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AFSCME President Lee Saunders praised the White House’s announcement Thursday that the Biden administration will forgive student loans for an additional 78,000 borrowers — including many AFSCME mem

AFSCME President Lee Saunders congratulated Nicole Berner, a longtime labor lawyer and general counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), on being 

MIAMI – Public service workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic often get words of thanks from their employers and little else. Not so in Miami-Dade County, Florida’s most populous jurisdiction.

Thanks to efforts by the Biden administration and AFSCME, many public service workers, including AFSCME members, have seen their student loans forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

The letter to the editor appeared on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, in Tallahassee Democrat:

Letters to the Editor 

Support candidates who support Social Security, Medicare

AFSCME Florida’s newest members work for Surfside, a South Florida town that is just one square mile and stretches nine blocks along the Atlantic Ocean.

Town workers voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first contract last month.

Due to chronic understaffing, workers at Florida State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Chattahoochee, struggle to maintain adequate patient care for the nursing, rehabilitative services and assistance with living needs they provide. AFSCME Florida President and International Vice President Vicki Hall visited the hospital Tuesday, October 25, with state senators Lauren Book and Jason Pizzo to discuss the urgent needs of the patients and workforce there.

Verricka Lamb from the Agency for Health Care Administration

Many AFSCME members work in high-stress fields such as public safety, health care, emergency medical services and firefighting. Their jobs have become even more stressful since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many of these workers to put their and their families’ well-being at risk while serving their communities.

But when these everyday heroes face mental health issues as a result of the high-stress environment and duties that expose them to trauma, they are often expected to deal with such challenges on their own.

It’s time to change that.