It’s in your state. It’s in my state. It’s in every state. Income inequality knows no state boundaries, and it’s only been getting worse, according to a new report.

The state-by-state analysis, titled “The Increasingly Unequal States of America: Income Inequality by State,” offers a bleak look at America’s fiscal pie. It shows that the richest Americans took a bigger slice in all 50 states between 1917 and 2011 – so big, in fact, that when income growth resumed in 2009 it was nearly all at the upper end of the income scale.

The average income of the top 1 percent, $1.04 million in 2011, was 24.4 times greater than the average income of the bottom 99 percent ($42,694), according to the report, published by the Economic Policy Institute for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN).

In four states – Nevada, Wyoming, Michigan and Alaska – only the top 1 percent saw their income rise between 1979 and 2007. The average income of the remaining 99 percent fell in those states. In another 15 states, the researchers found that the top 1 percent captured between half and 84 percent of all income growth during that same period.

“The statistics are startling,” said AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders. “They clearly indicate that the rules in America have changed, and that the system is being rigged in favor of the wealthiest. It’s no coincidence that this unfair distribution of wealth has taken place at the same time corporations and right-wing politicians have waged war on unions and the labor movement. They know that a strong labor movement helps level the playing field.”

Check out this interactive chart showing how things stand in your state.

In 2011, the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act dealt a huge blow to state retirees, partly replacing their secure pensions with risky 401(k)-style plans, taking away their cost-of-living adjustment increases, and raising the minimum age for retirement.

But public employees and retirees with AFSCME Council 94 didn’t take it lying down. They fought back, calling for an investigation into State Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s shady pension practices. And this month, state officials agreed to soften some of the provisions in the harmful legislation.

Among the changes to the original law:

• Employees with more than 20 years on the job will be able to keep their defined-benefit pension plan with higher employee contribution.
• Annual cost-of-living adjustments will be issued every four years, instead of every five.
• The amount the state will contribute to the defined-contribution plan will increase.
• And some employees with 30 years of service will still be able to retire at age 65.

“When the state of Rhode Island threatened our members’ retirement security, we pushed back,” said AFSCME Council 94 Pres. J. Michael Downey. “Now we’ve achieved some important changes to the harmful legislation that was imposed upon us. All things considered, these hard-fought achievements will help us protect retirement security for Rhode Island public employees.”

The agreement reached between the state and its public employees was brokered by federal mediators and must be run through a series of approvals before it is final.

Columbus, Ohio – Gov. John Kasich recently brought his State of the State address, and the entire state Legislature, press corps and a whole pack of half-truths to Medina, Ohio, where the annual speech was held.

There to meet him and provide “The Real State of the State” were AFSCME activists and allies from across Ohio. More than a hundred AFSCME activists played a central role in planning and executing the event that was months in the making.

Tammy Fulks, an OCSEA member, used the event as an opportunity to hold Governor Kasich accountable for his utter failure to create jobs and turn the economy around.

“The governor says his main concern is jobs and the economy,” Fulks said. “If that’s the case, why did he lay me off? The governor had total control over laying me off. Yes, I was a public sector employee—and proud of it.”

Amongst the usual high-flying rhetoric, the governor outlined a few plans that stick out as particularly harmful. He also left out a few pesky facts that are inconvenient to him.

Kasich’s Idea: a huge new round of tax cuts.

The Fact: Kasich shifted the state tax burden off the wealthy and onto the backs of middle- and lower-class Ohioans. In his last budget, the governor gave the wealthiest Ohioans a $6,000 tax break while making the poorest 20 percent of people pay more in taxes. At a time when local governments struggle to make ends meet, is it really a good idea to rob the state of more important revenue?

Kasich’s Idea: “deregulate” the state’s education system.

The Fact: Governor Kasich is more interested in rewarding campaign donors who run for-profit charter schools than helping the state’s students succeed. Since taking office, the governor cut more than $500 million from public schools while giving more money to for-profit charter schools, which are run by some of the most generous political donors in the state.

