News

"V" Is For Vaccine: News and Resources on the COVID-19 Vaccine

The availability of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is an exciting development in the fight to get the pandemic under control--and welcome news for Council 4 members and other frontline worke

Join a Union. Your Wallet Will Thank You.

Here’s a big reason to join a union – a bigger paycheck.New numbers from U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show just how much of a difference a union makes in terms of worker pay.

Leading The Fight To Fund Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Program

AFSCME members pushed Congress hard to fund the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Workforce Loan Repayment Program, which is aimed at helping lessen the burden of crushing student loans for full-time workers who treat or support patients with substance-use disorders.

In late December, $12 million in new funding was signed into law, a big victory for AFSCME’s United We Heal campaign, which led a grassroots effort in

Help Our Sisters and Brothers in Puerto Rico

On a normal day, Sandra Pacheco, an administrative assistant in Puerto Rico’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, begins her day at 7 a.m., filing paperwork for her colleagues in the field. It’s a job that Pacheco, who is president of her local, AFSCME Local 3889, Council 95 (Servidores Públicos Unidos de Puerto Rico), does with pride and dedication.

New Year, New Opportunity: AFSCME Free or Discounted College Degrees

2020 is here. It's a perfect time for Council 4 members to get ahead with their education.

The AFSCME Free College Benefit makes it possible for you and your family members to earn an associate degree completely online – for FREE.

This union benefit is open to all active, dues-paying members, their spouses, children and grandchildren, as well as retired AFSCME members.

Through our national union's partnership with Eastern Gateway Community College in Ohio,  you can choose from the following degree programs:

2020 Minimum Wage Hikes to Benefit 7 Million Working People

The new year brings good news for millions of working Americans. Nearly 7 million of them are in line to get pay raises this year thanks to state and local minimum-wage hikes.

Caught in Limbo: AFSCME Member Struggles with Student Loan Forgiveness

As a public librarian for the Philadelphia Free Library, Sheila O’Steen embodies what we think of when we imagine a public service worker. Every day, she interacts with members of her community. Whether her patrons are young or old, affluent or impoverished, O’Steen shares knowledge and information with everyone she serves.

Beating the Expectations, Believing in His Community


AFSCME Supports Bill to Restore Voting Rights Protections

The 1965 Voting Rights Act worked. In the years and decades that followed its implementation, the law helped minority voters make their voices heard, especially African Americans who had been discriminated against at the polls. As a result, our democracy became stronger.

But in 2013, despite bipartisan reauthorization of the law by Congress, the Supreme Court gutted it, ruling 5-4 that a key provision was no longer necessary because the Voting Rights Act had worked and the problem was fixed.