The Senate voted 35-32 for the bill on Wednesday following 17 hours of debate. Action in the House could begin as early as this weekend. Gov. Mark Dayton vowed to sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.

St. Paul child care provider Lisa Thompson, president of Child Care Providers Together, a unit of AFSCME Council 5, applauded the Senate’s support for their right to vote for a union.

“I’m thrilled that the bill will finally reach the House floor for a vote,” she said. “A union is something our profession needs. We are businesswomen who know that a union will give us many benefits, such as access to training, the ability to collectively bargain for better reimbursement rates and a legal voice at the table.”

The bill gives licensed and unlicensed in-home child care providers (who care for children who receive state subsidies) the right to be represented by a union. These providers – who receive state subsidies to care for children from low-income families – want to organize with AFSCME’s Child Care Providers Together, but an election is required before the union can act on their behalf.

The bill also would also allow personal care attendants who work directly for a person they care for, such as an elderly or disabled relative, to organize a union, under the same requirements set for child care providers. The attendants are seeking representation through the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Together, 21,000 workers in Minnesota can gain representation through a union.

Minnesota’s child care providers have been organizing with AFSCME Council 5 since 2011. That year, more than 4,300 licensed, in-home child care providers won the right to gain union representation when Governor Dayton signed an executive order. But two days before they would have begun to cast their votes to unionize, a St. Paul judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the election. This year, Sen. Sandra Pappas and Rep. Michael Nelson introduced the new collective bargaining bill approved by the Senate this week.

“Everyone wins when we come together and work together to improve our lives and profession,” said Lynn Barten, a child care provider in Alexandria, Minn., who is also hoping to form a union with Child Care Providers Together. “It’s time to help Minnesota’s family child care providers do the same. Providers already do a great job taking care of our children, but a union will give us access to more training so we can do our jobs even better.”

To help and encourage legislators to develop that plan, AFSCME leaders have organized a new group called Interpreting for California. Members are pushing for a larger, well-trained interpreter work force. They are also working with Assembly Speaker John Perez to pass a bill, which requires the state Department of Health Care Services to apply for federal matching funds to create a state-certified pool of interpreters.

“Quality, in-person medical interpretation saves lives. We are leading the way with interpreters and the community to make sure all Californians can communicate with their doctor and get the care they need,” says Doug Moore, Executive Director of UDW Homecare Providers/AFSCME Local 3930 and an AFSCME International vice president.

Interpreting for California has also held community forums, like the one seen in this video, where local community members can share their personal stories. 

Lack of proper interpretation in a health care setting can have dire, even fatal consequences. AFSCME interpreters in California, Washington and across the country are working hard to make sure that their communities speak the language of care.  

Dan Petruso, chairman of the Conservative Caucus of Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28, explains the causes we support through our PAC, known as PEOPLE, have less to do with party labels than with particular issues affecting workers.

As a result, he said, PEOPLE contributions have “opened the doorway to legislators – Republicans primarily – who ordinarily wouldn’t even talk to us. So it’s changed the whole political landscape, not only on Capitol Hill and the Legislature, but within our union. The Conservative Caucus in Washington has changed the tenor of the thinking of the whole Council.”

So much so, in fact, that Council 28’s Conservative Caucus has a nearly 100-percent participation rate in PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality). That’s why Petruso, an enforcement officer for the state of Washington’s Division of Child Support, is a PEOPLE MVP. That means he contributes at least $100 per year to the union’s political action committee.

Petruso, also vice president of Spokane Local 1221 and co-chair of his union’s Legislative and Political Action Committee, adds that conservatives contribute to AFSCME PEOPLE because through it, they can voluntarily financially support the union’s political activities.

Conservatism is a family tradition for Republican Sheralynn Kern, vice president of Local 4041. Kern, a licensing technician for the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in Carson City, is also a PEOPLE MVP. She explains: “One group of my family came from mining, the other came from agriculture. That’s a pretty conservative group of people.”

As Northern Nevada co-chair of her union’s Law and Legislative Committee, Kern understands the importance that money plays in politics. As a conservative, she also knows that her PEOPLE contributions can sway politicians to support causes that she supports.

“When things were going wrong in Wisconsin and other states – including Nevada – the PEOPLE program put up funding to help us to make the difference,” Kern said. Those who run the program from the national union “don’t just go off on their own,” she added. “They stay in contact with Nevada. They asked us whether we agreed with them or not, and I think that’s great.”