“I'm really concerned about the drop in food stamps and telling people to go out and get jobs that are not there,” said Judy Smith, a caseworker in Trumbull County and a member of AFSCME Local 458, Council 8. “They are coming after our unions, pensions and voting rights – this is not the way to build a great state.  It's time for a change.”

Voting in America is everyone’s right. In Ohio, however, Gov. John Kasich recently made it harder for certain groups of people to cast their ballots.

Governor Kasich eliminated the so-called “Golden Week,” a period starting 35 days before Election Day when Ohio residents were allowed to register to vote and, at the same time, cast early in-person absentee ballots.

Another bill, also signed into law last week, prohibits county boards of election from mailing out unsolicited absentee ballot applications. This also is intended to make it more difficult for people to vote.

As the American Civil Liberties Union describes: “Eliminating ‘Golden Week’ and shortening the early voting period will needlessly complicate the voting process and place additional burdens on voters. Voters with disabilities, seniors, the homeless, new Ohio residents, people with a lack of transportation, and others such as parents and/or the working poor, among many others, have utilized Golden Week as a flexible way to register and vote simultaneously.”

Rep. Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said the party would file suit to prevent the measures from taking effect.

AFSCME, along with the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union, opposed the effort to end early voting.

We’re also opposing a Republican-sponsored proposal, House Bill 269, which would require Ohio voters to produce a photo ID when casting a ballot.

ALEC and other right-wing groups push voter-suppression laws because they are afraid of what a Democratic election will produce when everyone who wants to vote is able to do so. By restricting voting periods, these laws make it harder for lower-income workers, the elderly, the disabled, students, and people of color to get to the polling places.

Of course, for the tea-party groups behind these efforts, that’s the point.

After more than a year of bargaining and two strikes, the service workers of AFSCME 3299 reached a tentative agreement with the University of California (UC).  On the eve of a third strike, the 8,300-member unit announced an agreement this week that includes increased wages, safer staffing practices and protections against contracting out.

AFSCME 3299 is the largest union in the UC system, with 22,000 workers at campuses and hospitals throughout the state of California.  The service workers unit includes custodians, groundskeepers, and food service and maintenance workers. Ninety-nine percent of these workers are income-eligible for some form of public assistance. 

The tentative agreement includes a 13.5 percent across-the-board wage increase during the next four years and affordable health care benefits.

“While this proposed settlement includes compromise on both sides, it honors the contributions that career service workers make to this institution, as well as UC’s responsibility to build ladders to the middle class,” said UC service worker and AFSCME 3299 Pres. Kathryn Lybarger, also an AFSCME International vice president. “Our members are deeply grateful to the thousands of students, faculty, colleagues, elected officials, and everyday taxpayers who stood with us, and stood for the principles of fairness and dignity that bind every member of the UC community.”

While UC service workers secured a tentative agreement, the 13,000 UC patient care technical workers represented by AFSCME 3299 remain in bargaining with UC, with more sessions scheduled for later this week.

“Having seen the unflinching resolve of our membership and the many thousands of Californians who support them, it is our hope that the spirit of compromise that UC finally brought to the table yesterday to reach a settlement with UC service workers will continue in upcoming bargaining sessions with the patient care technical unit,” Lybarger said. “If it does, we believe that an end to this unfortunate, protracted dispute may finally be within reach, and a new period of cooperation can begin."

This is an excerpt from an article published on the Huffington Post. You can read the full version here.

As president of America's largest union of public service workers, I often hear from some politicians and pundits that government workers are overpaid. These folks might be surprised to learn that I agree with them when we're talking about individuals like Ron Packard. As America's highest paid teacher, Packard made more than $19 million between 2009 and 2013, almost all of it paid for by us -- the taxpayers.

Perhaps I should put quotation marks around the word "teacher." You see, Packard was, until very recently, the CEO of K12 Inc., an online education corporation that raked in more than $730 million last year from public school systems and replaced real life classrooms and teachers with virtual ones.

Read more here.

In recognition of their hard work and dedication during hazardous and emergency situations this winter, AFSCME Local 1567 members in Monroe County, Ind., will receive $1,000 each for the next five years.

