takes Aim at State Constitution Governor could violate state Constitution to impose changes to workers’ pensions, law firm concludes.
• Apr 10 Library Workers Will Not Be Shushed On National Library Workers Day, AFSCME is fighting to protect our nation’s public libraries.
• Apr 10 University of California Irvine Ends Outsourcing of Custodial Services After a four-year battle, 94 custodial workers were officially classified as University employees.
• Apr 09 ALEC Too Extreme for Coke and Kraft Foods Corporate backers back away from American Legislative Exchange Council over ‘Stand Your Ground’ law.
• Apr 04 Georgians Win Fight for Constitutional and Worker Rights Bill designed to stifle free speech and worker rights dies under weight of protests.
• Apr 04 Students and Labor: A Perfect Union The United States Student Association and AFSCME pull together to fight state battles nationwide.
• Mar 30 Court Strikes Down Portions of Wisconsin Governor’s Anti-Worker Agenda State ordered to reinstate automated paycheck deductions for state workers by May 31.
• Mar 30 AFSCME Converges on Minnesota Capitol Building Over a thousand AFSCME members filled the rotunda in St. Paul to challenge an anti-worker agenda.
• Mar 28 Memphis School Employees Score a Huge Victory The Unified School Board votes to extend labor agreements through 2013.
• Mar 27 Florida Local Stops Privatization Scheme Community sides with workers, against attempt to privatize the Hallandale Beach Building Services Department.
• Mar 22 Missouri Public Service Workers Lobby for Their Rights AFSCME Council 72 members defend collective bargaining in meetings with state representatives.
• Mar 22 Maryland Workers Beat Back Privateers Prince George’s County Public Schools will not contract out Before- and After-Care services.
• Mar 21 Democracy Wins a Victory in Michigan Judge’s ruling invalidates ‘dictator law’ in Flint over Open Meeting Law violation.
• Mar 19 Iowans Win Victory Over Gov. Branstad’s Abuse of Power State Supreme Court rules governor defied constitution to close unemployment offices.
• Mar 16 Ariz. Governor Pushing Pro-Cronyism Bill Legislation would wipe out protections for public service workers and promote political cronyism.
• Mar 16 Scaled Back Tier 6 Plan Rammed Through N.Y. Legislature Open government gave way to backroom deals in the middle of the night.
• Mar 14 New Yorkers Say ‘Tier It Down’ to Tier 6 Retirement Plan Hundreds rally to defend the retirement security of New York public service workers.
• Mar 14 Jobs and the Economic Recovery, by the Numbers The economy is recovering slowly, dragged down by continued job losses in the public sector.
• Mar 13 Report: NY Governor’s Plan Cuts Retirement Security 40 Percent Study by independent organization confirms benefit cut.
• Mar 11 Rally Goers March to Take Back Wisconsin Tens of thousands send a powerful message to Gov. Scott Walker and corporate-backed politicians.
• Mar 09 San Jose Workers Vow to Fight Pension Deception Audit ordered after politicians caught inflating pension costs by more than $250 million.
• Mar 08 Judge to Florida Legislators: Mandatory Pension “Contribution” is Unconstitutional County court orders lawmakers to return money taken from local government workers with interest.
• Mar 07 Public Sector Workers Rally in New York State Capital for Working Families Nearly 2,000 public service workers gathered in Albany for AFSCME's annual lobby day.
• Feb 29 Workers Must Be Involved in Tennessee School District Merger AFSCME Local 1733 deserves a voice in merger of Memphis and Shelby County school districts.
• Feb 29 Petitions Collected for Repeal Michigan ‘Dictator Law’ Initiative Anti-worker law gives unelected officials the power to negate collective bargaining agreements.
• Feb 27 AFSCME Endorses Kathleen Falk for Wisconsin Governor Falk fought to protect the collective bargaining rights of public service workers.
• Feb 22 DiNapoli: ‘Stop Twisting the Facts’ on Public Pensions New York State Controller warns lawmakers 401(k)-style plans provide inadequate retirement security.
• Feb 22 This is What Democracy Looks Like in Florida on Lobby Day Hundreds of AFSCME members travel to Tallahassee to meet with their elected representatives.
• Feb 22 The Truth Behind Right-to-Work-For-Less Corporate-driven, anti-worker legislation will undermine Minnesota’s middle class.
• Feb 21 Prison Privateer Offers to Buy Prisons from Starving States Corrections Corporation of America will give cash in exchange for own-and-operate services.
• Feb 17 Attacks on Worker Rights Can Be Defeated, Says Ohio AFSCME Leader IVP Joseph Rugola participated in a panel discussion on politics of public sector bargaining rights.
• Feb 17 #ALEC Exposed Twitter users expose the agenda of the secretive American Legislative Exchange Council.
• Feb 15 Poll Doesn’t Show Full Picture of ‘Right-to-Work-for-Less’ in Ohio Questions in new poll were overly simplified and biased in favor of anti-worker legislation.
• Feb 14 Prison Privatization Fails in Florida Senate Plan is rejected by a 21-19 vote, handing Gov. Rick Scott a major defeat.