Kern may not support all the candidates that PEOPLE supports, but she says it’s important to contribute. “It’s a necessary program,” she said. “In the long run, it benefits every one of us.”

The unrest is fueled by industry-wide poverty level pay, largely non-existent benefits and disrespect for workers by management. Workers are demanding a raise to a living wage and the right to form unions without retaliation.

Jimmy Russell
Ella Giles

Workers at 30 restaurants took part in the St. Louis strike, which is part of a larger campaign: “St. Louis Can’t Survive on $7.35.” Supporters from the labor movement, faith-based groups and the community are standing with them, even as the actions slowed service at area food joints.

Jimmy Russell, a local reverend, was headed into a McDonald’s to have a cup of coffee as he prepared his Sunday sermon. Seeing the activity out front, he approached and offered to speak.

“I worked at UPS for 35 years; we had each other’s back,” the retired Teamster told the crowd. “Get yourself a union,” he encouraged the workers.

But as huge as the fast food industry is – growing at twice the rate of the U.S. economy – and as dire the conditions its workers face, the struggle extends far beyond the local McDonald’s or Burger King. As a St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial last week noted, the strikes were “an opening gambit in a long game,” beginning with “drawing attention to the plight of the American worker in a time of record income inequality.”

It was those very reasons home care attendant Ella Giles showed up to support the strikers. “My grandson works fast food, and he deserves respect,” Giles said. A member of the Missouri Home Care Union she pointed out that “when their pay goes up, we all get better pay.”  

Outnumbering conference attendees, more than 700 Oklahomans showed up for a “Rally for the Middle Class.” AFSCME members stood shoulder-to-shoulder with community allies and members of the International Association of Fire Fighters and the Teamsters.

The 40-year-old ALEC promotes corporate-friendly legislation. They’ve supported right-to-work (for less), prison privatization, and education privatization. Were it not for AFSCME members, its conference attendees might have had a warmer greeting in the state where Gov. Mary Fallin was named ALEC’s Legislator of the Year in 2009.

"I've never been more proud of AFSCME,” said William Bryles, president of Local 2406. “Even with a record-breaking wind chill, we came out to fight. Workers' comp, retirement security and quality public services are too important to just hand over. Now, ALEC knows that anywhere they go, AFSCME will go too."

ALEC tried to silence protestors by taking away their previously reserved conference room for their rally and successfully blocking journalists from attending sessions even though they were registered. ALEC also put a disclaimer on all sample legislation and agendas which says, "ALEC believes it is not subject to disclosure under any state Freedom of Information or Public Records Act." In a laughable disconnect, ALEC recently told the press “we really believe in transparency.”

Despite ALEC’s best efforts, protestors are continuing to speak out and be heard. AFSCME members at nearly every local in the state attended educational seminars on ALEC’s work to dismantle the middle class. Oklahoma AFSCME members are more ready than ever before to fight privatization efforts and attacks on their well-being.

The law will redefine how elections in Colorado are held by allowing same-day voter registration and the mailing of ballots to all registered voters. Through its implementation, every registered voter can expect to receive a ballot by mail while still having the option of voting in person at any of the vote centers established by the bill.

The bill will also eliminate the “inactive” voter category that applies to residents who skip one election cycle and imposes restrictions on them to receive ballots by mail.

All Democrats in the state Legislature voted for the bill, while not a single Republican did, citing concerns about “voter fraud,” which is largely non-existent and used by the right as an excuse for restricting the ability of Democratic-leaning voters, especially minorities, to vote.

AFSCME was part of a coalition that joined forces to get this bill passed. Among them were Colorado county clerks and commissioners, as well as national progressive groups Common Cause and the League of Women Voters.

This is a clear victory for democracy, especially at a time when extremist groups like the tea party and the American Legislative Exchange Council continue plotting to restrict voting by minorities and obstruct the electoral process as much as they can. In New Jersey this week, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have made voting more accessible – the need for which was starkly demonstrated when Super-Storm Sandy impeded citizens’ access to polling places in his own state.

This story begins in 2011 when the newly formed Southwest Coalition – a group comprised of AFSCME, other local unions, farmers, teachers and non-profit groups – launched a drive to support progressive candidates for local office.

