News

Bills Would Provide Better Oversight of Wash. Government Contractors

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A measure in the Washington State Legislature could bring greater transparency to government contracting.

DOC Raises, Grievance Wins and a Call to Action

WFSE members have been hard at work making DOC a safer and better place to work.

WFSE DOC employees keep communities safe.

Federal funding to help vulnerable Americans in danger of getting cut

Federal money for programs and services that help millions of vulnerable Americans and employ many AFSCME members could be in jeopardy next year.

AFSCME mourns the loss of a beloved member of our union family, Mildred Wurf

AFSCME mourns the loss of Mildred Wurf, a beloved member of our union family, a pioneering District Council 37 educator and the widow of former AFSCME president, Jerry Wurf. Mildred Wurf died on Dec. 29 at the age of 95.

WFSE Members Ensure Labor Laws Apply to ALL Washingtonians

Members won a verdict against a multi-billion-dollar company running a for-profit detention center that was paying detainees as little as $1/day to keep the facility running.

Everett Community College Pauses Plans to Close Early Learning Center

From the Washington News Service

EvCC Board: Don’t Outsource College’s Early Learning Center

The Early Learning Center on the Everett Community College campus is in danger of being handed over to an outside contractor that will operate it as a limited-service daycare center. Our community of educators, workers, parents, and community have been left out of the process.

Honoring the anniversary of America’s first pay equity strike

Striketober and Strikesgiving are over, but worker strikes are still going strong. As I write this, Kellogg’s workers are holding the line in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Memphis. Alabama miners are heading into their ninth month of standing up to Warrior Met Coal. And the wave of worker actions demonstrating power and the fight for fairness continues to rise.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders joins signing ceremony of historic infrastructure bill

AFSCME President Lee Saunders on Monday joined President Joe Biden and members of his administration, as well as a bipartisan group of lawmakers, for the signing ceremony of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Congress has finally passed an infrastructure bill. Build Back Better should be next.

The House of Representatives has passed President Joe Biden’s transformational bipartisan infrastructure plan, which Biden will soon sign into law. The passage earned praise from AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who, in a statement, said, “We are turning a corner.”

Union 411: How and why we organize

As solidarity actions and strikes sweep the nation, workers are making history by organizing their workplaces for the first time.

When workers belong to a union, they have a unified voice to create safer, stronger and healthier workplaces. Organizing is our most effective tool to determine workplace dignity, hours, working conditions and quality of life. Workers aren’t stuck with dangerous workplace conditions with poor wages and benefits. They can improve them, together.