Awarded for snow and ice removal work in a winter of record snowfalls, the extra cash is especially gratifying for Local 1567 members, whose five-year contract called for no pay raises.

“We haven’t had a weekend off since the 1st of January,” said David Ridge, president of Local 1567. “The council members were very appreciative of the work we’ve done. We take pride in keeping the streets cleared and safe, and we appreciate being acknowledged for the extra effort we’ve made this winter.”

It wasn’t just the council’s benevolence behind their unanimous vote. Good old-fashioned activism served notice that these workers deserved compensation for their extra efforts. With no on-call provisions for ice and snow removal, union members proposed the yearly flat rate of $1,000 for each of the 36 members of the local for the next five years. 

Through ongoing discussions with county commissioners and the county council, the local’s negotiating team and AFSCME Committee 962 garnered support for the bonus. County workers explained their lives were essentially on hold since November, serving the county’s citizens on overnight shifts and on-call duty.

All 36 bargaining unit employees will receive the $1,000 on their first April paycheck.

The city of Minneapolis saw the writing on the wall – or, more precisely, the graffiti.

After receiving too many “complaints about the upkeep from lingering graffiti, loose glass and a ‘nightmare’ shelter with missing panels, rust and faded scribblings,” as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, city officials are ending their long-term relationship with private contractor CBS Outdoor.

The for-profit company managed nearly 180 privately owned bus shelters for the city. They made money off the deal, and even more through advertising they pasted on the shelters for beer, luxury apartments and smart phones. But now officials decided that city employees can maintain their bus shelters better than CBS Outdoor.

Starting next month, the shelters will be managed by Metro Transit, a public agency funded mostly with state and federal resources. Metro Transit already owns about two-thirds of the Twin Cities’ bus shelters.

More and more cities and counties are discovering that when it comes to doing the public’s business – whether it’s corrections, Medicaid eligibility or just about anything else, there is no substitute for public employees.

DETROIT – This month in Southeastern Michigan, ballots were mailed to more than 400 EMS professionals at Huron Valley Ambulance (HVA) who will finally get their chance to vote for AFSCME and gain a real voice at work.

Corey Winters, a veteran paramedic, looks forward to their seat at the table as a union. Some months back, he voiced some work concerns to his supervisor, who suggested he attend one of the company’s open forum meetings to be heard by management.

Winters attended the forum, but his legitimate concerns fell on deaf ears. The following day, the meeting minutes neglected to make any mention of his concerns regarding staff and patient safety or worker morale.

“Everything we said just went away, and we realized what we had to say wasn’t really important to them,” Winters said. “They wanted to run the company the way they wanted, and they didn’t want to listen to us. We have ideas that can help the company and if they would work with us, I think together we could make HVA a better place.”

Ballots for this historic election are being counted today.

The Goldwater Institute, a conservative public policy advocacy organization, cares about public tax dollars so much they want public tax dollars to fund their lawsuits against the public. What does that mean for Joe Citizen? It means the public gets to pay for the lawyers for the plaintiff and the defendant. (Cue Law & Order dun dun music.)

After successfully suing the City of Phoenix over its contract with the local police union – Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) – the allegedly non-profit Goldwater Institute demands the public fund its lawsuits.

Reimbursement of legal fees for successful lawsuits is not uncommon – in fact, it’s standard practice. What isn’t standard practice is the artificial inflation of legal fees – in this case, to the tune of $375,000. Why, if their mission statement says they do not accept government funding, does the Goldwater Institute demand public funding of their lawsuits?

Allegedly a non-partisan organization, the Goldwater Institute sure has a funny way of staying out of politics. Just last month, they held a fundraiser headlined by 2016 GOP Presidential contender Rand Paul with ticket prices up to $10,000. To make matters worse, those ticket prices are tax deductible.

