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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 

In the 1980s, I was living and going to school in Minnesota when women who worked for state government won a big victory. They got the state to increase the pay of women in “female dominated jobs” by passing a pay equity bill. In other words, they put a dent in the gender pay gap. As a student, I researched and wrote about the process of crafting, passing and implementing that legislation. And I learned something that I have never forgotten: the union made it happen. And not just any union. Our union: AFSCME. 

AFSCME FLORIDA Council 79 Elects New Officers

Orlando – The men and women of AFSCME Florida Council 79 elected new officers at their convention, held March 29 to March 30 in Orlando. The new officers are as follows:

For almost four years, as attacks against organized labor reached a fever pitch nationwide, AFSCME members in Florida responded by launching a fierce and unprecedented organizing campaign unlike any the Sunshine State had seen before. Today, members started writing a new chapter in their union’s proud history by ratifying a new constitution on the first day of the AFSCME Florida Council 79's convention. 

Our union gained more than 9,000 dues-paying members and nearly 19,000 dues-paying retirees in the last year, suggesting that billionaires and corporations are failing in their effort to “defund and defang” public service unions.

For two decades, the dedicated employees at Florida's State Mental Hospitals have tried to convey to lawmakers the perilous nature of the work they do day in and day out. These tireless public servants work directly with individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity or who have been found to be a danger to themselves or to others.

Workers in Missouri and New Mexico have chalked important victories against anti-worker laws that would have robbed them of their voices and the right to bargain collectively.

In Missouri, two separate anti-worker measures, HB 1413 and SB 1007, were halted by state courts last week.

Tallahassee--Dozens of workers with AFSCME Local 3343 at Florida A&M University took the fight for fair wages and respect directly to the Board of Trustees on Thursday after the school offered a ZERO PERCENT pay increase after several months of ardous contract negotiations. "FAMU is clearly not willing to negotiate in good faith," said Andre Crumity, President of Local 3343. "We work hard to make this University function properly yet we are deciding which bills we can afford to pay each month.

Representative Vance Aloupis and Senator Manny Diaz Jr. filed a bill this week that would reclassify nearly two thousand state employees who work at facilities and perform services for individuals who have a mental illness and are involved with the criminal justice system. The Special Risk Class would afford just protections, higher compensation and early retirement for workers that spend at least 65 percent of their time in direct contact with residents and patients.