“Through the coalition, we found out that some local employees were meeting resistance from their bosses, so we decided maybe we should run for office and see if we can make a difference,” said Ken Fleshner, a sergeant at the medium-security Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution.

Fleshner, also a steward and member of Local 903’s executive board, thought that by running for a Common Council seat, he could bring a worker’s perspective to the council. Especially at a time of budget cutting, he said, “It’s not a bad thing to let workers have rights and give them a fair shake.”

Mark Thein, a fellow corrections sergeant, also entered the Common Council race, “to become more active in the political process, and try to be more influential as a union person,” said Thein, vice president of Local 903.

At the time, Gov. Scott Walker was about to launch his campaign to strip public service employees of their collective bargaining rights.

“We didn’t know how hard he was going to come down on us,” said Thein. “We needed to stand up and participate to make sure the real information was getting out” about union members, who Walker was falsely smearing.

Their fellow corrections officer, Mike Jones, also decided to enter the Common Council contest. All three ran as write-in candidates in the small town race, and all won, and were re-elected last month. Later – in April 2012 – corrections sergeant Adam Sutter, president of Local 903, won a two-year seat on the Crawford County Board of Supervisors.

Today, Fleshner sometimes finds himself sitting on the other side of the table from workers facing disciplinary actions, and other issues. But his union background keeps him grounded in the rights of workers.

“I think we have a unique perspective in that we can put ourselves more in the employee’s shoes,” he explained. “When talking about benefits, pay, discipline, the human factor – I always have that in the back of my mind when I make decisions.” 

With these four members of AFSCME Local 903, it’s not just a matter of balancing work, family and union. It’s also getting active in the needs of an entire community.

This patient had been “in a bad way, at the end of her life,” Marshall recalls. “She wanted to die. But the family said, ‘We want her to live.’ So, I sat with them and talked to them about her wishes and the process. They made peace with her decision and moments later, she passed away. Later, the family returned to the hospital and brought us food. They gave me a scarf to thank me. I’ll always remember that.”

At the airport, she was greeted by the daughter, who called her by her first name and introduced her as “my mom’s nurse.”

Nurses don’t always get such recognition for their hard work. This week at the AFSCME/United Nurses of America Congress, held during National Nurses Week, AFSCME nurses throughout the country had the opportunity to attend workshops, network, and ready themselves for organizing work ahead.

“It really did reenergize us to go back home and talk to the membership about unity and organizing other members to make us stronger,” said Michelle Lombardi, an ICU nurse at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio. She is on the executive board of AFSCME Local 2026.

Last year, members of Local 2026 successfully negotiated a three-year contract with total wage increases of 7 percent after a salary and benefits freeze that lasted eight years. “Our hospital had gone into bankruptcy and we were forced into concession bargaining,” Lombardi recalls. “It was very difficult for us.”

Today, the hospital has changed ownership and brighter days are ahead. But nurses, despite being in the most trusted profession in America, will continue to fend off attacks from those who have little or no real appreciation for their work – the right-wing, corporate-backed politicians who would rather take away their labor rights.

“Union-busting by elected officials and corporate leaders is prevalent,” AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders told attendees. “Right-to-work-for-less bills have come up this year in just about every state that does not already have a law on the books. Paycheck deception bills aimed at taking away our voice are common,” he said, referring to bills that make it harder on unions to collect dues from members for political purposes.

He and AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Laura Reyes urged them to continue prioritizing organizing.

“We need to go on the offensive against the current disparity of wealth in this country,” Reyes said. “We need to be the agitators for change. That’s why we organize.  That’s why we build collective power. That’s why we are engaging in strategic planning and setting a proactive course.”

He also claimed it was “dangerous class warfare” when people were protesting high unemployment, foreclosures and corporate bailouts.

But, as has been pointed out by many, including the New York Times editorial page, it is really Republicans, personified by Mr. Romney, who are the class warriors.

As the Times put it, these warriors seek “to incite the anger of a small slice of the richest Americans who need no government assistance but get it anyway, against the working poor, older Americans, the disabled workers and veterans, and even a significant chunk of middle-class Americans.”

But it is clearly a mistake to think that only Republicans engage in this behavior. An elite class of so-called “moderate” or “progressive” Democrats has also put a target on the income and retirement security of the working class.

