Jobs We Do

Public Works

Public Works Employee

Connie Holt, Equipment Operator; Council 13, Pennsylvania

AFSCME members make sure the water we drink is pure, the trash is taken away, the streets are clean and our communities are livable. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledged the important services we provide in 1968 when he supported Memphis sanitation workers who were on strike for respect and a contract between AFSCME and the city.

Public Works Employees Online Network

Join your brothers and sisters in the AFSCME Public Works Employees Network. We’ll discuss shared concerns, learn about what’s going on around the country and exchange information and ideas.

What's Hot

  • The Future of Streetlights: 6 Brilliant New Concepts
    When well designed–which the typical American streetlight is emphatically not–they can make our urban environments more appealing and livable. Part of that challenge includes making them more sustainable: At present, street and highway lighting in the U.S. accounts for 2 percent of overall electrical demand. Simply using energy-saving LED light bulbs would eliminate 9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to one estimate.
  • KPOW helps K.O. City of Milwaukee’s Water Works privatization idea — at least for now
    AFSCME members know all too well the perils of privatization and the toll it can take — on public employees’ livelihoods and lives, to be sure, but also on the community at large. And when it comes to the potential privatization of Milwaukee’s Water Works, an idea city leaders have been exploring as a way to help balance the city budget, the community at large is showing signs that it just might know it, too.
  • Trust Fund Sought for Water Infrastructure
    The nation's drinking water and sewage treatment systems are getting older and need massive investments to protect public health and the environment, a bipartisan congressional group said in proposing a $10 billion-a-year federal clean-water trust fund. Revenue would come from proposed taxes on the pharmaceutical industry, many beverages, toiletries, detergents and corporate profits.

In Action

Resources for Members

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Sandra South
Council 65, Minnesota

Sandra South

"Public works workers keep America running. With a union, we remind people of the important things we do and fight to get the pay and benefits we deserve."