What is PEOPLE?PEOPLE, or Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality, is AFSCME's political action committee, also known as a 'PAC.'
PEOPLE is a fund into which AFSCME members can voluntarily contribute money or have money withheld from their paychecks so that the Union has the resources to elect candidates to federal office who support public employee issues.
Political action is the lifeblood of our Union: it is the way we elect our bosses, affect public policy and hold elected officials accountable. But those efforts require financial resources; resources provided through contributions from hundreds of thousands of AFSCME members across the country.
Our enemies --the people and politicians who oppose the right of public workers to organize and bargain-- have access to millions of corporate dollars which they use to elect anti-worker candidates. AFSCME members need resources to fight back. By giving to PEOPLE, we provide our Union with the tools and power we need to make sure that public workers have a loud voice in the electoral process.
If you are an AFSCME member and want to learn how you can become involved as a PEOPLE participant, call toll-free at (800) 554-2054 and tell us you want to join in the fight for political and legislative equality!
* * *
We've gotten word that the United States Senate will be holding a vote on President Obama's American Jobs Act today. This bill will assist our communities in rebuilding crumbling infrastructure and create nearly 2 million jobs for teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public workers. In addition, it will ensure that 5 million Americans who are currently receiving unemployment benefits continue to receive them.
With a majority of Americans asking that the rich pay their fair share, the American Jobs Act will be paid for by a 5.6% surtax on millionaires.
It's past time to put Missourians and Americans back to work, and this bill will do just that. Please join me in calling our Missouri Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt and telling them to vote YES on the American Jobs Act. We need our leaders in Washington to put workers and jobs before partisan battles.
Please take a minute to call Senator McCaskill and Senator Blunt: 1-888-665-9823.
Also, if you're in the St Louis area this Friday, October 14, we will be joining our sisters and brothers at a rally and march as we support Occupy St Louis in Kiener Plaza at 3:30PM. Wall Street bankers and fat cat corporate CEOs wrecked the economy, and we’ve been paying the price. While hundreds of thousands of Missourians are out of work, there are roads, bridges and schools crumbling in our own neighborhoods.
Day in and day out, St. Louisans have been protesting in Kiener plaza to demand that the voice of the 99% - all of us - be heard on Wall Street, in Jefferson City and in Washington, DC. We need good jobs now, not more of the same old politics. Be there Friday and send a strong message against corporate greed and for good jobs in our communities.
Parking will be a challenge, please take Metro to 8th & Pine. RSVP at 573-635-9145 to let us know you're coming!
Speaker John Boehner and his colleagues in Republican leadership are demanding extreme cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - all the while continuing to protect tax loopholes and subsidies for millionaires, billionaires and corporations. The GOP plan, which every single Republican member of Missouri's Congressional delegation endorses, requires that Congress agree to cuts to critical programs that working families depend on.
Under the Boehner's plan, working families, seniors, children, the disabled and veterans are those who shoulder the burden of the cuts the GOP proposes. Even worse, instead of working towards solving the problems our country faces, they are recklessly holding our economy hostage over the their demands.
Join us in demanding that Congress oppose Boehner's plan.
Ultimately, the GOP plan would cause the worst case scenario to come true: our country would be forced into debt, more jobs would be lost, interest rates would go up on our mortgages, credit cards and students loans.
All this because Republicans are willing to drive our country and economy off a cliff unless all of their demands are met.
We have no time to lose. Please send a mesage to Congress now. Tell your representative and our senators, Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt, to oppose Boehner's plan. In addition, tell them that we won't stand for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, especially when the rich and corporations aren't being asked to share in the sacrifice.
I'm sure you've seen reports of the negotiations over the deficit going on in Washington DC this summer and as more and more time goes by, the more heated they seem to get.
You see, politicians in Washington DC seem to think that having Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the table as chips to negotiate with is acceptable. However, you and I both know that workers and the middle class didn't create this crisis and cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid won't solve it. Some in Congress would like to see Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) slashed, reducing the benefit retirees would receive!
Instead of focusing on job creation, it would seem that some in Washington would rather continue the disastrous policy of tax cuts for the richest Americans while the rest of the country continues to struggle to make ends meet all the while adding insult to injury by threatening to cut the programs that hard working Americans like you and I have been paying into our whole lives.
Join us in taking a quick minute to let Senator McCaskill and Senator Blunt know that gutting Social Security, ending Medicare and slashing Medicaid as a means to reducing the deficit is unacceptable.
Call our senators at (202) 224-3121. Tell them you won't stand for the budget to be balanced on the backs of working families.
As Mother Jones once said, "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."
On April 28th middle class workers across Missouri will commemorate Workers Memorial Day. Join your fellow AFSCME members and union members from across the state to remember our sisters and brothers we have lost on the job and stand up against attacks on labor and all middle class Missourians. Events are being held in four locations across the state so everyone can attend. Times and locations are below and we look forward to seeing you there.
In Missouri and accross the country AFSCME members and the services we provide are under attack. Powerful interests are trying to cut health care, make deeper cuts to staffing, close habiliation centers, and cut state services to the bone. These are not just attacks on public workers, but on all working Missourians, and AFSCME plans to fight!
If we stand and fight together, engage our coworkers, and engage our communities we can beat back these attacks for all of Missouri.
On March 16th Stand with us and Fight
11:30 A.M.- 3:30 P.M.
Missouri State Capital, Jefferson City
Transportation will be available. Pickup and drop off locations to be determined. Lunch will also be provided. Sign up to attend with your local union officers, or call 1-800-554-2054.
Click Here to RSVP for your day of action:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| img_2275cropped.JPG | 48.58 KB |
See our budget proposal coverage by KOMU here>>> http://www.youtube.com/user/MOAFSCME
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| web.jpg | 79.9 KB |
AT THE CAPITOL AND ACROSS THE STATE
WE'RE FIGHTING TO END MANDATORY OVERTIME
On. Jan 7 at facilties throughout Missouri we called for an end to mandatory overtime. On Jan 14 we took the fight to Jefferson City where we backed our bargaining team as it worked for fair overtime policies and told lawmakers to pass legislation fixing the staffing crisis.
www.afscmecouncil72.org text 'GOAFSCME' to 313131 for updates!
WE PROTECT VETERANS CARE
AFSCME members came together on Nov 10 presenting a petition with hundreds of signatures from all seven veterans home asking the Veterans Commission to change the sick leave policy.
AFSCME members made the case that the policy prevents sick staff from taking sick leave.
The spirited AFSCME activists Stacy Griffiths-Mt. Vernon, Wendy Battaglia & Lathey Riley of Cameron, Regina Furr & Deborah Coreman-St. Louis
WE FORCED THE COMMISSION
Following an intense exchange between AFSCME members, Veterans Commission and officials, Director Kay was ordered to investigate leave policy and report back.
WE CAN WIN – JOIN US
We will not stand by as veterans’ health and our rights are at risk. Our jobs– and the care we provide– are worth fighting for.
Not a member? Sign up today! Contact your local representative, steward or organizer.
