Over the past few weeks, the hardworking public service unit of Duval County Public School employees represented by AFSCME voted by mail for the recertification of their union.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act worked. In the years and decades that followed its implementation, the law helped minority voters make their voices heard, especially African Americans who had been discriminated against at the polls. As a result, our democracy became stronger.
But in 2013, despite bipartisan reauthorization of the law by Congress, the Supreme Court gutted it, ruling 5-4 that a key provision was no longer necessary because the Voting Rights Act had worked and the problem was fixed.
For nearly a decade, AFSCME member LeeShun Fryson has been an exemplary employee at the Department of Economic Opportunity in Tallahassee investigating cases of fraud and making sure that people who need assistance receive it. But on March 13 of this year, the senior program specialist walked into work and was abruptly fired without just cause and immediately sent home.
Despite high levels of stress on the job, many state and local workers say they highly value serving the public and their communities and feel generally satisfied with their jobs.
Last Friday, State employees sat down at the bargaining table with the State of Florida to discuss what the future will look like for nearly 49,000 dedicated public service workers who have not seen a significant pay increase in years. Workers on the bargaining committee proposed a 5% across the board pay increase and a 2% cost of living raise to be implemented in the 2020 State Budget.
Election Day 2019 was a big victory for working families. In states and cities across the country, they made their voices heard, electing pro-worker candidates for state and local government and providing further evidence of growing political momentum for working people.
Last year, nearly half a million workers went on strike across the nation, the largest number since 1986, when the country’s union membership rate was considerably higher (17.5%) than it was in 2018 (10.5%).