• Feb 10 Walker’s Attack on Wisconsin Values Anything But Progressive Setting the facts straight about Scott Walker's real record as governor.
• Feb 10 Collective Bargaining Rights Upheld in SD Legislative effort defeated by activists from Council 59 and other supporters of workers’ rights.
• Feb 10 Kasich Fails to Address the Real State of His State AFSCME Council 8 activists demonstrate during Ohio governor’s State-of-the-State address
• Feb 07 Arizona Workers Brace for Battle State legislators move quickly to pass several anti-worker bills.
• Feb 07 Building Worker Strength in Lean Times AFSCME union in Florida grows in the face of a tough economic climate.
• Feb 03 Right-To-Tweet-For-Workers #superbowledition The Twittersphere responds to right-to-work-for-less law in the Super Bowl state.
• Feb 02 Volunteer Member Organizers Head Out in Tulsa, Okla. City employees organize against privatization and anti-worker threats.
• Feb 02 N.H. Gov. Lynch Stands Up for Public Employees In State of the State address, governor vows to block threats to collective bargaining.
• Feb 01 Indiana Workers Speak Out Against ‘Right-to-Work-for-Less’ Bill Gov. Mitch Daniels disregarded workers’ views when he signed the bill.
• Jan 31 S.D. Workers’ Collective Bargaining Rights Safe – For Now Sponsor of anti-worker bill changes mind, but the bill is not dead yet.
• Jan 31 Florida Public Safety for Sale Republican state Sen. Mike Fasano speaks out against a bill to privatize Florida's prisons.
• Jan 25 ‘Our Democracy is Not for Sale’ Arizona retirees, public service workers and community activists protest undue influence of corporate special interests.
• Jan 19 Caution, @GovWalker, Roads Are Slippery When Anti-Worker Twitter users react to the more than 1 million signatures collected to recall Wisconsin’s governor.
• Jan 17 Rhode Island Decision Victory for Retirees Judge says City of Pawtucket cannot unilaterally cut health benefits promised to retired employees.
• Jan 17 One Million-Plus Demand Wisconsin Governor Walker’s Recall for Opposing Workers’ Rights Wisconsin voters seek recall of governor, lieutenant governor and four senators for opposing collective bargaining.
• Jan 10 We’ll Bet You Dollars to Donuts Rick Scott Doesn’t Get It Breakfast pastries, not jobs, are the focus of Florida governor’s State of the State Address.
• Jan 06 NH Lawmakers Stand Up for Workers, Their Unions and the Middle Class Legislators try to stop right-to-work proposal that would undermine unions in New Hampshire.
• Jan 04 Indiana Citizens Welcome at Their Own Statehouse After All As legislative session opens, Gov. Mitch Daniels drops plan to severely limit crowd size.
• Dec 27 And the Award for Worst Governor of the Year Goes to… Help us choose the very worst governor of 2011 by casting your vote on Facebook.
• Dec 22 We’re Not Backing Down In a pivotal year for the working middle class, we pulled together and fought back.
• Dec 16 AFSCME Says No to Big Apple Early Education Proposal DC 1707 fights back against plan that would reduce children's access to early learning programs and eliminate jobs.
• Dec 16 Historic Ohio Contract Agreement Ratified New contract demonstrates that unions can work together with states to solve economic problems.
• Dec 14 A Win for NYC and Good Government City council overrides Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of a bill protecting public services and public employees.
• Dec 14 Time Names “The Protester” Person of the Year; Main Street America’s Protesters Deserve A Bow Before Occupy Wall Street there were hundreds of thousands of protesters occupying Madison, Wis..
• Dec 13 Judge to Iowa Governor: You Can’t Pick and Choose on Vetoes Budget bill included funding for unemployment offices which Gov. Terry Branstad decided to close.
• Dec 09 Judge Forces Thousands of Minnesota Child Care Providers to Wait for Their Right to Unionize Temporary restraining order blocks election due to lawsuit by union-busting conservative think tank.
• Nov 16 Putting Ohio in Perspective The mobilization that led to the resounding defeat of Issue 2 will continue into 2012.
• Nov 15 Attacking Public Workers Is Bad Policy That Ignores the Real Problem: Jobs In their zeal to attack public service workers, right-wing governors overlook job creation.
• Nov 09 Think Again: Taking Back Ohio Watch this video to hear from the people in Ohio who made this victory happen.
• Nov 09 Ohio Voters Send a Message Sec.-Treas. Saunders on MSNBC: “This will carry from Ohio across this country.”
• Nov 07 From Alabama to Ohio, the Struggle for Justice Continues BJ Simmons-Talley is determined not to let Issue 2 roll back women’s rights.
• Nov 07 ‘Guerilla Drive-In’ Exposes Billionaire Koch Brothers’ Role in Destroying Middle Class, Crushing Workers Demonstrators focus on corrosive role of corporate money in politics, dangerous agenda of right-wing groups.
• Nov 07 Ohio Zookeeper Worries About Security at Work, Home Matthew De Voe is concerned Issue 2 would impact zoo safety, hit his family’s budget.
