I know I was right, AFSCME helped me prove it
For Tarcara Lamkin, being a state employee means she knows that she is serving her community every day. As a senior clerk with the Florida Department of Health at the Magnolia Women's Health Center, she knows she is an integral part to ensuring that the Jacksonville com...
Tell Your Senators: ‘Hands Off Medicaid’
President Donald Trump promised NOT to cut Medicaid, but his budget proposal and the House health care bill he supports show otherwise.Reneging on a key campaign vow to American working families, Trump now wants to pave the way for cutting Medicaid to half its size over...
Unions: Reversing the Dyson Effect
Spoiler Alert: the Florida Legislature isn’t even considering using this year’s budget surplus to invest in state services and state workers. Another non-surprise, recent research by WalletHub ranks Florida as one of the least fair tax systems; helping the rich get rich...
Contract Ratification Boosts School Employees
The bus drivers, maintenance and food service workers – and all the other hard-working men and women of AFSMCE Florida Local 1184 who make the country’s fourth-largest school system happen every day – have approved a new three-year contract with the Miami-Dade Public Sc...
It is time to show state workers some respect
The following op-ed ran in the January 20 Sun SentinelFlorida is a large and diverse state. In the time and distance it takes to drive from Pensacola to Key West, you could drive from Madison, Wisc., to Washington, D.C. During those more than twelve hours of non-stop dr...
Aiming High and Winning at UCF
Last week, the men and women who make one of America’s largest university by total enrollment happen semester after semester, overwhelmingly approved a new contract that balances professional and benefits victories.
Union slams Trump for coming to South Florida on Citizenship Day
Andy Madtes, President of the South Florida AFL-CIO, blasted Donald Trump on Friday for the "irony" of visiting Miami on National Citizenship Day and Constitution Day."The Constitution, written by immigrants, outlines the guiding principles of what makes America great —...
PEOPLE
Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality (PEOPLE)As public employees, we have the unique ability to elect government officials who determine our quality of life bo
New Contracts Boost Workers, Energize Local
Hundreds of hardworking men and women of AFSCME Local 2227 recently ratified three new contracts, providing not only a boost to members’ paychecks but also serving to protect public service jobs in the future.The members, who proudly make Florida’s Polk County Public Sc...
State Report Confirms Florida Is Not Investing In The Future
A new report released this week by the Department of Management Service, State Personnel System Annual Workforce Report for Fiscal Year 2014-15, puts into black and white what the failure to invest in state workers, and the services they provide, really looks like.
Showcasing Union Value in Small Town
The city of DeFuniak Springs lies just north of Interstate 10 in a part of the Florida panhandle that is physically closer to Alabama than the Gulf Coast. And for the members of AFSCME Local 3918, the opinions about unions held by the community, city leaders and even ma...
AFSCME Relaunches State Council to Focus on Growth and Activism for Florida’s Working Families
In a move designed to both better reflect the breadth and depth of workers represented across the state and to better the position the union for future growth, Florida leaders of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) voted to rename t...
In Florida, AFSCME’s Razor-Sharp Focus is on Growth
Expanding a union is hard work, especially in a “right-to-work” state like Florida, especially after a national election in which anti-union forces wrested control of the White House and Congress.Don’t tell that to AFSCME affiliates in Florida.
Florida negotiating contract with union, state workers
Florida is negotiating a contract on working conditions for the nearly 14,000 members of AFSCME Florida employed by the state. While number of paid union members is small, the collective bargaining agreement will apply to all 98,000 members of the State Personnel System...
‘It Just Takes One Person to Change the World’
Ask almost anyone in south Florida about the year 1972 and they likely will talk about the Miami Dolphins, which that year became the first, and still only, NFL team to go undefeated. But two other seemingly unrelated events also took place that year that would eventual...
A Second Chance – to Live, Serve and Save a Life
Christopher Cummings’ life is a study in contrasts.Where he was once homeless and alone, he is now a husband and father of four. Where he once ate out of a garbage can, he is now a proud public service worker who drives a garbage truck for Miami-Dade County, Florida. Wh...
Sick Buildings Infect State Workers
Sherika Roberts really enjoys her job handling reemployment assistance benefits for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.“I feel that I am helping people build a better life for themselves and their family by overcoming the hurdles life throws at us,” said the...
Florida Dems will choose delegates in mini-election
Jeff Burlew, Democrat senior writer 11:14 p.m. EDT April 16, 2016 Democrats across Florida will be picking their national convention delegates next month in a process far different — and with a bit less intrigue — than the GOP’s.
Florida Training Inspires New Activists
Elsa Lina Clark has only been an AFSCME member for a month, but she’s already AFSCME Strong.Clark, an electronic document technician for the Miami-Dade County Regulatory and Economic Resources, joined the union after the union stepped in to help a friend and coworker wh...
AFSCME in the news: Teachers, employees protest Polk School Board impasse with unions
The Ledger: http://bit.ly/2kiLD9xWFLA: http://wfla.com/2017/01/24/teachers-protesting-wage-dispute-impasse-with-polk-county-school-district/ABC: http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/bartow/polk-county-teachers-protesting-after-district-denies-pay-raise
Florida’s coming war on collective bargaining for state employees
The following story appeared on the Florida Bulldog site and can be found clicking here. Florida’s coming war on collective bargaining for state employeesWhen Miami state Rep. Carlos Trujillo was interviewed on Spanish language radio station Actualidad 1020 he boldly pr...
“This is not a me thing, this is an us thing.”
Jacqueline Milton-Herring’s day starts well before the sun rises. For most of 20 years, this AFSCME Local 1184 member has been a dedicated employee of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She has been a bus aide and a bus driver. This means her day, like that of her co...
‘Nothing Is Going to Change Until You Join’
When Darryl Lamar started working for the City of Jacksonville as a code compliance officer a year and a half ago, one of the things he missed about his previous jobs with Bell South and AT&T was his strong union voice through the Communications Workers of America (...