If the Goldwater Institute wants to attack progressive policies aimed at improving government functionality, trample on the rights of workers, and undermine efforts to improve public safety, they are free to do so. But they can’t ask us taxpayers to cover the bill. If the Goldwater Institute wants to ensure the election of the new radical Republicans, they are free to do so. But they can’t call themselves non-partisan. If the Goldwater Institute wants to collect $10,000 for a VIP fundraiser, they are free to do so. But they can’t pretend to be a non-profit. When it comes to the Goldwater Institute, it’s lose-lose for the taxpayer.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s scheme to deny free speech rights – to demonstrators who expressed their opposition to his anti-worker policies through song – was deemed “unconstitutional on its face” by a judge.

The governor’s heavy handed policy involved issuing tickets to hundreds of demonstrators who staged peaceful sing-alongs at the Capitol each weekday. His crackdown began in September 2012 when police issued hundreds of tickets. Many were later dismissed, but ticketing resumed last July and even caught up Jana Weaver, assistant director of Wisconsin State Employees Union (WSEU)/AFSCME Council 24.

The singers sang traditional protest and civil rights songs, occasionally changing the words to make them relevant to their opposition to Governor Walker’s anti-worker campaign. That campaign led to the revocation in 2011 of collective bargaining rights for nearly 200,000 Wisconsin public service employees, including more than 60,000 AFSCME members.

Among those who participated in the Capitol sing-along last July was Michael Crute. It is his ticket that Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Markson recently dismissed. Judge Markson wrote that the assembly rule Crute was charged with violating “is unconstitutional on its face.” Read the full text of the ruling here.

We sing the praises of Judge Markson’s ruling and hope it will lead to the dismissal of charges against all the sing-along demonstrators. Governor Walker’s administration already agreed to pay more than $88,000 in attorney’s fees – and to drop its restrictive Capitol assembly rule – to settle a free speech lawsuit by a protester, filed with help from the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin.

AFSCME stands with the singers. Solidarity Forever.

Detroit retirees will see their pensions – the money they earned during their careers and that they need now to survive -- cut by 34 percent if Gov. Rick Snyder gets his way, according to a disastrous plan filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

At a time when working families are struggling to make ends meet, particularly in Detroit, the plan eliminates meaningful health care benefits and drastically reduces earned pension benefits.

The proposed plan “is a gut punch to Detroit city workers and retirees,” said AFSCME Council 25 Pres. Al Garrett. “Retirees cannot survive these huge cuts to the pensions they earned. The plan is unfair and unacceptable.”

AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders has been speaking out for Detroit retirees – who average just $19,000 a year in benefits – ever since politically appointed “emergency manager” Kevyn Orr filed for bankruptcy on behalf of the city back in July. Today, Saunders blasted Snyder’s skewed priorities.

“The plan of adjustment is not a solution – it’s an abomination,” he said. “The proposal effectively devastates retirement security for the hardworking city employees and retirees of Detroit. This is yet another example of the disdain in which Governor Snyder holds workers.”

AFSCME plans to challenge the proposal and continue to defend the constitutionally protected retirement security of those who gave so much to their communities.

“You do not need a degree in economics to know this is well below the amount of a livable level of income, yet this plan cuts future benefits to 30 cents on the dollar,” Saunders said. “We need better solutions that hold accountable those who created this troubling economic climate in Detroit and support those who devoted their lives to public service.”

This is an excerpt from an article published on the Huffington Post. You can read the full version here.

On its surface, the case known as Harris v. Quinn now before the Supreme Court is yet another attempt to kill off public employee unions. It centers on a small group of home health care aides in Illinois who sued to avoid paying fees to the very union that negotiated their wages and benefits. Their lawyers are asking the high court to go even further and rule against the right of all public workers -- in every state and every sector -- to choose a union.

And while that's certainly troubling enough, this case is about more than workers' rights. It potentially opens up yet another front in the war on women now raging from the statehouse to our doctor's office to our bank accounts. Here's why: (Read More)

Business and right-wing backers of so-called “right-to-work” laws really want “the right for them to eliminate your right to have a say in your work,” Vice Pres. Joseph Biden says.  And unions are “the only ones keeping those barbarians at the gate,” he adds of the right and its business backers.

“We have to organize to fight back against these unrelenting efforts to diminish collective bargaining,” Biden declared.  “We have to adapt, but the moment workers lose the ability to be represented” by unions “that’s the moment we all lose out.”