• Nov 06 A Different Kind of Sunday Service Retiree Jamie Fant gives up his weekend routine to help defeat Issue 2 in Ohio.
• Nov 06 Fighting for Her Younger Colleagues, Youngest Students School bus driver Karen Holdridge has spent the past eight months working against Issue 2.
• Nov 05 AFSCME Retirees’ $10,000 Boosts Ohio Campaign Donation helps We Are Ohio educate state residents about the anti-worker Issue 2.
• Nov 04 A Pep Talk on Main Street Sec.-Treas. Saunders, Ohio AFSCME leaders encourage volunteers working to defeat Issue 2.
• Nov 04 John Glenn is Voting NO on Issue 2 Famed astronaut, American hero and former U.S. Senator for Ohio opposes Senate Bill 5.
• Nov 04 Remembering Darker Days in Ohio That Could Return OCSEA’s Kathy Stewart never dreamed she’d find herself fighting again for collective bargaining in Ohio.
• Nov 03 Walking the Walk to Oppose Issue 2 AFSCME members fan out across Ohio to make sure voters repeal Senate Bill 5.
• Nov 02 A Safety Net About to Unravel in Ohio Issue 2’s passage would wipe out protections for public workers, including the state’s corrections employees.
• Oct 27 A “No!” Vote on Ohio’s Issue 2 Will Help Protect Public Safety, Says State Meat Inspector Ohio state meat inspector says Issue 2 must be defeated for safety’s sake.
• Oct 26 From Wisconsin to Wall Street Wisconsin public service worker travels to NYC to express solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.
• Oct 25 Romney Was for Issue 2 Before He Was Against Saying He Was Former Massachusetts governor known for his inconsistent positions outdoes himself in Ohio.
• Oct 20 Judge Blocks Michigan Veterans Home Privatization Scheme Veterans’ health and safety comes first, judge rules in outsourcing dispute.
• Oct 18 Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee’s Voter Suppression Remark is No Joke FOX News commentator encourages Ohio voters to suppress turnout to repeal anti-worker law.
• Oct 13 No Link Between State Budget Deficits and Public Sector Unions A new study by the University of Berkeley demolishes myth that unions are to blame for problems caused by the recession and housing bubble.
• Oct 03 AFSCME Women Pledge Action in Upcoming Political Fights Conference attendees head home prepared to out-organize, out-fundraise and outlast opponents of America’s workers.
• Oct 02 AFSCME Women Celebrate Key Collective Bargaining Victories, Prepare for Fights Ahead Sec.-Treas. Saunders urges relentless activism on behalf of public service employees and workers’ rights.
• Oct 01 Florida Court Rebukes Governor’s Prison Sale Ruling blocks Gov. Scott’s plan to turn 29 state facilities over to private contractors.
• Oct 01 AFSCME President, U.S. Labor Secretary Thank Members, Urge Action on Jobs Act Women's Conference attendees praised for their efforts in the ongoing fight for the American worker.
• Sep 30 AFSCME Members Gather in Milwaukee for Women’s Conference Conference attendees will share experiences, discuss important union issues and develop leadership skills.
• Sep 16 AFSCME Councils 4 and 15 Earn Big Wins Union-supported alderman candidates in New Haven, CT, pledge to combat privatization, layoffs and furloughs.
• Sep 15 Rhode Island Public Workers Win Key Pension Ruling Judge rules R.I. public employees should have their day in court in pension battle.
• Sep 05 Labor Day Isn’t About the Past, It’s About Today AFSCME New Mexico members and their fellow public service workers speak out about workers' rights.
• Aug 26 Kasich's Call for Compromise Smacks of Desperation Ohio governor, Republican leadership scramble as referendum approaches on unpopular SB 5 legislation.
• Aug 17 Wisconsin’s Working Families Win Final Recall Elections State Senate now boasts a pro-worker majority that would have blocked Walker's divisive anti-worker bill.
• Aug 04 “No” Vote Means Repeal Senate Bill 5 Ohio voters will vote “no” on Issue 2 this November to repeal radical, anti-worker law.
• Jul 29 Default: It’s Not Just a Game of Politics Federally funded state programs could get hammered if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.
• Jul 29 Public Employees Come to City’s Rescue AFSCME members helped raise public awareness that Salamanca, NY, was near bankruptcy.
• Jul 29 Coalition of Workers, Religious Leaders, Demand Fiscal Accountability of N.M. Hospital Executives Christus St. Vincent fails to disclose how money intended for indigent care is being spent.
• Jul 21 It's Official: SB 5 Heads to the Ballot Ohio Secretary of State certifies 915,456 signatures to bring repeal to a vote in November.
• Jul 21 Minnesota Public Services to Resume – but Problems Remain The statewide government shutdown is over, but the budget deal won’t solve Minnesota’s many problems.
• Jul 20 Ohio Gov. Kasich: Wake Up and Smell the Polls! Anti-worker, right-wing policies are sinking Ohio Governor Kasich’s popularity with the state’s voters.
• Jul 20 Wisconsin’s Voters Again Reject Corporate Agenda Incumbent state Sen. Dave Hansen (D) retained his seat in the state's first recall contest.
