News

11/3/2022

General Unit and Attorney’s Unit: 

Both of the contracts have settled in the last year and both settlements go back to 2020. Anyone that has left the city that was working an AFSCME job in the Attorney’s unit or General unit any time from January 1, 2020 to September of 2022 are probably are owed backpay.

The city did not reach out to these people. So, if you think you are owed backpay you should contact your last supervisor and request the backpay and give them an address to send the check.

If you know someone that left the City of Minneapolis by retirement or other reasons please let them know. They earned it and they should get it.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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

As the world marked the anniversary of the official start of the coronavirus pandemic Thursday, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law and offered words of hope to a weary nation.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders praised the House of Representatives for passing the American Rescue Plan on Saturday and urged the Senate to follow suit as soon as possible.

There is good news for AFSCME members looking to pursue higher education. AFSCME Free College has made its bachelor’s degree completion program a permanent benefit.

That means that AFSCME members and their families can earn a bachelor’s degree for free, making an even wider choice of career options a possibility for more people.

Here’s a sure sign of new leadership in Washington. There’s a renewed push to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, an idea that went nowhere when the Trump administration and anti-worker members of Congress were in power.

The coronavirus pandemic won’t be controlled until states, cities, towns and schools – and particularly health departments – have the funding they need from the federal government, says AFSCME Retiree Sue Conard.

Conard should know. She spent 24 years as a public health nurse serving Wisconsin’s La Crosse County. One of her many areas of expertise? Immunization.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has sent a letter to Congress that echoes what AFSCME has been saying for months: It’s long past time to robustly fund the front lines.

If there’s one thing the 2020 election has in spades, it’s choices – and not just the choices between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, and choices up and down the ballot. In a year when our jobs, our families, and every aspect of our lives have felt the impact of a pandemic, there are lots of ways to make your voice heard at the polls. 

Nursing homes have been especially hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 40% of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have been linked to nursing homes. But according to a recent study, one factor that determines how fatal a COVID-19 outbreak will be is whether that nursing home is unionized.