News

A Super Majority of Workers from Dignity Health in Merced, California voted to form their union with AFSCME Council 57, Local 2703 today! 

Workers in health care and social service industries are a big step closer to having safer workplaces.

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R.1195) by a bipartisan vote of 254 to 166. The bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a standard to prevent workplace violence in health care and social service assistance settings.

This article originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee. View the original story here.

Millions of California workers will get up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to take time off to get vaccinated, isolate themselves from potential exposure to the coronavirus, or deal with the effects of COVID-19, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday.

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.

The AFSCME Council 57 Executive Board approved the following resolution in response to the Feb. 1 military takeover in Myanmar and the nationwide general strike that followed:

"Whereas, the military claimed that the outcome of Myanmar’s people vote in parliamentary elections held in November 2020 were fraudulent, there was no basis in fact for such claims that was found by a government commission investigating the claims that reported there was no evidence of fraud in this election;

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: It’s an honor to serve as your Council 57 president. We represent close to 35,000 workers throughout California and I take it as my personal responsibility to make sure that every one of our members gets fair representation at their jobs and a fair return for their work.

Protecting our members’ rights is even more important now that working during the COVID-19 pandemic is our new reality. That’s why I believe communication is even more crucial to keep us all connected and united during these challenging times.

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.

If you asked Shawn Tallerico why he does his job for Lodi’s public works department or why he stepped up to be a leader in our union, his answer would be simple and honest.

“The reason I do it is because I care,” he said.

More than 100 AFSCME Local 829 members went on strike this month to call out the unfair labor practices being used by management at Brius, the parent company that owns the Burlingame Skilled Nursing facility and the largest for-profit nursing home operator in California.