• Jul 19 Tax and Budget Cutting Don’t Create Jobs The policies implemented by anti-worker state governors are behind our stalled economic recovery.
• Jul 18 Iowans Tell Gov. Branstad: No More Corporate Agenda! Des Moines rally calls on the governor to “put people before profits, politics and polluters.”
• Jul 18 Right Trumps Might in Tennessee Activists arrested in March during state Senate hearing on anti-union legislation have been acquitted.
• Jul 16 Newly Released Documents Expose ALEC’s Corporate Agenda Secretive organization writes “model legislation” to advance business interests at the expense of working Americans.
• Jul 14 They Thought Voters Were Dumb. They Were Wrong! Wisconsin voters rejected all six GOP candidates who posed as Democrats in Tuesday's primary election.
• Jul 12 NYC Fire Fighters Get Out the Vote in Wisconsin FDNY members volunteer in recall efforts to restore workers' rights and protect middle class families.
• Jul 10 AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Shuler Dives into the Next Wave National labor federation's youngest-ever elected officer addresses the next generation of AFSCME leaders.
• Jul 08 Minnesotans Demand End to Government Shutdown Public service workers and supporters hold massive demonstration at the Capitol steps in St. Paul.
• Jul 07 Need a Job? Go to Prison Thanks to Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin public service employees lose work to unpaid inmates.
• Jul 06 AFSCME’s Saunders: Current Fights Are About ‘Direction of the Country’ In magazine interview, Secretary-Treasurer Saunders discusses attacks on workers' rights and the middle class.
• Jul 05 Minnesota’s Taxpayers Paying Heavy Price for Unnecessary Shutdown Government services in Minnesota begin to shutdown while Republican legislators refuse to find a responsible budget solution.
• Jun 30 Standing Up for Public Service Workers in San Diego Sec.-Treas. Saunders and Rev. Sharpton speak out against right-wing attacks on city employees.
• Jun 30 Telling the Truth about Public Pension Systems Pension experts rebut the myth that public pensions are unsustainable.
• Jun 30 Ohio Voters Deliver 1.3 Million Signatures 6,000 union members and community supporters marched in Columbus as part of history-making repeal effort.
• Jun 29 Rachel Maddow Spells Out Koch Brothers’ Influence Tea Party financiers brought several Republican governors to a secret, invitation-only meeting in Colorado.
• Jun 29 Ohio Voters Celebrate End of Petition Drive to Repeal SB 5 Thousands of union members and community supporters march alongside a semi-truck filled with signatures.
• Jun 28 Big Surprise: States That Cut the Most Spending Have Lost the Most Jobs Economic data contradicts Republican's pet economic theory - state spending cuts are correlated with higher unemployment and lower growth.
• Jun 27 Training for the Bargaining Table in Rhode Island Rank-and-file members learn about the challenges posed by shrinking budgets and right-wing attacks on workers.
• Jun 24 New Jersey Legislature Attacks Workers’ Rights Legislation would roll back benefits and bargaining rights for 750,000 state and local workers.
• Jun 22 Tent Cities Pop Up in Trenton and New York City NJ's “Camp Collective Bargaining” and NYC’s “Bloombergville” were inspired by protests in Madison and Cairo.
• Jun 21 Michigan Voters Launch Campaign to Stop Local Dictator Law Organizers vow to gather 190,000 signatures by Labor Day to put repeal on the ballot.
• Jun 21 A Better New Jersey for All New Jersey public employees talk about the important services they provide to the state.
• Jun 18 Netroots Nation Video: Attack on America's Middle Class Footage from Saturday morning's keynote featuring Sen. Al Franken and AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee A. Saunders.
• Jun 17 We Are Ohio Collects Over 714K Signatures for Citizens' Veto Grassroots group reports than triple the number of signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
• Jun 17 From Memphis to Madison to Minneapolis AFSCME sponsored the reception and opening keynote session to kick off the Netroots Nation conference.
• Jun 16 Netroots Nation Video: Bloggers Unite! Panelists discussed how bloggers in Wisconsin turned the Madison uprising into a national story.
• Jun 16 Thousands Protest New York City’s Budget Cuts Mayor Bloomberg's budget plan threatens to cut services and lay off workers.
• Jun 16 AFSCME Joins Progressive Activists at Netroots Nation The annual conference for online activists takes place June 16-19 in Minneapolis.
• Jun 16 New Jersey Public Employees Rally Against Union-Busting Legislation Activists protest Gov. Christie's continued assault on public sector workers.
• Jun 15 Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules 4-3 Against Workers' Rights Despite the setback, Wisconsin's pro-worker movement remains as vital and committed as ever.
• Jun 14 Prison Privatization as Political Payback Taxpayers wind up paying more when private contractors cut corners on safety, health and services.
• Jun 13 Ohio Bikers Make Themselves Heard at the Statehouse Motorcycle rally draws attention to the campaign to get SB 5 on the November ballot.
• Jun 13 NY Gov. Reveals Plan to Cut Public Worker Pensions Proposal requires public employees to work longer and pay more for less generous benefits.
