Tag: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees

1,500 Workers to Rally on Capitol Hill for Jobs, not Cuts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 8, 2013

Contact:Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
kaufft@afge.org
Tiffany Ricci
202-907-5305
tricci@afscme.org

1,500 Workers to Rally on Capitol Hill for Jobs, not Cuts

Cutting vital government programs will hurt economy, kill jobs

Sen. Schumer, Rep. Van Hollen, AFSCME Pres. Saunders, AFGE Pres. Cox, AFL-CIO Pres. Trumka join government employees on day of State of the Union with simple message:

Cutting vital government programs will hurt economy, kill jobs

 WASHINGTON – More than 1,500 union activists from the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees will rally on Capitol Hill this Tuesday to urge Congress to shield vital government programs and services from devastating budget cuts.

The two largest unions representing government employees at the local, state and federal levels are organizing the lunchtime rally to call on Congress to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other government programs that are critical to the health, safety and welfare of all Americans.

When: Noon Tuesday, Feb. 12 (AFGE members march from Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill at 11:30 a.m.)

Where: Upper Senate Park (corner of Constitution Ave. and Delaware Ave. NE)

Speakers: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

AFSCME President Lee Saunders

AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr.

Government employees who provide vital public services

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia. For the latest AFGE news and information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Obama to Back 1 Percent Pay Boost for Feds Next Year

Obama to Back 1 Percent Pay Boost for Feds Next Year

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

President Obama is proposing a 1 percent pay increase for federal civilian employees in fiscal 2014, according to federal employee labor unions.

The White House announced the decision to recommend the pay bump in Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal during a phone call with labor leaders on Friday. Obama is seeking a 0.5 percent pay increase for federal employees this year, scheduled to take effect after March 27, unless Congress blocks it. Federal civilian pay has been frozen since 2011. The Defense Department this week said it would recommend a 1 percent pay increase for troops in fiscal 2014. Continue reading “Obama to Back 1 Percent Pay Boost for Feds Next Year”

Paul Moreno: How Public Unions Became So Powerful

The Wall Street JournalPaul Moreno: How Public Unions Became So Powerful

By 1970, nearly 20% of American workers were employed by government.

By PAUL MORENO

The Chicago teachers strike has put Democrats in a difficult position. Teacher unions are the most powerful constituency in the Democratic Party, but their interests are ever more clearly at odds with taxpayers and inner-city families. Chicago is reviving scenes from the last crisis of liberalism in the 1970s, when municipal unions drove many American cities to disorder and bankruptcy. Where did their power come from?

 Before the 1950s, government-employee unions were almost inconceivable. When the Boston police unionized and went on strike in 1919, the ensuing chaos—rioting and looting—crippled the public-union idea. Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge became a national hero by breaking the strike, issuing the dictum: “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.” President Woodrow Wilson called the strike “an intolerable crime against civilization.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt also rejected government unionism. He told the head of the Federation of Federal Employees in 1937 that collective bargaining “cannot be transplanted into the public service. The very nature and purposes of government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer” because “the employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws.” Continue reading “Paul Moreno: How Public Unions Became So Powerful”

In Late Boost, Unions Chipped In More for Convention

Washington Wire

September 6, 2012, 1:35 PM

By Alicia Mundy,Associated Press

Delegates hold up signs during union leaders’ speeches at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Labor unions gave new donations to the Democratic Party for its national convention just as delegates were convening for the event, people with knowledge of the matter say.

The contributions marked something of a change for organized labor, which had scaled back its donations compared to prior years. That was due in part to the Democrats’ decision to hold the event in North Carolina, whose right-work-laws are bitterly opposed by unions. Continue reading “In Late Boost, Unions Chipped In More for Convention”

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