News

We're Hiring

AFSCME Council 61 is excited to announce that we are hiring for a Union Representative in NE Iowa.

AFSCME supports lowering drug prices to help millions of Americans

When Fran Krugen’s late husband was first diagnosed with diabetes, his insulin cost about $35 a bottle.

But Krugen, an AFSCME retiree from Arizona, will never forget the day when she and her husband went to the drug store to pick up his insulin and the pharmacist told them it now cost $900 a bottle.

“This was medication he needed to live, and we had insurance,” she said at a press briefing earlier this month. “We looked at each other and had to ask ourselves: Do we make the house payment? Do we buy food? Or do we pay for his medication?”

A New Jersey member’s career grows thanks to the AFSCME Free College Benefit

The pandemic has led many of us to take stock of our lives and our goals. For AFSCME New Jersey member LaTrenda Ross, the pandemic ignited a long-held dream—starting her own life coaching business.

“I was thinking about revamping my whole entire life,” recalls Ross, a member of Local 2306. “I was looking out for things I want to do, things I haven’t been going after.”

Approval of labor unions continues to rise; is highest since 1965

More Americans approve of labor unions today than at any time since 1965, according to annual Gallup poll results released around each Labor Day.

More than two-thirds of poll respondents – 68% – approved of labor unions. That means a clear majority of voters views labor unions favorably. Among adults 18-34 years of age, 77% approve of unions. Support is also high among those with annual household incomes under $40,000.

RICK EILANDER ELECTED PRESIDENT OF AFSCME COUNCIL 61

RICK EILANDER ELECTED PRESIDENT OF AFSCME COUNCIL 61

Todd Copley Elected Secretary/Treasurer at Biennial Convention This Weekend

URBANDALE – In convention this weekend, the delegates of AFSCME Council 61 unanimously elected Rick Eilander to be the next Council President. Eilander has been a union representative with the council since 2006, and most recently was an organizer working with locals and bargaining units to expand the reach of the union in their workplaces.

DANNY HOMAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT OF AFSCME COUNCIL 61 AFTER 16 YEARS

DANNY HOMAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT OF AFSCME COUNCIL 61 AFTER 16 YEARS

New President to be elected at Council 61 Convention July 24th

DES MOINES – Danny Homan, President of AFSCME Council 61, today announced that he will retire at the end of his term. A new President will be elected at the union’s upcoming convention on July 24th. Homan, 68, has been an employee of Council 61 for over 33 years and was elected President in 2005.

RALLY TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE

To honor those who died on the job, give every worker a voice in the workplace

Workers Memorial Day 2021 arrives at a moment of the greatest urgency, when the front lines of the war against COVID-19 run through America’s workplaces.

AFSCME applauds House passage of workplace violence bill

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.