• Jun 10 Iowans Protest Frankenstein Bill Omnibus legislation was assembled from a hodgepodge of bills that failed earlier this year.
• Jun 08 State Battles Summit Ends with Commitment to Fight Civil rights leader Wade Henderson energizes AFSCME activists with call to preserve the Middle Class.
• Jun 07 Sec.-Treas. Saunders: ‘We're the Last Line of Defense’ for the Middle Class Activists at AFSCME's State Battles Summit learn more about successful efforts to fight back.
• Jun 06 “Walkerville”: Friendly Face of the Budget Battle Tent city springs up near the Wisconsin State Capitol to protest Gov. Walker's anti-worker agenda.
• Jun 06 AFSCME’s State Battles Summit Opens Conference will focus on fighting unprecedented right-wing attacks on public service workers and collective bargaining.
• Jun 02 Nebraska’s AFSCME Activists Uphold Collective Bargaining Rights Deal reached on a reasonable alternative to the corporate agenda to weaken workers’ power.
• Jun 02 Illinois Union Coalition Blocks Bills Attacking Public Service Workers Grassroots outpouring turns back huge increases in pension contributions, health insurance premiums for state employees.
• May 27 Do the Right Thing in Montana Montana's Republican-controlled legislature refuses to honor a fair deal made with state workers.
• May 26 Collective Bargaining in Wisconsin Gets Another Reprieve Judge rules open meeting law was violated in rush to pass Gov. Walker's anti-union measure.
• May 25 Wisconsin Voter ID Bill is Morally Wrong Gov. Walker signs fast-tracked law designed to make it harder for Wisconsinites to vote.
• May 24 San Jose Mayor Doesn't Know the Way to a Fair Budget Community members speak out against devastating cuts and attacks on city workers' bargaining rights.
• May 19 Private Prison Savings Are a Hoax New York Times report shows prisons run by private corporations cost taxpayers more, not less.
• May 19 Puerto Rico’s Public Service Workers Win Back Rights Bill reinstating collective bargaining was passed unanimously and signed into law by Gov. Luis Fortuño.
• May 18 AFSCME Members Beat Privatization in Pennsylvania Northampton County voters overwhelmingly reject a ballot measure to privatize Gracedale nursing home.
• May 16 State Revenues Are Coming Back. Walker Says, ‘So What?’ Despite revenue collections beating expectations, right-wing governors move ahead with plans to slash public services.
• May 13 AFSCME Members Rally in NYC to Support Child Care Services Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal would deny subsidized day care services to 7,000 children next year.
• May 11 NH Gov. Lynch Stands with the Middle Class Governor sides with Main Street and vetoes "right-to-work" bill, blocking efforts to weaken collective bargaining.
• May 11 Maryland Home Care Providers’ Bargaining Rights Become Law Gov. O'Malley signs bill ensuring collective bargaining rights for nearly 5,000 independent providers.
• May 10 School Privatization Conference Draws Hundreds of Protesters Attendees gathered in DC to discuss replacing the public education system with a voucher program.
• May 09 Florida Legislature Adjourns; Privatization, Dues Deduction Efforts Fail Session was defined by attacks on public services, but working families achieved considerable victories.
• May 06 Taking Hypocrisy to a New Low Anti-worker Govs. Kasich (R-OH) and Walker (R-WI) issue ironic proclamations praising public service workers.
• May 05 Pride at Work Energizes LGBT Support for Public Employees Solidarity statement recognizes that attacks on collective bargaining are also attacks on fundamental American values.
• May 04 Prison Corporations are ‘Making a Killing’ New report details corruption, increased cases of violence and death at for-profit facilities.
• May 03 Hundreds Protest New Jersey Gov. Christie’s Plan to Devastate Working Families Sec.-Treas. Saunders, Rev. Sharpton and AFT Pres. Weingarten spoke in defense of working families.
• May 03 Finding Real Solutions for Our Schools Former DC school superintendent Michelle Rhee exaggerates her abilities, putting children's education at risk.
• May 02 Michigan AFSCME Members Protest Snyder Commencement Address More than 1,000 students, community and union activists rallied at the Univ. of Michigan.
• May 02 AFSCME Connecticut Members Protest State Budget Plan More than 2,500 rallied against a plan to extract $2 billion from state workers.
• Apr 29 AFSCME Sanitation Workers Honored at White House, Join ‘Labor Hall of Fame’ Local 1733 members are the first group of workers included for "taking collective action."
• Apr 28 AFSCME Michigan Stands Up for Education Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed stripping $900 million from K-12 school funding.
• Apr 26 Telling the Whole Story About Public Employee Pension Funds Pew Center on the States portrays the public pension system as "broken," but the facts don't back that up.
• Apr 15 Straight Talk on Retirement in San Jose Phrases like “actuarial reports” and “unfunded liabilities” didn’t stop over 200 workers in San Jose, Calif., from foregoing their lunch hour to hear the truth about pensions.
• Apr 14 Tax Day Travesty When big corporations skip out on their tax bills, it’s working Americans who pay the price.
• Apr 14 Gov. Rick Scott, Your Report Card is Shameful! In office just 100 days, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has proven he has a lot to learn about running a government that benefits all Floridians — not just his Big Business friends.
