Better wages. Check. Better working conditions. Check. And, thanks to unions, we now know there is also a union difference for workers who have access to critical benefits like paid parental leave.
According to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 17 percent of all U.S. workers have access to paid family leave.
Meet Frances Gillum, mother of AFSCME Florida's endorsed candidate for Governor of Florida, Andrew Gillum, and card carrying member of AFSCME Retirees of Florida. Frances was the guest speaker this week at the AFSCME Retiree Chapter 43 meeting in Tallahassee. A hard working union bus driver for many years, Mrs. Gillum shared that she instilled that same work ethic and respect for the dignity of labor in her son from an early age.
It was 10 years ago this month that the 2008 financial crisis kicked into high gear. When storied Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers shut down, bankers walking out of the building carrying cardboard boxes of their possessions made the perfect image for TV cameras.
Earlier this summer, Economic Self-Sufficiency Specialists within the Department of Children and Families worked with AFSCME Florida staff representatives to challenge a policy that limited how they could take their leave.
No politician running for office today would openly advocate for more wealth inequality in our country, where the richest 1 percent of the population owns 40 percent of the wealth.
Even candidate Donald Trump in 2016 promised to stand up for the “forgotten men and women of our country,” who feel betrayed by a rigged economic system that benefits a small minority at their expense.
Yet every single day, President Trump and congressional leaders seem determined to do more to increase wealth inequality than to alleviate it; do more for corporations and the wealthy than for single parents working two or three jobs to make ends meet.
Tallahassee – Today, the hardworking men and women who help make Florida happen every day enthusiastically voted to endorse Andrew Gillum to be the state’s next governor.
