News

Ferguson's Proposed Cuts to Higher Education

If these cuts are implemented by the legislature, the colleges will decide how to implement them. Furloughs are on the table and have been utilized in the past. We need to speak up and demand the rich begin paying their fair share.

WFSE Grievance Nets DOC Members Thousands in Back Pay

After a hard fight, WFSE members received an arbitration opinion vindicating our nine Department of Corrections members who teach Defensive Tactics courses who had been unfairly excluded from receiving assignment pay.

Capacity, Not Closures! DOC Reentry Centers Provide Second Chances

The proposed closures would negatively impact those who are in most need of these services , result in increased recidivism (a 2007 study showed Washington’s reentry centers lead to at least a 2.8% reduction in recidivism), cost the state more money (research conducted by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy indicates that reentry programs have a positive cost/benefit impact; for every dollar spent, $3.82 is returned to the state.), and threaten the capacity of our community custody system when the need for more capacity is rising.

In Black History Month event, AFSCME highlights return of public service jobs

The public sector has finally recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of last year, there were 22,000 more public service jobs in the nation than in February 2020, just before the pandemic started.

This is cause for celebration for everyone in our communities, but especially for workers of color, who have been historically overrepresented in state and local government jobs.

AFSCME retiree blasts fiscal commission bill as a backdoor way to gut Social Security, Medicare

AFSCME retiree blasts fiscal commission bill as a backdoor way to gut Social Security, Medicare

AFSMCE Retiree Mary Cannon-James and Connecticut Rep. John Larson. Photo credit: Madalin Sammons/ AFSCME

Lawmakers seek congressional support for paraprofessionals and other school staff

Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes recently introduced a resolution calling on Congress to affirm its support for providing living wages, good benefits and fair working conditions to paraeducators, classroom assistants, bus drivers, custodial workers and others who are vital to our public education system.

AFSCME’s ‘I AM Story’ podcast nominated for NAACP Image Award

AFSCME’s “I AM Story” podcast has received a nomination for an NAACP Image Award in the “Outstanding Podcast – Limited Series/Short Form” category.

Union membership numbers show momentum remains strong despite staffing shortages

Despite the growing wave of worker organizing across the country, the union membership rate last year ticked down slightly, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today, underscoring the importance of initiatives like AFSCME’s Staff the Front Lines to fill job vacancies in the public sector.

At DCYF, Member Action Turns Staff Assault into Stronger Safety Protocols

Dedicated WFSE members at the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families show up for kids and families during some of the hardest times in their lives. They deserve to come to work not fearing for their safety. That’s why Heather Gregory, WFSE Local 53 member and DCYF social service support specialist, successfully fought for stronger safety protocols after being assaulted on the job.

As a government shutdown looms, AFSCME members voice alarm and frustration

For John Campion, a monitoring officer with AmeriCorps, the potential for a federal government shutdown beginning this month brings fear, insecurity and frustration.

Elmore Nickleberry, Memphis sanitation worker who went on strike in 1968, dies at 92

Elmore Nickleberry, Memphis sanitation worker who went on strike in 1968, dies at 92