• Apr 14 Michigan Rally Defends Middle Class, Opposes Budget Cuts More than 7,000 Michigan residents from throughout the state rallied at the Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday to oppose Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s anti-worker budget plan.
• Apr 14 Gov. Walker Admits New Union Rules Don’t Help Budget Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) asked Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to explain how attacking workers' rights and middle class jobs helps fix broken state budgets.
• Apr 12 Happy National Library Workers Day Today, in the midst of budget cuts to libraries across the country, we celebrate National Library Workers Day and recognize the important services provided by library workers under increasingly difficult circumstances.
• Apr 12 11,000 Ohioans Kick Off Campaign to Repeal Anti-Worker Legislation AFSCME members join thousands of workers from across Ohio vowing to veto SB 5 in November.
• Apr 11 Rallies for Workers’ Rights and Public Services Still Going Strong AFSCME members are not taking a spring break from ongoing efforts to demonstrate the depth and breadth of public opposition to plans to slash public services and attack the rights of workers.
• Apr 07 Florida Legislature Pulls Plug on Privatization of Northeast Florida State Hospital One of the many dangerous proposals in Gov. Rick Scott's budget is now off the table.
• Apr 07 1 Kasich Budget = 51,000 Lost Ohio Jobs Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) has proposed a two-year budget which could mean a direct loss of 51,052 existing Ohio jobs in K-12 education, higher education, state personnel and local governments [...]
• Apr 06 MSNBC Profiles Public Service Workers Under Attack As attacks on public service workers continue across the country, MSNBC.com has posted a collection of stories — “Faces of the public sector” — examining how public workers are dealing with what has become an increasingly hostile climate.
• Apr 04 Memphis Sanitation Workers Remember Memphis sanitation workers from the famous 1968 strike stand in solidarity with workers across the country who are fighting the same battle for rights today.
• Mar 31 New Haven, Conn.: Thousands Rally in Solidarity with Workers under Siege More than 3,000 union members and their progressive allies marched on the streets on New Haven, Conn. Wednesday.
• Mar 31 AFSCME Members in Minnesota: We’re Fighting for the Middle Class
• Mar 30 Michiganders: Change Constitution to Protect Collective Bargaining
• Mar 30 Just Say No to SB 5 Today, the Ohio state House is set to vote on Senate Bill 5 (SB 5), a bill that would strip collective bargaining rights from 350,000 public service workers in the state. SB 5 is one of the cornerstones in Gov. John Kasich’s plan.
• Mar 29 Florida AFSCME Members Protest Anti-Worker Bills Close to 2,000 AFSCME members and progressive allies from across the Florida Panhandle held a massive rally in Tallahassee today to protest Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s anti-worker policies.
• Mar 29 Making Our Voice Heard in Indiana The hard work of AFSCME members in Indiana and their labor and community allies is starting to pay off.
• Mar 25 AFSCME New York Members March on City Hall
• Mar 22 Small Businesses Join AFSCME Ohio in Opposition to SB 5 AFSCME members are holding a series of eight press events around the state in conjunction with a group of small businesses who are part of Proud Ohio Workers.
• Mar 22 Organizing for Power with AFSCME With this column, we note the many organizing victories achieved during the past several months, both large and small (listed alphabetically by state).
• Mar 21 McEntee on Gov. Walker's Anti-Worker Power Grab Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made no mention of the massive $117 million in tax breaks he provided for wealthy corporations before he launched his power grab to silence the voices of working men and women.
• Mar 18 AFSCME Defends N.Y.C. Public Child Care AFSCME District Council 1707, District Council 37 and Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000 are standing firm with Manhattan Borough Pres. Scott Stringer (D) to fight cuts to vital child care services.
• Mar 17 Sec.-Treas. Saunders and Rev. Sharpton Stand Up for Public Services in Connecticut Sec.-Treas. Saunders and Rev. Sharpton Stand Up for Public Services in Connecticut
• Mar 16 Ohio Gov. Kasich Advances Anti-Union Agenda with Destructive Budget Following in the footsteps of Wisconsin and other states promoting disastrous anti-union bills and cuts to vital public services, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) has unveiled his two-year budget.
• Mar 15 AFSCME Actions Keep the Heat on Elected Officials It's been a busy week for AFSCME members fighting back against bad budget plans and anti-union legislation.
• Mar 09 Stephen King's Next Horror Novel "Could Star Rick Scott" Novelist Stephen King made a surprise appearance at the "Awake the State" rally in Sarasota, Fla., on Tuesday and spoke out against Gov. Rick Scott's radical, budget-slashing, union-busting agenda.
• Mar 08 In Ohio, the State of the Worker Address On Monday, workers across Ohio delivered the State of the Worker Address, a prebuttal to Gov. John Kasich's first State of the State Address. As ABC 9 in Cincinnati reports, workers called on Kasich to follow through on his campaign pledges.
• Mar 07 Video: A Better New York for All Members of AFSCME New York describe — in their own words — the drastic effects Governor Cuomo’s budget will have on New Yorkers all across the state.
