News

Union 101 – Union Meetings: Why you should have been there.

How many times have you seen that our union is having an important meeting? Maybe you saw a flier about it or maybe someone shared it on Facebook.  Either way, you made a mental note to try to attend, but then life intervenes and you never make it.  Come Friday, you ask the steward what happened at the meeting, and he usually snaps “if it is so important for you to know, you should have been there.” 

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 has received a nomination for an NAACP Image Award in the “Outstanding Podcast – Limited Series/Short Form” category.

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.

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

As the year comes to a close, I am celebrating the incredible surge of worker activism in 2023. Current and future members of AFSCME and many other unions were in the streets, on the picket lines, and at the bargaining table demanding fairness and respect. I want to also take a moment to recognize and celebrate some of the most inspiring activists in our AFSCME family: AFSCME retirees.