Right now, tens of thousands of everyday Americans are in Washington fighting for real health care reform that works for working families. You can join them by sending a message to your representatives in Congress right now.

We simply cannot allow the insurance industry to hijack heath care reform again by killing the public plan option — not this time. There’s just too much on the line. We need real health care reform — including a public plan option.

Your message to Congress can help break through the lies and misinformation that the insurance industry is spreading to make sure that any reform protects only their profits, and not the middle class.

Here are just some of the stories AFSCME members will be delivering to Congress today:

“Help! I’m a healthcare provider in California. As a state worker, I just received a 9+% pay cut and may receive another 5%! I can’t continue with a 14+% cut. Health Care must reform or we will lose many workers, such as myself, further depleting an already failing system.”

“My health care need is that I have cancer and I need to continue to work no matter how sick I am, because I need the health insurance.”

“I have medical insurance, but due to a surgical complication, I was off work for a year. We could not keep up with the medical costs and filed Chapter 13.”

It shouldn’t be this way. We cannot let Congress back down from real reform, including a public plan option.

Be part of today’s rally in DC by sending a message to Congress for quality, affordable health care for all. Tell Washington we can’t wait!

AFSCME Council 81 members brought their message to the Legislative Hall in Dover. (Photo by Edward Savaria)

Hundreds of AFSCME Council 81 members rallied at the Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware to make sure legislators heard their message: “NO PAY CUT!”

To meet the state’s $800 million budget deficit, Gov. Jack Markell (D) has proposed slashing state employee salaries by 8 percent. Meanwhile, attrition, hiring freezes and funding cutbacks are already taking their toll on public services.

As Council 81 Exec. Dir. Mike Begatto said:

“An 8 percent pay cut for public employees would be an economic disaster for Delaware. It would take 91 million dollars out of Delaware’s economy. That will deepen our recession. It would hurt small businesses and it would be bad for every Delaware taxpayer.”

The rally featured a large “pledge card” for legislators to sign and express their support for no pay cuts and finding more responsible sources of revenue. See a video of the commitment rally here.

“I’m a single parent and if my pay is cut 8 percent, I won’t be able to provide for my family,” says AFSCME member Anthony Episcopo, a social worker who processes requests for food stamps and Medicaid. “There are more responsible ways to balance the state’s budget than on the backs of Delaware’s teachers, nurses and law enforcement officers.”

AFSCME members have proposed a number of alternatives to address Delaware’s budget constraints, including increasing the annual licensing fee from $250.00 to $350.00 a year for 580,000 Limited Liability Corporations chartered in the state and tapping into the state’s so-called “rainy day fund” to prevent more cutbacks.

Now it’s time for legislators to listen and do the right thing.

Contrary to the “wisdom” of certain legislators, taxing health care benefits is a counterproductive initiative that might just kill health care reform.

Over the last decade, health care premiums have risen 10 times faster than income. Keeping up with those expenses is already costing Americans an arm and a leg. Why would you want to make them even less affordable?

Nearly 160 million Americans get coverage through an employer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That’s why they’re called benefits and that’s why taxing them will only place an additional burden on working families.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) recently spoke about the folly of such an initiative, pointing out how “taxing benefits at a time where people are already overwhelmed is, I think, a very bad idea.”

Others have floated a proposal to tax benefits above a certain level, affecting the so-called “gold-plated” health insurance plans. The problem is that many of these plans are expensive only because of regional cost differences and the composition of an employer’s risk pool. In other words, such a measure would disproportionally impact those who already can barely afford their plans as well as workers in high-cost areas.

There are far more equitable and fair alternatives to help provide quality, affordable health care for all. President Obama has already outlined savings for nearly $300 billion as well as proposed limiting itemized deductions for the country’s 3 million highest earners, measures that would help offset the costs of health care reform.

This is why he campaigned against taxing health care benefits. This is why health care benefits should be off limits.

This post about worksite visits by AFSCME Local 1184 in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and health care reform is courtesy of the AFL-CIO Employee Free Choice Act blog.

AFSCME Local 1184 collected over 500 letters and signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act during worksite visits earlier this month.

AFSCME Local 1184, which represents 3,800 Miami Dade County school employees, visited the worksites of school bus drivers over a four-day span earlier this month with the South Florida AFL-CIO, UA organizers Rick Lindstrom and Javier Garcia and AFSCME representative Paris Walker collecting hundreds of signatures and letters in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and President Obama’s healthcare plan.