• Mar 01 Governors Side with Unions, Not Wisconsin’s Walker Governors Martin O’Malley of Maryland, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Mark Dayton of Minnesota are among state leaders who have something important to say to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
• Feb 23 Washington State AFSCME Members Stand with Wisconsin Workers An attack on workers in one state is an attack on every worker. This is why the nationwide outpouring of support for public service workers in Wisconsin continues to grow.
• Feb 22 Dropkick the Attacks on Workers The band Dropkick Murphys has released an advance stream of their new song “Take ‘Em Down” in support of the thousands of Wisconsin union workers who are protesting the governor’s budget plan.
• Feb 16 Video: In Wisconsin, “Everything’s at Risk” Prior to marching to the Capitol in Madison on Tuesday, Wisconsin AFSCME members talk about the impact of Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposals to strip collective bargaining rights from public service workers while also cutting their pay [...]
• Feb 16 Wisconsin AFSCME Members Join Fight to Save Rights Thousands of state and local public service workers and teachers demonstrated Tuesday inside and outside the state Capitol here to oppose the threatened loss of collective bargaining rights and cuts to retirement and health benefits.
• Feb 14 Video: Shaking the Wisconsin State House On Valentine's Day, University of Wisconsin-Madison students filled the Wisconsin Capitol building to protest proposals by Republican Gov. Scott Walker that would reduce funding for higher education and decimate collective bargaining rights.
• Feb 14 Wisconsin AFL-CIO Ads Against Attacks on Worker Rights The Wisconsin AFL-CIO launched an advertising campaign over the weekend to alert the public to the radical plan by Republican Gov. Scott Walker to strip almost all collective bargaining rights from state and local public employees.
• Jan 26 California’s State Treasurer: States Should Not Consider Bankruptcy Some conservative governors and state legislators and their right-wing allies are floating a dangerous suggestion that threatens the retirement security of public sector workers: Have states declare bankruptcy to get out of their pension obligations.
• Jan 19 AFSCME Members to Maryland Lawmakers: ‘Enough is Enough!’ Approximately 150 members of AFSCME Maryland met with their state representatives in Annapolis on Jan. 12 – the first day of the legislative session – to send a clear message that the state’s budget should not be balanced on their backs.
• Jan 18 Battling the Lies Against Public Employees AFSCME International Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders recently took AFSCME’s “Stop the Lies” campaign to a nationwide radio audience.
• Jan 07 The Shameful Attack on Public Employees In 1968, 1,300 sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to support them. That was where he lost his life. Memphis heard the grievances of its sanitation workers
• Dec 22 Gov. Christie Blames Economic Crisis on Working Families In a one-sided "60 Minutes" report that aired this week, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) showed viewers he's more interested in scoring political points than solving state and local budget challenges and getting the economy moving.
• Oct 15 The Real Story on Public Employees Benefits This week, Ezra Klein has an excellent piece on the Washington Post’s website that gets to the truth behind public employees benefits. He demolishes the myths that too many right wing politicians and propagandists cling to [...]
• Sep 03 Hey Republicans, Thanks for Throwing American Workers Under the Bus Just in time for Labor Day, AFSCME has released a new video reminding voters of the critical choice they face in the November elections.
• Aug 25 New Jersey's Pension Fraud Hurts Investors, Taxpayers and Retirees Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did something it has never done before. It charged the state of New Jersey with fraudulently misleading investors about the health of the state's pension plan
• Aug 12 Council 62 Goes to Court to Stop Kentucky Furloughs AFSCME Council 62 has filed for an injunction to stop Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear’s (D) plan to furlough state employees for six days this fiscal year, asserting that the plan would cause “irreparable harm” to the workers [...]
• Aug 04 The Senate's Bold Step Forward Today, the U.S. Senate took a bold step forward in the effort to protect jobs and bolster America's economic recovery. The Senate, by a 61 to 38 margin, overcame the filibuster opposing H.R. 1586 [...]
• Aug 02 Call Your Senators Today to Protect a Million Jobs Earlier this year, Democrats in the Senate tried three times to pass legislation that would help states deal with growing Medicaid rolls, the joint federal-state health care program for the poor.
• Jul 26 AFSCME to McConnell: Stop Playing Politics with State Budgets This week, the National Conference of State Legislators is holding a legislative summit in Louisville, KY, to discuss issues important to state legislatures in the midst of record budget shortfalls across the country.
• Jul 15 “Let’s Talk About Facts” Watch AFSCME Director of Research Kerry Korpi stand up to attacks on public employees and our pensions during an appearance on CNBC. At issue: should states cut public pensions to balance ballooning budgets?
• Jul 01 The Green Monstah AFSCME activists rallied Wednesday on Boston Common, in solidarity with Council 93, to prevent the loss of critical public services and to pass the jobs bill now stalled in Congress.
• Jun 30 Rally for Public Services and Jobs At the close of Convention business this afternoon, thousands of AFSCME delegates and guests will head to Boston Common to rally with members of Council 93 Massachusetts to oppose dangerous cuts in services across the nation and for the jobs [...]