Biden’s forceful comments earlier this month, against one of the right’s pet tactics to try to crush unions, brought an ovation from the 1,500 delegates to the Auto Workers’ legislative conference in DC.

Delegates applauded Biden when he pointed out that if the government and the Auto Workers had not stepped in to restructure GM and Chrysler, the car companies and their suppliers would have folded, the nation would have lost at least 1 million jobs, and the U.S. would still be in a depression. 

“It would have been hard to imagine how the country could recover if we lost those 1 million jobs,” Biden said.

And Biden saluted auto workers’ sacrifices to keep the car companies going, including cuts in wages and retiree health care. The UAW, he said, cooperated with management on that goal, because union members understand their economic health depends on their companies’ economic health. Other industry should follow that model, he said.

Left unsaid: Right-wing leaders, led by southern senators, wanted to let the Detroit car companies – and the UAW in the process – die, in favor of foreign “transplants.”

Delegates also welcomed Biden’s prediction the U.S. economy is recovering from the Great Recession and would again lead the world, thanks to worker productivity, more technically oriented education and, by 2032, energy independence.

Nevertheless, “the middle class is shrinking,” Biden warned during his wide-ranging speech. At one point, he held up a chart showing the simultaneous declines since 1968 in union density and share of income to the middle class. Unions are trying to rebuild it, he added, but corporations and their political allies don’t care.  “These corporate types talk about rights of business,” Biden exclaimed.

“In 1972,” when Biden was elected to the Senate, “the wage disparity between a CEO and his lowest person on his payroll was 22.2-1. Now it’s 273-1. We’re breaking a basic bargain, and we’re stronger when we grow from the middle out,” he added.

Corporate refusal to compensate workers wasn’t always the case, Biden noted. 

He cited Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford, who raised workers’ wages to $5 a day in 1917, before the UAW was born.  That benefited both workers and the economy, he said.  Similar raises, including raising the minimum wage, would help both, he declared.

“Why did he do that?  He understood economics.  Turnover declined sharply, his profits rose from $30 million to $160 million in two years, and it put money into people’s pockets and they bought his vehicles,” Biden said of Ford.  A minimum wage hike and restoration of federal benefits for the long-term jobless, as labor and the Obama administration push, would accomplish that same goal of aiding workers and families, he said.

Biden also touted what he called a gathering economic recovery, built on high and increased productivity by workers, growing U.S. energy independence, new hires in U.S. factories – including 380,000 more auto workers industry-wide since 2008 – and what he predicted would be a surge of “insourcing,” returning exported jobs to the U.S.

Imagine a building with hundreds upon thousands of books, row after row of desks for work and study, and computers linked to dependable, high-speed internet connecting rural and urban communities across the world. Imagine if this building was funded by local communities, committed to the betterment of the common good, open to anyone and everyone who wants to learn. Sounds wonderful. Sounds important. Sounds like a library.

Across America, there are senior citizens and others going to their local library to learn how to use computers. There are young children and teenagers using the library as a place to study without distraction. In some rural communities, the local library is the only place with reliable internet access, bringing a world of knowledge to remote places.

Yet for all the benefits of public libraries, there are still local communities that vote down the budgets of local libraries, shared and accessible knowledge an unaffordable luxury in lean economic times. Every year, local library bond votes fail because of depressingly-low turnout and voters unwilling to support even the smallest of tax increases, often demonizing the hardworking employees of the local library.

Populated amongst the books, computers and card catalogs, are dedicated public servants. From protecting the books and computers entrusted to their care, to stocking the shelves in precise order to the decimal and ensuring the integrity of Melvil Dewey’s organization system, to maintaining the building and keeping the halls of knowledge clean, your local library staff are dedicated public servants.

So to celebrate National Library Week – April 13 through April 19 – head to your local library, take out a book, read about world news, and thank your library staff for their hard work. And don't forget to vote YES for the library budget.

Two snowplow drivers were repairing mailboxes in St. Marys, Ohio, when they saw smoke rolling from the eaves of a nearby farmhouse.

