Press

From Leadership

Fund the Front Lines

Despite more than a decade of underfunding public health and safety, those workers have stepped up to meet the crisis. Government must help them with emergency and long-term support.

Front-Line Workers are Stepping Up to the Plate – When Will Congress?

One Kentucky local is serving members during the pandemic using a time-tested union technique – member action teams.

Press Releases

AFSCME’s Saunders: Job Numbers Demonstrate Urgency for Aid to States, Cities and Towns

AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement in response to the May jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: “People who work in public service continue to bear the brunt of this economic downturn, as the public sector shed n...

Contact Tracers, Health Experts: ‘Funding Public Health Essential to Safely Reopen the Economy.’

Public service workers on the front lines who are conducting contact tracing to limit the spread of COVID-19 call for urgent investment in a professional and accountable public health care workforce

AFSCME’s Saunders: There Is a ‘Better Way to Channel Our Energy and Anger’

AFSCME President Lee Saunders issued the following statement: “The state of America today, further shattered by George Floyd’s murder, breaks every patriotic heart. The raw outrage we see in the streets comes as a pandemic has needlessly killed more t...

Saunders Condemns George Floyd Killing

AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement on the death of George Floyd: “The killing of George Floyd was a shocking and heinous act of violence that demands accountability. There can be no public safety unless innocent, unarmed Af...

AFSCME Opposes Cory Wilson Confirmation to 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

AFSCME President Lee Saunders issued a statement urging the U.S. Senate to reject Cory Wilson to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals following Wilson’s confirmation hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee: “In the middle of a global pand...

The Senate Must Act Immediately on Urgent Aid for America’s States, Cities and Towns

AFSCME President Lee Saunders: “This isn’t a red or blue state issue – every single community in America is being hurt because of this pandemic and urgently needs strong public services so we can beat this pandemic and safely reopen the economy.”

Front-Line Workers Recovering From COVID-19 Push Congress for State and Local Aid

Front-line workers who sacrificed their own health and safety to serve their communities urge Congress to pass robust aid for states, cities and towns to maintain public services needed to beat the coronavirus pandemic and safely reopen the economy

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State, local governments slash services as demand rises

Union drops $1 million to push Congress for state worker coronavirus relief

Most In-Home Caregivers Receive Low Pay and No Protective Gear

“We are on our own”: How the coronavirus pandemic is hurting child care workers

This is what it’s like to be a sanitation worker during the coronavirus outbreak