• Jun 23 More Jobs = Less Debt In the worst economy since the Great Depression, far too many Americans are out of work. Despite the rising fears of more job losses, the Senate is refusing to do what is necessary to protect and create jobs.
• Jun 18 Aid to States in Jobs Bill Stalls in Senate The fight to help cash-strapped states and public services stalled in the Senate on Thursday as it failed to achieve the 60 votes necessary to cut off debate and bring to a vote a second Senate version of the American Jobs and Closing Tax [...]
• Jun 14 A Real Jobs Bill Working America reports that if “the 15 million unemployed workers in this country stood side-by-side, literally shoulder to shoulder, they would stretch from Bangor, Maine to Los Angeles, California… and back again.”
• Jun 11 More Jobs = Less Deficit Last week’s jobs report showed that our economic recovery is extremely fragile. The last thing we need is thousands more layoffs because of state budget shortfalls.
• Jun 02 Closing Corporate Loopholes, Aiding States Writing on the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington asks why offshore corporate tax havens are still allowed. She attributes it to two sets of rules — one for the corporate class and another for working Americans.
• May 21 Furloughs Are No Laughing Matter It’s no mystery that some lawmakers are completely oblivious to the problems faced by working Americans. Take, for example, the three county commissioners in Pueblo County, Colo.
• May 11 U.S. Tax Bills Lowest Since Truman Despite the protests from anti-government conservatives and Tea Partiers shouting about high taxes, the tax rate in 2009 was lower than it has been since 1950. Michael Ettlinger, at the Center for American Progress, sums it up [...]
• May 06 Worth A Read: "Coddled" Public Employees Make Less than the Private Sector Amy Traub from the Drum Major Institute on new research by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and the National Institute on Retirement Security on public employee compensation and the real "coddled class."
• Apr 23 Fighting for a Responsible Budget in Illinois Tea Party who? If you want a genuine grassroots movement fighting for a good cause, you should’ve seen the thousands of AFSCME Council 31 members that descended on the Illinois State Capitol.
• Apr 06 A Solution to California’s Problems AFSCME members are championing the March for California’s Future to address the challenges that the state faces and to build awareness of the vital services state and local employees provide to keep their communities strong.
• Apr 01 Today We Count President Obama has officially declared today "Census Day" in a presidential proclamation, a day which reminds us all how important it is to complete and mail back the 2010 Census form.
• Feb 17 Your Job Matters Your job matters. Whether it’s clearing the roads of snow and ice, providing health care services, ensuring public safety, or simply working hard for our communities, the vital services that AFSCME members like you provide make our country happen.
• Dec 01 Fixing Our Budget Deficits: A Plan for Action As state and local governments slice and dice their budgets – making mincemeat of critical public services – it’s the poorest among us who bear the heaviest burden. That’s because working families and the unemployed depend on those services the most.
• Oct 06 Stop Picking on State Workers Why is it that when some state legislators see a budget deficit, their first impulse is to cut public services and workers’ benefits? Maybe they’re fooled by the myths.
• Oct 05 UC President Misleads, Distorts the Facts AFSCME Local 3299, which represents 20,000 workers at the ten campuses and five medical centers in the University of California system, is fighting to prevent budget cuts, fee hikes, layoffs and furloughs during this economic crisis.
• Jul 29 On the California Budget and Schwarzenegger's Vetoes From Calitics: Today we witness the damage that the line-item veto causes in the hands of a right-wing governor bent on using it to achieve his long-desired destruction of public services.
• Jul 27 Nose-Diving Revenues Worsening Strained State Budgets States saw a nearly 12% drop in tax revenues collected in early 2009, the largest decline in 46 years, according to a recent report released by the Rockefeller Institute of Government.
• Jul 10 Public Health Plan Option Could Save State and Local Governments $921 Billion If health care reform includes a public health insurance option that pays Medicare payment rates to providers, state and local governments are predicted to save an estimated $921 billion in lower health care costs over 11 years.
• Jun 23 AFSCME Members in Delaware Say No to Pay Cuts Hundreds of AFSCME Council 81 members rallied at the Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware to make sure legislators heard their message: “NO PAY CUT!”
• Mar 27 Rebuilding and Renewing Indiana
• Feb 13 We Now Have Reason to Hope
• Feb 12 America's Vital Public Services
• Jan 30 Put Our Economy Back on Track
• Dec 22 Report: Unions Are Good for State Economies
• Dec 03 State Aid Economic Stimulus “Clearly Works”
• Dec 02 Autoworkers and the Anti-Union Agenda
• Dec 01 Jumpstart the Economy - Invest in State and Local Governments
• Nov 20 Economists Call for Immediate State and Local Aid
• Nov 20 Public Employee Pensions Are Not the Problem
• Oct 29 It Shouldn’t Take a Natural Disaster
• Oct 19 Oregon AFSCME Makes a Statement Why did the AFSCME delegation to Oregon’s AFL-CIO convention walk out just before Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) arrived to address the union members?
• Oct 11 Bush & Gutter Politics
• Oct 03 Bush to Kids: “The Doctor Is Not In”
• Jul 10 Pennsylvania Stalemate Ends, “Non-Critical” Jobs Restored