According to a CNN poll released last week, 60% of Americans support legislation recently passed by Congress to save hundreds of thousands of jobs that were on the chopping block. And they favored protecting public jobs even without knowing that the legislation wouldn’t add a dime to the deficit.

AFSCME members also know how important that legislation was, which is why they led the fight. They generated more than 60,000 phone calls, letters and e-mails to Congress. In addition, AFSCME ran television, radio and online ads, and built a broad-based campaign for its passage.

Now that this vital legislation for protecting jobs has passed, AFSCME is working to let the country know that Democrats in Congress came through for our jobs and our states.

AFSCME launched radio ads last week as part of an aggressive $2.5 million mobilization and advertising campaign during the August congressional recess. AFSCME’s campaign highlights the differences between members of Congress who saved jobs and those who voted to lay off nearly one million Americans and tried to wreck the economy for political gain.

On launching the campaign, Pres. McEntee said:

“America’s working families need to know that key members of Congress stood up for them by voting for legislation to save hundreds of thousands of jobs. The American people will remember who stood up to save our struggling economy, and who chose to play politics with our lives and jobs.”

AFSCME Kentucky members speak out against furloughs.

AFSCME Council 62 has filed for an injunction to stop Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear’s (D) plan to furlough state employees for six days this fiscal year, asserting that the plan would cause “irreparable harm” to the workers and to the security and well-being of the commonwealth’s citizens. The first furlough day is scheduled to occur on the Friday before Labor Day.

Council 62 represents nearly 9,000 state workers in two units: corrections and probation,  parole and law enforcement employees, and social service and employment workers.

The suit, filed in Franklin County Circuit Court on August 6, seeks to show that 24-hour corrections facilities would have to be staffed at mandated levels regardless of furloughs in order to avoid compromising the security of the facilities and nearby communities, resulting in extensive overtime costs that would be greater than any proposed savings.

Council 62’s filing also points out that social service employees provide vital services around the clock to Kentucky communities, that they’re already understaffed, and that furloughs would needlessly endanger the lives of children needing protection and families in crisis requiring immediate assistance.

Six AFSCME members signed-on to the lawsuit as plaintiffs.

Governor Beshear’s ability to order furloughs was given a legislative push as part of a compromise budget this year. Legislators called furloughs a “last resort tool” to make up $131 million in budget cuts required of the governor. Before any other major cuts were announced, and without documentation, Beshear announced a furlough plan that he claimed would save Kentucky $24 million.

Council 62 has questioned that savings claim, noting that states around the country – including California,  Ohio, Nebraska and Washington – are beginning to realize that unexamined costs from furloughs, including additional overtime and missed services, are actually eating up projected savings. The end result of furlough plans like Kentucky’s is undue harm to state employees and their families, to prison security and to families in need.

An initial hearing for the injunction has been set for August 16.

In the meantime, after working eight years under the previous administration without an executive order for representation, both AFSCME Kentucky units this week ratified negotiated agreements with the commonwealth of Kentucky establishing new and stronger rights for employees.

The job numbers released last week made it clear that the economic recovery is slowing down, and the increase in state and municipal worker layoffs is one of the chief factors. Not counting losses from temporary census workers, public sector job losses rose to 48,000 in July as many states began a new fiscal year facing huge budget shortfalls.

Economist Robert Brusca tells CNNMoney.com that this crisis was foreseeable — and action is needed to prevent even more losses:

“All of us knew that the municipal government funding is a ticking time bomb. There’s more pressure on municipalities rather than less. Putting a Band-Aid on the municipal economy makes sense.”

That Band-Aid will come in the form of H.R. 1586, a jobs bill being voted on by the U.S. House during an emergency session this week. The bill will provide $26 billion in federal aid to state and local governments and school districts at a time when some estimates put nationwide state budget shortfalls as high as $140 billion.

Without action, the economy could lose as many as 900,000 jobs in both the public and private sectors.

Read the full article at CNNMoney.com, then call your representative and urge them to vote yes on the jobs bill to get this critical aid to states.

Don Machacek, a Minnesota DOT worker and member of AFSCME Local 2792 (Council 5), rescued a mom and her two kids from their sinking car on Tuesday.

As part of Mn/DOT’s Freeway Incident Response Safety Team, Machacek has spent the last four years helping motorists and assisting law enforcement on area highways.

His reaction to suggestions he’s a hero? “Nah. I was just doing my job.”

Judge for yourself:

Read more from the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Watch AFSCME Director of Research Kerry Korpi stand up to attacks on public employees and our pensions during an appearance on CNBC. At issue: should states cut public pensions to balance ballooning budgets?

Despite being outnumbered 3 against 1, Korpi didn’t let a single myth or untruth — and there were plenty of them — go unchecked.

“Our members have taken furloughs in a number of states, they’ve taken layoffs, wage freezes and cuts in pensions. When we’re talking about public employee pensions, let’s talk about facts. The average member of AFSCME makes a pension of about $20,000. That’s after a career of service contributing anywhere from 4% to 8% of their salary, year in and year out. A number of those folks don’t get Social Security, so that pension is all they’ve got in retirement.”

Watch the full segment:

AFSCME activists rallied Wednesday on Boston Common, in solidarity with Council 93, to prevent the loss of critical public services and to pass the jobs bill now stalled in Congress. 

Today’s Boston Globe features a front page article on Massachusetts’ budget challenges and AFSCME members’ powerful demonstration.

Hundreds of members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, dressed in matching green T-shirts, rallied on Boston Common yesterday as Patrick was signing the budget. They chanted: “Show some guts! No more cuts!’’