Steve Kinstle and Javier Gallegos are members of Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA)/AFSCME Local 11. As snowplow drivers for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), they faced an unusually tough and busy winter season. But in the course of making roads safer for their community, they found time to help two teenagers flee a house fire.

"We stopped ... we didn't know if anyone was in there," Kinstle told the local newspaper, The Daily Standard. “Javier called 911 and I went around to the front and started pounding on the door.”

Kinstle said he thought he heard noises upstairs and continued knocking until one of two teenagers opened the door. Kinstle instructed the young men to quickly grab warm clothes and get out. The boys exited safely before fire crews arrived.

St. Marys City Fire Department Capt. Wayne Sweigart said the outcome could have been much different, and Ted Hemleben, manager of the Auglaize County ODOT post, said he couldn't be more proud of his employees.  

“I'm feeling pretty good about this,” he said. “It's the ultimate thing they can do when they're out and about in the county.”

More than 35 firefighters braved subzero temperatures for five hours to extinguish the fire. The children are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.

Many AFSCME members participate in an annual Lobby Day in their state capitol, but members of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE)/AFSCME Council 28 are taking the concept to a whole new level.

To WFSE, every day is Lobby Day. Council 28 designated each day of the legislative session as a day of action for a particular issue or local. And they’re having fun with it.

Watch this video where AFSCME member April Sims channels the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to explain how union members can flex their political muscle in state politics. She sings:

Now this is a story all about how

We flip the power structure upside down

I’d like to take a minute just sit right there

I’ll tell you how to talk to legislators and why you should care

Olympia, Washington where the budget is made

Passing bills is how they spend most of their days

Deciding on pensions, contracts, and our health care

Education, transportation, and even child welfare

But some of those guys they are up to no good

They’re hurting public safety in our neighborhoods

It’s about worker rights there’s no need to be scared

It’s easy to talk to legislators and get them to care

“The mission is to have a sustained presence,” said Sims, who serves as WFSE’s legislative and political action field coordinator when she isn’t busy freestyling.

Union members face three major challenges in the Legislature this session: defending the state’s general revenue fund, protecting retirement security, and defending against outsourcing. 

But the strategy is already paying off.

“Last session, we had more than 850 members participate in Lobby Days, and that was the first year we made it through a session without any of these really bad bills passing,” Sims said. “We were able to fight back despite the makeup of the Legislature because our people were there every day in the Capitol.

We already know that outsourcing to private companies created disasters in our prison system.  But corporate mismanagement is creeping into the lower levels of the criminal justice system, and it could be bad news the next time you receive a traffic fine.

Human Rights Watch published the results of a study on the effects of private probation services on the criminal justice system.  These private companies offer municipalities “offender-funded” services, in which people are required to pay extra fees to cover their own probation services or risk jail time.  Some companies will charge up to $1,000 in fees for handling a case involving a $200 fine. There is virtually no oversight from the courts that outsource these services.

“Many companies’ profits are entirely dependent on their ability to collect these fees from probationers,” the report states. “Not all company probation officers behave unethically, but they are all subject to perverse financial incentives that encourage abusive behavior.”

In some communities, the incentive to collect more fees is so pervasive that courts are sentencing people to probation for things like simple traffic violations, which would usually result only in a ticket.  Human Rights Watch found that in Greenwood, Miss., a town of approximately 15,000, more than 1,200 people were on probation with a company called Judicial Correction Service. 

Thanks to advocacy work, some courts are beginning to recognize the system is broken.  In 2012, a judge in Alabama ordered one town to cut ties with a probation service that he described as a “judicially sanctioned extortion racket.”  More recently, abuses in Georgia’s probation system are getting attention in the press and led to a number of lawsuits alleging that companies are charging illegal fines.

This is just one more example of the way public services become distorted and dysfunctional when they are handed over to profit-driven private interests.

Miami – In the latest example of how unions raise wages for working people, Miami-Dade County workers recently won back 5 percent of their salaries that had been cut – giving them a huge victory. The pay restoration was a big win not only for AFSCME Local 199 members but for the communities that rely on the valuable public services they provide.

