AFSCME Lobby Day March 3, 2010

AFSCME: Members to lobby for investment in Wisconsin’s economy
3/2/2010

Contact: Bob Allen
608 836-6666

Front-line public service and health care workers from around Wisconsin will converge on the State Capitol on Wednesday to remind state leaders that quality public services are fundamental to creating the conditions for economic recovery.

Hundreds of AFSCME members are planning to visit with their own legislators in late morning and early afternoon. Workers will share their thoughts about the need to invest in vital services, reject privatization schemes and protect worker bargaining rights.

"Every day AFSCME members are being asked to do more with less, even as the need for services we provide grows more desperate. Wisconsin can't create jobs by continuing to eliminate jobs, especially when those jobs help keep our communities running " said Rick Badger, executive director of AFSCME Council 40.

AFSCME members will emphasize the importance of maintaining a quality public workforce. "Cutting essential public jobs only to outsource them means a loss of accountability and inevitably costs more in the long run. It's a bad deal for Wisconsin citizens," said Marty Beil, executive director of Council 24.

AFSCME members also will ask legislators to protect hard won bargaining rights that ensure professionalism and high standards in the workforce. "Public employees keep their side of the bargain by doing difficult and often dangerous work on the front lines. All we ask is that employers honor their side of the bargain," said Rich Abelson, executive director of Council 48.


This picture is the Racine delegation speaking with Senator John Lehman.