“Some of the most vulnerable citizens in Massachusetts will be in danger if these budget cuts go through,’’ said Gerald W. McEntee, the union’s national president, who is in Boston for the union’s national convention. “But we won’t let the politicians balance the budget on our backs, not anymore.’’

Anthony Caso, Executive Director of Council 93 and an International Vice-President, said the union’s members “are fed up with politicians like Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) who abandoned workers last week” by opposing the jobs bill. “Today, AFSCME makes its mark on Boston Common, and we are ready to fight and ready to lead!”

Locally, Council 93 members are fighting to prevent the planned closure of four of the state’s six long-term residential hospitals for the developmentally disabled, to keep all branches of the city’s public libraries open and prevent layoffs of library employees. The council also wants fair, equitable contracts for thousands of higher education workers represented by the union.

Four members of Council 93 also addressed the rally: Elissa Cadillic, president of Boston Public library Local 1526; Michael Thomas, president of an organization of Council 93’s human services locals; Kevin Hanley, Massachusetts State and Community Colleges Local 1067; and Francis Martin, president of University of Massachusetts – Amherst Local 1776.

After the rally, hundreds of AFSCME activists marched to City Hall to support the library workers. The Boston Globe also reported that as the city council was deciding the municipal budget for the new fiscal year, “The sea of protesters made such a ruckus that their chants — “Stop the cuts!’’ — echoed in the fifth-floor council chamber.”

Full-page ad in Wednesday’s Boston Globe.

At the close of Convention business this afternoon, thousands of AFSCME delegates and guests will head to Boston Common to rally with members of Council 93 Massachusetts to oppose dangerous cuts in services across the nation and for the jobs that America needs to boost the economy.

A dramatic, full-page ad in today’s Boston Globe illustrates the concerns of AFSCME members and points out to Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown that while the deficit matters, jobs matter more.

The rally on Boston Common is part of a series of events taking place across the nation today, the last day of the fiscal year for many states, to urge Congress to end the GOP filibuster on the jobs bill and enact legislation to help the unemployed and states dealing with unprecedented budget shortfalls.

A bipartisan group of ten governors are holding a joint afternoon press conference in Washington, D.C., and rallies are taking place in 18 states including Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The post-Convention rally is also aimed at Massachusetts and Boston politicians who are threatening to close the state’s facilities for people with developmental disabilities and make devastating cuts to the city’s public libraries. The rally will call for fair contracts for Massachusetts’ higher education workers represented by AFSCME.

It’s simple, really. The more jobs we create now, the less federal debt our children will have to carry later. Because jobs not only put food on the table, they put revenue in the Treasury and money in the marketplace.

It also shouldn’t be hard to understand that too many Americans are out of work. Too many families are struggling to get by. And too many kids will pay the price.

America needs Congress to pass a bill to protect jobs and provide aid to states. Unfortunately, some Senators are gumming up the works with a filibuster that will put hundreds of thousands of additional Americans out of work.

AFSCME and Americans United for Change kicked off a television advertising campaign in Maine on Monday, urging U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to support a jobs bill that extends unemployment insurance for people who have lost their jobs and invests $84 million to help states avoid massive new layoffs.

Citing deficit concerns, some senators are sitting on this crucial legislation that would help put Americans back to work and get our country back on its feet. The ad, which has already received coverage from the New York Times, CBS News, The Hill and AMERICAblog among others, addresses deficit concerns by noting that the more jobs we have now, the less debt we will have in the future, since jobs supply revenue to the treasury and keep people off public assistance.

This country’s fragile economy cannot grow if elected officials in Washington refuse to take the action needed to put our country back to work.

AFSCME is making it clear what this reckless failure to act will cost in terms of our recovery.  If we are to avoid massive additional job cuts and more debt, the jobs bill must include critical funding for states and local governments.

More jobs equal less debt. Even our kids can understand that.

Last week’s jobs report showed that our economic recovery is extremely fragile. The last thing we need is thousands more layoffs because of state budget shortfalls. The Senate jobs bill includes funding for state governments to avoid layoffs and public service cuts. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities reports, failing to extend fiscal relief to states will create new budget gaps, forcing cuts and job loss in at least 34 states.

Impact of Federal Aid on Public Sector Jobs

FMAP estimates from FFIS adjusted for $23.5B CBO spending level – based on state spending. Jobs estimate based on the FMAP dollar amounts and average compensation in each state.

As this chart shows, without the Senate jobs bill we could see hundreds of thousands more job losses nationwide. That would have a hugely negative impact on the federal deficit, given the lost tax revenue and the increased reliance on government services.

Saving jobs and services will keep our economic recovery going. And it will reduce the national debt in the long term. Slashing budgets right now is the wrong thing to do. The right thing to do is for the Senate to pass the jobs bill.

Too many Americans are out of work. That’s devastating for individuals and families. Unemployment hurts our communities and prolongs the economic crisis.

That’s why America needs a jobs bill that protects workers and puts people back to work.

Last week, Congress failed to provide the funding to protect vital services by helping states with their budget shortfalls. That will mean more Americans without jobs and families struggling. And it could make it harder for our country to get back to prosperity.

AFSCME is sounding the alarm about the job-killing bill and demanding that the Senate restore funding to promote American jobs. AFSCME launched a multi-state radio campaign running now in Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, and Virginia. Listen to the ad from Missouri:

“Without funding, hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs – and those job losses will mean a big setback at a time when our country is finally starting to create jobs,” said AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee. “Unless the Senate acts to restore the funding levels, the so-called Jobs Bill will actually put more people out of work.”