“I haven’t been able to go to the dentist in the past three years,” said AFSCME member Tonya Bennet, who works for the Clerk of the Courts. “We’re just struggling to make it. I fought back for my family, my co-workers and my community.”

The 5 percent deduction from the workers’ base pay went toward group health insurance. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez kept insisting the cut was necessary despite a $42 million surplus in the city’s health care trust fund.

Though Miami-Dade County commissioners voted in favor of AFSCME workers on two prior occasions, Mayor Gimenez was able to veto their efforts. This time, however, the commissioners supported city employees in a nine-to-four vote, overturning the mayor’s veto.

“All AFSCME members came together to fight for a more secure future for our families,” said Christopher Jones, a seaport enforcement specialist for the city for 11 years. “The police union stood in solidarity with us. Now it’s time to continue the fight for full pay restoration.”

AFSCME members attended every budget hearing and County Commission meeting. They sat down with commissioners and delivered flip-flops to those who switched their original “yes” votes to “no” votes.

In total, in the past several years, Miami-Dade workers took cuts totaling 16 percent of their wages, so more work remains to be done.

The action to eliminate the forced contribution was a model of coalition building and union solidarity.  AFSCME Local 199 was joined by the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Employees (AFSCME Local 121); the Transportation Workers Union; Jackson Memorial Hospital Employees (AFSCME Local 1363 and SEIU Local 1991); Miami-Dade Police (PBA) and Government Supervisor’s Association.

Congratulations, you got the job! Now pay us $2,500! Did you not receive your entire pay check? Oh well, too bad.

Something doesn't sound right, but if anti-worker politicians in Indiana have their way, this will be the harsh reality. Now making its way through the Indiana Capitol, House Bill 1126 and its supporters are looking turn back decades of progress.

Remember the company store? For most, it's a relic of days long past, where companies would force employees to pay for the right to work – uniforms, equipment and training necessary to the job. If passed, HB 1126 would allow an employer to charge an employee up to $2,500 annually for training and equipment necessary to the job. Picture a police officer forced to buy her own bulletproof vest and handcuffs. Envision an office worker paying his company to be retrained on new computer programs.

But HB 1126 doesn't just reduce take-home pay for hardworking Hoosiers; it makes it more profitable for a company to illegally withhold wages from employees. The legislation's sponsor, Rep. Dave Ober, wants to protect businesses that illegally withhold pay from its employees from what he calls "frivolous law suits and ridiculous penalties." By requiring that a victim must show their employer acted in 'bad faith,' Ober sets an impossible standard. Companies that defraud their employees will get to avoid millions of dollars in penalties and legal fees.

"After ramming a right-to-work law through the Legislature two years ago, the Indiana GOP is at it again, this time trying to force workers to pay for the right-to-work and make it more profitable for businesses to steal from their employees," said Richie Halfacre, assistant director of Indiana/Kentucky Organizing Committee 962. "Working families can't afford a $2,500 corporate welfare tax and they won't tolerate businesses stealing from workers." 

Last month’s employment figures are in, and things don’t look good.  The economy added 113,000 jobs in January, well short of the 180,000 that economists said would be necessary to keep the recovery on track. 

As Harvard economist Joe Fuller put it, “It still wasn’t the type of job growth numbers we experience even in an average recovery.”

Of course, this is hardly news to the 3.6 million long-term unemployed who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. There simply aren’t enough jobs.  Until the economy picks up steam, the only thing that stands between the long-term jobless and destitution is federal unemployment insurance.

That’s why it’s so urgent that Congress extend unemployment benefits.  Unable to overcome staunch GOP opposition, Congress stalled on the issue since the program expired in December.  The partisan fighting carried on for months, and in the meantime, 1.7 million Americans lost their benefits. 

It’s bad policy to make deep cuts to programs Americans rely on in the middle of a slow economy.   The long-term unemployed don’t disappear once they’ve been dropped from insurance rolls.  Plunging millions of people into financial crisis hurts economic recovery.  Congress needs to renew unemployment insurance as soon as possible and make a real effort to put people back to work.