Whether Democrat or Republican, these class warriors have the same objectives. They all seek to preserve and extend unsustainable tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. They all favor policies that shield the income of those who invest at the expense of those who work. And these class warriors all claim that taxes are too high, although the fact is that tax burdens faced by Americans are at the lowest level in over 50 years.

Few better exemplify the Democratic class warrior than Rhode Island’s Treasurer, Gina Raimondo. Prior to her election in 2010, Raimondo was a run-of-the-mill venture capitalist who made herself a nice chunk of money. Once in office, she began her crusade to strip public workers of pension benefits. Some $4 billion in benefits that workers had already earned, and were paid for in large part by the employees themselves, were simply seized by the state. This wasn’t merely benefit ‘reduction.’ It was outright theft.

And who benefited from this theft? According to respected financial watchdog, Edward "Ted" Siedle, fees paid to hedge fund investment managers will almost equal the amount being yanked from retirees by suspending their cost of living adjustments. 

As Siedle puts it, “It seems (Treasurer Raimondo) believes it’s a lot easier for retired state workers to adjust their cost-of-living than it is for hedge fund high-rollers.”

Connecting the Dots

But wait, there’s more. It turns out that Raimondo’s anti-worker crusade was bankrolled by former Enron energy trader, John Arnold. Among Arnold’s pet causes: Destroying public employees’ retirement security. His money was also behind anti-pension initiatives in San Diego and San Jose, Calif. In San Jose, Arnold’s money supported another anti-worker Democratic warrior, Mayor Chuck Reed.

Arnold should know better. As a former Enron executive, he’s intimately familiar with the pain and suffering caused when that company obliterated the retirement security of thousands of its employees.  

Instead of making amends for destroying those employees’ lives – and the countless others hurt as Enron’s collapse rippled out from its center – Arnold has partnered with the Pew Center on the States to launch a national initiative to undermine workers. Pew is a well-heeled foundation which has, as it primary source of funding, riches from the Sun Oil Company (Sunoco). Raimondo, in turn, has enlisted Arnold and Pew to “advise” cities across Rhode Island on how to raze the pension benefits of their employees.

This, then, is an integral part of what the new class warfare looks like: Wealthy politicians and “philanthropists,” people with millions or billions of dollars of wealth, scheming – with funds from the highly government-subsidized energy sector – to snatch pension benefits from retired librarians, teachers, and street crew workers.

The fact that Wall Street hedge fund operators are the beneficiaries of these schemes says a lot about the corruption of America’s economic values in 2013.

Steve Kreisberg is AFSCME’s Director of Collective Bargaining

The decision came after ten months of negotiations with management yielded no acknowledgment from UC Executives of the problems affecting the UC hospital system—problems documented in alarming detail in a blistering whistleblower report released by UC Patient Care workers back in March. Throughout the process, AFSCME members repeatedly demonstrated that exorbitant salaries and misguided retirement deals have benefited top executives at the expense of patient care and safe working conditions for employees.

The UC Medical System makes hundreds of millions of dollars in profits every year. Executive pay there has increased $100 million since 2009. As the salaries and oversized entitlements of UC executives have skyrocketed, patient care has increasingly been shortchanged.  Permanent employees have been replaced with less experienced temps.  As patient loads have increased, the 13,000 frontline care workers who keep the system working have been asked to do more and more with less.

Employees know the hospital system is badly understaffed, with not enough personnel to even take care of patients’ basic needs. That’s putting patients and providers at risk, and compromising the cleanliness of care areas.

Now it’s up to UC administrators to come back to the table with a workable proposal. AFSCME encourages UC administrators to listen to the unified voices of members of AFSCME Local 3299 who are standing up for their patients.

One story broke through, turned the tide of the debate and ultimately helped AFSCME members get their rights back.

That was the story of Marlene Quinn.  In a TV ad, Quinn, a Cincinnati grandmother, told the story of how her great-granddaughter Zoey was saved by Ohio firefighters. She explained that this story was why Ohioans needed to protect firefighters’ rights and fund their operations properly.

Do you have a story to share that could turn the tide for working families in your community? Maybe your aunt’s monthly Medicaid check wasn’t delivered due to an error by a private company. Maybe you have been forced to work well-past retirement because your pension has been slashed.  Maybe you have experienced discrimination on the job for being gay or an immigrant. Or maybe you just love your job and want to share why it’s important to your community.