“Anytime you can educate the members on an issue, it is significant. People become empowered to get involved once they realize it will have an impact on their lives,” said Sherman Henry, President of Local 1184.

Local 1184 Vice President Vicki Hall said that visiting worksites is an effective way to reach out to membership. “Some of our members aren’t up to speed on the Employee Free Choice Act and other issues because they are so busy with work and their families. Talking to people on the job is a great way to get in touch with everyone and provide information.”

For their part, Rick Lindstrom and Javier Garcia are two of eleven UA organizers who have been driving the internal Employee Free Choice Act campaign across the state. Lindstrom and Garcia have been visiting the top 20 locals in the Miami area and offering their support to do activities like the AFSCME Local 1184 worksite visits.

“This is the biggest piece of legislation for the labor movement since 1935. We just had an employer who skipped town after his workers voted to unionize. People are starving out there, working without pensions and healthcare and they are sick of it,” said Lindstrom.

This team was able to collect over 500 letters and signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act at the AFSCME Local 1184 worksites. To date, unions of the South Florida AFL-CIO have collected tens of thousands of letters and made thousands of phone calls about the bill to federal legislators. Local 1184 President Henry plans to keep his members active on political issues and the local will be doing a voter registration drive in the near future.

This entry is adapted from remarks AFSCME President Gerald McEntee delivered at the AFSCME LGBT Pride kick-off event at the union’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and is cross-posted from Huffington Post and Oxdown Gazette.

Earlier this month, we saw new evidence that our country has entered a real era of change when President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on all Americans to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. “As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected,” the President’s proclamation states. “If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit.”

This is a special year in many ways. This month, we mark the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, when the struggle for full citizenship for LGBT Americans began in earnest. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is proud of the role we have played to advance the cause of equal rights for LGBT Americans throughout the years. We are proud of the work of our members and our staff. We are going to continue to fight until we end every policy that treats any group of Americans as second class citizens. Discrimination is wrong. It hurts us all. It must stop.

Decades ago, AFSCME councils and locals across the country took the lead in negotiating employment non-discrimination policies. They used union power to create collective bargaining agreements to protect LGBT public employees. Those victories helped pave the way for non-discrimination policies in the private sector.

But workplace discrimination still goes on. In fact, it remains legal in 30 states to discriminate based on sexual orientation, and in 38 states to do so based on gender identity or expression. As a result, LGBT people face serious discrimination in employment. Too many people are being fired… or being denied a promotion… or experiencing harassment on the job. That is wrong and it must stop. That’s why we’re fighting to pass the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Working with President Obama and our allies in the Congress, we’re going to get this done.

As we celebrate LGBT Pride, it’s also appropriate to remember that AFSCME has been fighting alongside the LGBT community on a host of other important issues. We’re working to pass a federal hate crimes law so that local law enforcement will get the resources they need to keep LGBT families safe and secure wherever they choose to live. We’re fighting to change the tax laws so that domestic partners benefits will not be taxed. We’re fighting to fund programs to protect LGBT youth from harassment. And we’re working to secure a sound retirement for LGBT seniors by ending discrimination in Social Security and tax laws.

We stood with the LGBT community during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis. We fought to end discrimination against People With AIDS. We fought to expand research and treatment programs.

Later this month, the AFSCME Pride Committee at our headquarters in Washington, DC – composed of LGBT and straight employees – will host a guest lecture named in honor of our departed brother, Van Sheets. Van spent 17 years working for AFSCME. Van was taken from us much too early. He loved this union with his heart and soul. We loved and cherished Van in return. Van was the driving force behind the creation of Pride at Work, which does so much to give the LGBT community a voice in the labor movement. I know Van would be very proud of the work the Pride Committee is doing and the event that has been scheduled to honor his memory.

Finally, let’s not forget that the values we share require us to continue to push forward. That’s always been the case in the on-going battle for freedom, fairness and equality. Just look at the fight for marriage equality. AFSCME members – straight and gay – have been fighting on the front lines. Yes, we were disappointed with the results in California last November. But today, let’s celebrate the great progress we’ve seen this year. Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire have now joined Massachusetts in providing marriage equality for all of their citizens. That’s real progress.

So there is much to celebrate this month. But there is more work to be done. We’re going to do that work, year in and year out, until equal rights exist for the LGBT community and for all Americans. All of us at AFSCME, working together, are going to do our part. We’re going to make equality happen.

