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Although AFSCME
has represented Florida public employees in various
locations for decades, it was not until the
constitutional and legal reforms of the early 1970s
unleashed a torrent of organizing drives targeting
public employees. In the 1970s, AFSCME became the
collective bargaining agent for the professional, human
service, administrative/clerical and operational
services units in state government.
In 1979, AFSCME International
recognized the union's extraordinary success in Florida
by chartering Florida Public Employees Council 79,
AFSCME, AFL-CIO. Today, AFSCME Council 79 is the second
largest union in Florida with 90 locals representing
approximately 110,000 employees of the state, state
universities, cities and counties, school boards and
private nonprofit hospitals. Our members are served by
seven regional offices and a professional staff of 33,
including lawyers, staff representatives, lobbyists,
contract negotiators, organizers, trainers and political
action representatives. Florida is able to draw upon the
resources and expertise of AFSCME International and its
1.3 million members.
As the elected AFSCME Council
79 President and the Florida/Caribbean International
Vice President, Jeanette D. Wynn is the state's
highest-ranking African-American woman labor leader.
President Wynn stands at the forefront of the fight to
protect Florida's public services and public employees
from Governor Bush's plans to cut state government by 25
percent, privatize many vital services and abolish the
civil service system that protects the public from
political patronage.
Read full biography of
President Wynn
AFSCME Council 79 is governed
by elected officers and an executive board. Elected
statewide officers are President Wynn, Treasurer
Jeanette Bartley and Secretary Ketha Otis. AFSCME
Council 79 has great diversity, not just in ethnicity,
but in the wide variety of employees represented - from
hospital nurses to school bus drivers to accountants.
Representing that employment diversity on the board are
state vice presidents who chair conference boards for
state, university, school board, city/county and
private-sector local unions. The conference chairs are
elected by vote of the locals on each board. Florida's
regional diversity is reflected in each council region
electing executive board members from their area.
Trustees are elected statewide to ensure the integrity
of financial audits. Grassroots political decisions are
made by PEOPLE (political) committees in each region
comprising the local presidents and an elected chair in
those areas.
See the full executive board
Read the AFSCME Council 79 Constitution
Affiliated local unions
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