AFSCME members, we need your stories.  Community members and allies, we need your stories about the importance of public services, too. Like Quinn’s, your story could be the key to fending off attacks on workers everywhere.

Share your story here.

Despite the success of the campaign for marriage equality, discrimination in the workplace and housing remains perfectly legal. In housing – a field in which many AFSCME members work – discrimination against LGBT people exists and persists today. Currently, the federal Fair Housing Act does not outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. A recent report from the National Fair Housing Alliance found that there was a marked “spike in complaints by people not protected under the federal fair housing law.” Complaints regarding sexual orientation were up 43 percent, and gender identity complaints were reported for the first time. 

In 29 states, you can be fired based simply on sexual orientation; and in 28 states, housing discrimination based on sexual orientation is legal. The Employee Non-Discrimination Act was introduced recently in both the U.S. House and Senate. This legislation, known as ENDA, would prohibit most employers from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

With the momentum brought on by the string of marriage equality wins, LGBT advocates, union leaders and housing activists are hoping this will be the year to eliminate discrimination in the workplace and housing. If you want to get involved in the fight, join AFSCME Pride’s online network.

From San Diego to Orlando and Las Vegas to New York City, AFSCME members rallied with their sisters and brothers to demand fairness for immigrants and consensus from lawmakers on a plan to overhaul our nation’s broken immigration system. The events – which brought together the leaders of labor, religious and community organizations, as well as immigrant advocates – reflected the passion, momentum and urgency behind the fight to create a path to citizenship for all immigrants.

“We believe in fairness,” Pres. Lee Saunders said at the “March for Citizenship” in Las Vegas. “Aspiring citizens contribute to our culture and are committed to this country. They want to stand with us. They want to join our fight for good wages and better working conditions. They want to speak out for a better life. We are standing by their side to fight for a better life.”

Since the beginning of the year, when Pres. Barack Obama called for comprehensive immigration reform and eight U.S. senators adopted the task of drafting a plan to achieve that goal, AFSCME has been a loud and clear advocate of the need to give immigrant workers a voice on the job, and to give immigrant families the chance to fully participate in the economic, social and political life of our country.

“When new American citizens can freely organize, employers will no longer be able to exploit them,” Saunders added. “They will have a voice at work. And they will be a force for change.”

At a rally in San Diego, Calif., Sec.-Treas. Laura Reyes called on workers to join their voices with those of their immigrant sisters and brothers, reminding them that “when we pull together, we can face any obstacle. As long as our voices are clear and strong, we always win, which is why we will never be silent.”

She also reminded participants what the fight is all about: freedom, opportunity and respect. “We in the labor movement still believe we have the power, and the obligation, to challenge unfair conditions and social injustice. To fully contribute, the 11 million immigrants we call neighbors, family and friends must have a viable path to citizenship.”

Two weeks ago, a group of eight U.S. senators, known as the “Gang of Eight,” introduced a bill that would lead to the most significant changes in our immigration system in 26 years. Among other things, the bill would strengthen security at the border and create a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants who currently live under fear of deportation.

Recently, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings on the bill.

May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is commemorated worldwide. Starting with massive demonstrations held on May 1, 2006, it is associated with the fight for immigration reform.

AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders, addressing an energetic crowd, noted that the founding assembly was “the start of something big.” He praised the retirees for building their chapter into “a powerful force whose presence will be felt throughout Puerto Rico.”

Annette Gonzalez Perez, president of AFSCME Council 95, praised the tenaciousness of assembly delegates in organizing the retiree chapter. Already, AFSCME Retiree Chapter 95 has more than 2,200 members, with more joining every day.

Assembly delegates adopted a constitution and then elected their first slate of officers: Blanca Paniagua as president; Eva Canabal, vice president; Adelina Lopez, secretary; Obdulia Lopez, treasurer. They elected Joselito Cortes Quinonez, Minerva Gonzalez, Miriam Quinones and Roberto Hernandez to the executive board, and Irma Iris Linero Rivera, Rosa N. Rios Lugo and Norma Paniagua as trustees.