It is the right thing to do… for our union… for our families… for our country.

Happy LGBT Pride Month.

AFSCME’s International Executive Board has unanimously passed a resolution declaring support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court. The resolution praises Sotomayor’s outstanding academic credentials and distinguished record of service, and points out the historic nature of her selection as the first Hispanic and woman of color to be nominated to serve on the court.

President Gerald W. McEntee says Sotomayor is “exactly the kind of experienced, capable and fair jurist” our nation needs on the high court:

“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has worked to preserve the rights of workers to receive fair pay, health benefits, and to be free of workplace discrimination. The Senate should promptly confirm Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.”

Read the full release.

The last thing families struggling in this tough economy need is to pay more for their health benefits. But Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) wants to tax the health care benefits many Americans get from their jobs – as if they were income. And his plan doesn’t include a public insurance option to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care.

Far from moving us in the direction of comprehensive health care reform, Senator Wyden’s proposal would only make the problem worse: costs would go up and fewer people would get the health care they need.

That’s why AFSCME launched a campaign this week against Senator Wyden’s plan to tax Americans’ health care. We will contact Oregon families by direct mail, phone outreach, door-to-door conversations, and through a new website at www.StopWydensHealthTax.com.

Also, AFSCME is co-sponsoring a radio ad campaign in Oregon with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the National Education Association to urge Congress to make quality, affordable health care accessible to all, not tax Americans’ benefits.

Vice President Joe Biden, addressing the 2009 AFSCME Legislative Conference on Tuesday, said the way to rebuild the middle class is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and level the playing field for unions.

As chair of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families, Biden is focused on raising the living standard for middle-class families and improving the lives of working Americans. The best way to do that, says the vice president, is to make sure workers have the freedom to join a union.

“You know, I think it should be pretty simple. If a union is what you want, then a union is what you should get. It’s simple.”

A new billboard went up in St. Paul, Minnesota, today which asks Gov. Tim Pawlenty whether he’ll do his legal duty when it comes to certifying the results of the U.S. Senate election — or if he’ll try to further his own national political ambitions instead.

The billboard is part of an ongoing campaign by Alliance for a Better Minnesota, MN AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 5, Working America, SEIU MN State Council, Americans United for Change and others urging Gov. Pawlenty to immediately certify the election as soon as the MN Supreme Court rules on the recount and give Minnesota full representation in the U.S. Senate.

Working America has just launched a new website at SeatOurSenator.com where concerned Minnesotans can sign this petition:

As a resident of Minnesota, I am concerned that we be fully represented in the U.S House and Senate, particularly as we take on such critical priorities as rebuilding our economy, making health care more affordable, bringing green jobs to the state and reforming the banking system to protect working families.

Minnesota’s current congressional delegation is hurt by the absence of a U.S. senator to represent the interests of our citizens.

A poll conducted by Alliance for a Better Minnesota found that 59% of Minnesotans believe Norm Coleman should concede to Al Franken, and 64% would have “serious doubts” about Tim Pawlenty if he refused to certify the election if the MN Supreme Court declares Al Franken the winner.

See more at Seat Our Senator.com.

Did you know that Citigroup CEO Vikram S. Pandit raked in a sweet $38 million in total compensation last year while running his company to the ground? Let’s not forget that Citigroup has already received $45 billion in federal bailout funds. It isn’t a coincidence that AFSCME has made repeated calls for more accountability at the company.

Or what about FedEx Corp. CEO Frederick Smith, who earned more than $10 million in total compensation in 2008? Smith, by the way, is an active opponent of unionization for his employees. While he gets a more than generous salary, FedEx Ground classifies its drivers as independent contractors so it doesn’t have to provide them with basic benefits such as health care coverage.

Despite the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, companies continue to reward CEOs for poor performance. Haven’t these people learned their lesson? See for yourself at the AFL-CIO’s 2009 Executive PayWatch website which documents these and other outrageous examples of CEO behavior.

And while you’re at it, make sure to visit the special section on companies that lobby against their workers’ right to form a union. Also, click on the link on pay practices at other companies that have received taxpayer assistance.

You’re bound to be (unpleasantly) surprised, but this is also why AFSCME has taken the lead in the fight against corporate greed and protecting workers’ pensions. Learn more about AFSCME’s shareholder activism here.