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...
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...
Report: Strong Unions, Stronger Communities
When working people have the freedom to come together in strong unions, entire communities benefit. Unions give everyday working people the power in numbers they need to make their communities safer and stronger, and they are critical to fixing an economy rigged in favo...
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 —...
Never Giving Up Nets FL Member $40K in Back Pay
For years, Sheryll Brown made sure the students and staff at the University of North Florida had an efficient postal services unit. But when the university won the effort to outsource her department she made sure her contract was enforced, which led to a multi-year effo...
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...
How One AFSCME Member is Helping Florida Dry Out and Rebuild
Most times, you can find longtime AFSCME member Bert Walthour serving the City of Miami Beach as a heavy equipment operator. He and his coworkers at Local 1554 (AFSCME Florida), where he serves as vice president, make one of the world’s most iconic cities function every...
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...
Hurricane Irma Recovery Info from Cigna and UnionPlus
As AFSCME members continue to help our communities rebuild, AFSCME Florida wants to make sure you have as much recovery information as possible. To find the previous information we shared, click here.
‘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...
As Hurricane Irma Set Records, AFSCME Members Scrambled to Help Others
This year’s Atlantic hurricane season may not be over yet (it ends Nov. 30), but its history is already being written. As The Washington Post pointed out in a recent article, “The extreme ferocity of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season will be talked about for decades.”
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...
Unions Part of the Solution for Closing the Wage Gap
The below ran in the Miami Herald on September 3, 2017Nadine Rattray started her new job at a Miami rehab facility with confidence. She had worked in a hospital for five years previously, had become licensed as a practical nurse, and was able to negotiate her salary up...
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