After a discussion led by AFSCME economist Brian Kloop on the recently passed and highly damaging pension “reform” law signed by the governor, retirees passed two resolutions. In the first, they vowed to use their collective power to protect the pensions they earned after decades of hard work and service to the people of Puerto Rico. In the second, delegates vowed to join with other likeminded groups to fight cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Retiree Chapter 95 is the 41^st AFSCME Retiree chapter, and its members join the other nearly 250,000 retiree members of AFSCME, the strongest public service retiree organization in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The state Senate unanimously approved the legislation in March. Once the bill is signed by Gov. Peter Shumlin, Vermont Homecare United/AFSCME will petition the state labor board to hold an election. More than 4,000 providers have already signed up with the AFSCME home care union, hoping to make their union the voice of all the state’s providers.

By joining Vermont Homecare United/AFSCME, the providers will be able to step up with a united voice to gain greater dignity on the job and to seek improvements in the critical services they provide.

“Homecare workers like myself work every day to ensure our clients live their lives with independence and dignity,” said Mary Montgomery, a provider from Washington, Vt. Passage of the bill, she added, “is a big step toward ensuring providers like me are given that same dignity in the workplace.”

“As a provider with over 35 years of experience, one day I’m going to need someone to take care of me, and I want them to know the ins and outs of how to care for someone like me,” said Carol Delage of St. Albans, a member of Vermont Homecare United/AFSCME who has lobbied hard and testified on behalf of the bill. “I want to know they are getting paid a fair wage, because if the provider is happy and well-cared for, the consumer is as well.”

Care recipient Denise Hok of Brattleboro, Vt., is also happy that the providers are on their way to having their own union with real strength through collective bargaining. “Because in years past working as a homecare provider in Vermont was not seen as a viable career path, providers that have cared for me have been forced to make the impossible choice between the work they love and providing for their own family,” she said. With final passage of the home care bill, “providers will be treated with the same respect and dignity that I've been shown as a consumer over the last 20 years.”

AFSCME currently represents approximately 125,000 home care providers nationwide, and has ongoing campaigns to represent thousands of other home care providers in nearly a dozen states. Last year, AFSCME members came together in the Green Mountain State to support the efforts of caregivers to form Vermont Homecare United/AFSCME.

Read more about the home care bill here.

He left his public-sector job soon after and now works for the private contractor, in what has come to be perceived as a questionable case of I-scratch-your-back-and-you-scratch-mine. The Civil Service Employees Association, AFSCME Local 1000, is demanding an investigation by the state legislature and calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ensure greater accountability.

“This has the appearance of impropriety on the face of it and the Governor knows it,” said CSEA Pres. Danny Donohue, also an AFSCME International vice president. “We will only see more of this if the Cuomo administration continues its path of eroding public jobs while playing fast and loose with private contractors at public expense.”

CSEA has called for Medenica’s hiring to be investigated by the State Inspector General and the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Former state officials are not allowed to do business with the agency they left until two years after their departure, and they are barred permanently from involvement in state contracts they helped negotiate.

The contract GTECH negotiated took the jobs of marketing representatives at the Lottery. Medenica warned Lottery staff before he left that they could not apply for GTECH positions because of “state revolving-door laws.”

Donohue decried Medenica’s hypocrisy. “Here’s a classic example of ‘do as I say, not as I do,’ that we’ve come to expect from this administration,” the CSEA president said. “The public needs some honest answers and accountability.”

GTECH is a gaming technology and services company that is the New York Lottery’s biggest vendor. It is owned by a foreign conglomerate and donated $40,000 to Cuomo’s campaign.

The gambling industry has been very active in New York politics. In fact, since 2005, some $50 million has been spent by the gambling industry in state lobbying and campaign contributions, according to the advocacy organization Common Cause.

An investigation must be conducted into Medenica’s hiring by GTECH to salvage public faith in government institutions. We’re glad CSEA has taken a leadership role in this fight.

Since the implementation of the Early Learn program in 2012, the number of New York City children receiving public child care has probably dropped significantly.

In fact, more than 10,000 children cannot receive public child care because of program and center elimination, zip code discrimination and new vendors unable to receive Department of Health certification for new centers. The forced deterioration of the city’s public child care does not seem to concern the current administration.

Raglan George, Jr., an AFSCME International vice president and executive director of District Council 1707, which represents public day care and Head Start employees, has been holding a One-Man March for Child Care since last fall.

“This attack on our children and poor and working families is contemptible,” George said. “Since the 1960s parents have enjoyed sending their children to safe, quality and affordable child care, and all that the Bloomberg administration has done is attempt to undo more than 50 years of progress under the guise of the Early Learn program.”