Hundreds of public workers, community members and elected officials recently rallied outside City Hall, urging Phoenix decision makers to bargain fairly with the city’s public workers, who provide essential services to local residents.

AFSCME Local 2384 and Local 2960 were in contract negotiations with the city since early January, but city officials failed to address issues to improve working conditions, safe staffing levels, and suitable training for employees that provide essential services.

“We’ve prepared for negotiations for months and approached bargaining with a fair strategy for the advancement of the city,” said Frank Piccioli, president of AFSCME Local 2960. “Unfortunately, management continues to fail to match our efforts. The city budget shouldn’t be balanced on the back of employees.”

Other unions and political leaders who showed support with their community included the Arizona AFL-CIO; National Letter Carries Union; Bricklayers; Painters; Arizona Education Association; American Federation of Teachers; Pipefitters; Sen. Steve Gallardo; former Phoenix Councilman Michael Johnson; Councilwoman Kate Gallego; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 640; Transport Workers Union Local 556; and AFSCME Retirees.

Click here for video coverage of the event.

A judge ordered Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to reopen the Toledo Iowa Juvenile Home, a victory for the safety of children in the state who receive valuable public services at the facility.

“We are pleased the court sided with the plaintiffs,” said AFSCME Council 61 Pres. Danny Homan, also an AFSCME International vice president.

Homan recently joined four state legislators in blocking the projected closing of the juvenile home, which Governor Branstad announced only a few months ago. Homan filed a lawsuit to stop the governor from closing the only training school specifically for troubled girls.

Shutting down the facility was estimated to cost the community more than $7 million and the loss of at least 114 jobs. AFSCME represents the employees.

This week, Homan urged Governor Branstad to accept the decision by Polk County District Judge Scott Rosenberg.

“For the sake of the safety of Iowa’s children, the governor should immediately comply with this court order and reopen the Iowa Juvenile Home as instructed by the District Court,” he said.

SAN FRANCISCO – Our sisters and brothers of United EMS Workers-AFSCME Local 4911 are standing up for their communities once again and asking investors to join them in solidarity.

At a recent JP Morgan investment conference, AFSCME members urged health care investors to support their communities by calling on Envision Healthcare/American Medical Response to agree to a fair contract for workers. They circled the hotel entrance where the event was held and shared their views with investors.

“Envision Healthcare/AMR need to understand that only an experienced workforce will provide quality care to our communities, and I’m here to remind them of that,” said Lucas Freshman, an EMT and member of United EMS Workers-AFSCME Local 4911. “We can’t afford to take our profession backward – our families and communities depend on it.”

After four months without a contract, AMR and United EMS Workers are set to resume negotiations with the assistance of a federal mediator.

Jersey City, N.J. – The Jersey City Medical Center engaged in unlawful acts against AFSCME workers when it terminated them for supporting their union, refused to recognize AFSCME as the representative of more than 600 of the center’s employees, and bargained in bad faith by imposing its own contract.

Now, the National Labor Relations Board sided with AFSCME Council 52, issuing complaints against the Jersey City Medical Center on several unfair labor practices. These complaints are similar to an indictment of the medical center’s management for engaging in unlawful acts against AFSCME and its members, who belong to Locals 2254 and 3680.

“For over a year, we have fought against the anti-union, anti-worker plan at the Medical Center to deny our members their rights,” said Rich Gollin, AFSCME Council 52 executive director. “By issuing these complaints of unlawful acts, the NLRB has given new hope to the workers that the mistreatment they have endured might soon be over.”

Though Jersey City Medical Center workers negotiated in good faith, CEO Joe Scott chose to ignore more than 35 years of collective bargaining history and instead imposed his own contract.

“In all my years, I’ve never seen such a blatant disregard for workers’ rights,” Gollin said. “Joe Scott’s refusal to recognize the workers’ right to have a union and the use of his management staff to promote an anti-worker agenda is deplorable. The NLRB agreed these acts were unlawful.”

The case is set to be heard before an NLRB administrative law judge on March 19.