Also attending the rally were DC 37 Exec. Dir. and International Vice Pres. Lillian Roberts and DC 37 Pres. and International Vice Pres. Eddie Rodriguez.

AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders attended the rally and called on Bloomberg to “expand child care so that there’s room for all the children who need it.”

“Give the workers the pay and benefits they deserve for the hard work they do,” he added. “And provide a funding stream that is consistent and stable.”

Because of the mayor’s poor choices, less than 27 percent of eligible children in the city receive subsidized child care. Also, 60 percent of the workers at the center-based daycares don’t have health insurance because they can’t afford it. And Bloomberg wants to close another 60 centers and eliminate 3,000 child care slots.

Before Mayor Bloomberg leaves office, he still has time to do right by our kids and make the children of New York City his priority. We urge him to do so.

The action effectively ends debate, as least this year, on overhauling the state’s $136 billion pension plan, which is used by more than 600,000 public service workers, including teachers, police and firefighters.

“Once again, Council 79 members took it to the streets and made the difference,” said Council 79 Pres. Jeanette D. Wynn, also an AFSCME International vice president. “Retirement security for state workers is now protected because of the hundreds of us who came up for Lobby Day and traveled as long as 10 hours away to oppose this.”

AFSCME members, working closely with the Florida Retirement Security Coalition, actively opposed the pension changes, calling legislators and visiting the state Capitol on our Lobby Day to make the case for retirement security.

In March, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel), pushed a bill through his side of the Legislature on a party-line vote. It would have closed the Florida Retirement System’s traditional pension to new employees. The Senate action makes that House bill moot. An alternative Senate bill that would only have given workers a financial incentive to turn to 401(k)-style retirement accounts instead of the pension plan was dropped.

The effort to push public employees away from the state pension plan has its roots in efforts by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to advance its anti-worker agenda, according to a report in the Palm Beach Post.

The paper reported that ALEC held a conference in New Orleans in August 2011, “where dozens of Florida lawmakers gathered” to hear about its agenda, including pushing workers away from pension plans. “In recent years, the organization has been spearheading efforts nationwide to end governments’ traditional pensions,” the paper wrote.

Read why 401(k) plans are a failed experiment, and how traditional pensions are under attack by politicians under the lie that they are unaffordable.

“As public service workers, AFSCME members are exposed to many serious hazards including traffic, chemicals in the workplace, back injuries, workplace violence, infectious diseases and a variety of other risks that kill, injure, sicken and maim hundreds of our brothers and sisters every year. Our union fought hard to make the promise of the Occupational Safety and Health Act a reality, winning protections that made jobs safer, saved lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses.

“Workers have a right to go to work in the morning and return to their homes just as they left. Their families should have the assurance of knowing that employers are living up to their responsibilities to safeguard workplaces. This Workers Memorial Day, we must all recommit not only to doing all we can to keep workplaces safe, but also to standing up together for good jobs that are safe and healthy.”

Just days ago, we mourned the death of Lee Rizor, a 27-year-old highway technician with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and a member of OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11. Rizor was operating a backhoe, clearing debris behind a guardrail along Interstate 71, just north of Columbus, when a tractor trailer struck his vehicle. His wife, two young children and their family members are in our thoughts and prayers.

More Workers Memorial Day resources are available on the AFSCME website, and the AFL-CIO has posted a list of commemorative events across the country. Please also be sure to view the Workers Memorial Day tribute page on AFSCME.org which includes a list of our AFSCME sisters and brothers who have lost their lives while on the job.

A study by the University of California, Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education reveals that while overall union density declined in 2012 – even in public-sector unions – a greater proportion of black workers were union members compared to the proportion of non-black workers. Slightly more than 13 percent of all black workers in the United States are in unions, compared with 11 percent of non-black workers. More than 14 percent of black men in the workforce are union members, compared with fewer than 12 percent of non-black men.

The differences in union membership are magnified in the nation’s 10 largest metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. In those areas, black workers are 42 percent more likely to belong to unions than other workers.

The report’s author, labor policy specialist Steven Pitts, says those numbers could hold potential for future organizing efforts.

“The relatively high proportion of black union members in large metropolitan areas might hold rising importance as the labor movement seeks new ways to improve conditions facing workers in the United States,” Pitts writes in the report Data Brief: Blacks in Unions 2012. “To the extent that blacks are disproportionately members of unions, a pathway to great public policy success might lie in a stronger relationship with black communities and their elected officials.”  

“Bonnie was a tough leader who paved the way for Council 13 women,” said Dave Fillman, the council’s executive director and an AFSCME International vice president. “It was an honor to have her committed leadership over all those years.”

Marpoe, who worked as a licensed practical nurse supervisor at South Mountain Restoration Center until her retirement, was an active AFSCME member for more than 30 years. She served as president of Local 2245, which represents first-level supervisors in several Pennsylvania counties.

Marpoe and her husband of 51 years, John, had one daughter, two sons, eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Paid sick leave would help millions of American families, would reduce the high cost of health care and would eliminate an unnecessary drag on our country’s economic recovery. It’s a common sense solution to a serious problem. Yet Wall Street billionaires and the tea-party politicians who work for them are doing everything in their power to undercut efforts to protect the health of our economy and our families.

While most AFSCME members have paid sick leave as part of their collective bargaining agreements, we know that 40 million Americans lack even one day of paid sick leave. Millions more cannot take time off with pay when their child is ill. More than a third of Americans working in the private sector lack paid health care. This is a particular hardship for the poorest American families. Eight in 10 members of the working poor risk losing their jobs and their income whenever they or a member of their family gets sick.

The lack of paid sick leave threatens public health in many ways. Restaurant workers show up for work even with high fevers and infectious symptoms. A recent survey found that 20 percent of restaurant workers have gone to work while seriously ill. A few years ago in Kent, Ohio, a Chipotle worker with a virus came to work and infected more than 500 people who became violently ill. The cost to the community was estimated to be as much as $300,000. Nationwide, the lack of paid sick leave is estimated to annually cost our economy more than $160 billion in lost productivity.

Without paid sick leave, workers are forced to access emergency room care after work hours, adding billions to the cost of health care. They are twice as likely to use hospital emergency rooms for their children’s health care than parents with paid sick leave. AFSCME members across the country who work in hospitals see these workers every day. Because they are not able to visit a doctor or a health care clinic during the day, they forego treatment until their symptoms become more severe, increasing the cost of treatment and the length of their illnesses.

That is why support is growing for a national standard of paid sick leave. More than 85 percent of the public supports legislation guaranteeing seven days of paid sick leave for every worker. But corporate-backed politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives are blocking consideration of the Healthy Families Act, which would give 30 million additional workers access to paid sick days.

Support for this common sense reform is spreading from coast-to-coast, with states like Connecticut and cities like San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Washington, DC, requiring employers provide this protection for their workers. But Wall Street has been turning to their political henchmen to block the way for this reform. When Philadelphia’s city council passed paid sick leave, their anti-worker mayor, Michael Nutter, vetoed it. When Milwaukee passed a paid sick leave ordinance, Gov. Scott Walker got the state Legislature to pass legislation overturning it. So much for the lip service right-wing politicians give to the concept of local control.

The billionaire Koch brothers and their secretive American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are trying to replicate Wisconsin’s anti-worker strategy in other states. They are promoting nearly identical laws to deny cities the power to pass paid sick leave in states such as Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma and Washington. One Florida politician says their tea-party controlled Legislature “can deliver the kill shot.”

Unfortunately, these efforts to overturn the democratic process are undermining the ability of workers to take time off when they are sick without risking their livelihoods. They also undermine our economic productivity and increase the costs of health care nationwide. They spread illnesses unnecessarily in workplaces and schools throughout the nation. We must pull together and demand paid sick leave. It’s good for workers and it’s good for our economy. It makes sense for working families and for America’s future.

“We’re very glad to welcome the bus drivers and bus monitors,” said Frank Moroney, Council 93 executive director and also an AFSCME International vice president. “As the hard-working public employees that they are, they deserve the best collective bargaining representation out there, which is what we’re going to give them.”

At Council 93, they join more than 45,000 of their sisters and brothers who are state, county, and municipal employees in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Members of Council 93 work in a wide range of fields and include corrections officers, school cafeteria workers, airport employees and municipal highway employees.

LPVEC is comprised of seven school districts that pool their resources together to more effectively and efficiently provide services. We congratulate this employee unit on their decision to join AFSCME.