Sisters and Brothers,
As many of you already know, on Tuesday night Gov. Jay Nixon delivered his annual State of the State address. This was Gov. Nixon’s opportunity to present the legislature with his budget proposal for next year. In his address, like in previous years, the Governor outlined how the recession has hurt all Missourians. Even though some folks say we’re slowly working our way out of the recession, you wouldn’t know it by looking at the budget. The state still isn’t collecting as much money as it has in the past. Because of this, cuts in service will once again be necessary to balance the budget.
As Missouri’s public workers, you know better than anyone how budget cuts in previous years have affected the services we provide. It’s getting harder and harder to do our jobs. Because of this, when we hear the phrase “budget cuts,” we all get very nervous about what exactly that means. Also because of this, you deserve to know what exactly the budget proposal means for your jobs and your facilities. Here are some of the things that affect our membership:
We have also been told that the administration is proposing to completely close Northwest Habilitation Center. This will of course, have a dire impact on our members. The proposal calls for the closure of the facility and job cuts in the ranks of management only. The employees and clients will be moved to another facility in the St. Louis area. All of our members at Northwest Habilitation Center will have the opportunity to keep their job at one of these facilities. It is incredibly important to note that this is the only facility that is slated for closure. Members who work at Northwest Habilitation Center will receive further communication from us in the very near future.
With regards to our 2% pay raise, our Bargaining Team members worked tirelessly for months during negotiations. When they decided to agree to the 2% pay raise, we were the only union to have a pay raise negotiated in our contract. Just so everyone is clear, this is not what we bargained for. All state employees should be outraged by this.
We are encouraging every state worker in all of our facilities to contact Gov. Nixon and tell him that this is not what we bargained for, and this is not what state employees deserve. Below is a sample script for when you call the governor’s office.
The governor’s office number is: (573) 751-3222
Hello, my name is _______________________ and I am calling to leave a message for Governor Nixon.
Governor Nixon, as an AFSCME member and a dedicated state employee, I am extremely disappointed with your broken promise and decision not to propose our full 2% pay increase which was agreed to in our contract. State workers have done our part in this tough economy by providing the highest quality services and going without pay raises for over 4 years, and Missouri can do better than having the worst-paid workforce in the nation. I am asking you to reconsider this proposal and ask the legislature to make our 2% pay raise effective July 1, 2012, as your administration agreed to do.
Once you have contacted the governor’s office and expressed your disappointment, please encourage your coworkers, family members, and friends to contact him as well. The governor cannot ignore a highly organized movement of dedicated state workers and our allies who are calling on him to keep his promise to ask the legislature to appropriate our pay raise.
No matter what, AFSCME will continue to fight to preserve and expand the rights of workers in Missouri and we ask you to continue to stand with us.
In Solidarity,
Alexandra Townsend, Political Coordinator
Josh McCarroll, Legislative Director
When the Ways and Means Committee of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed a proposed budget that included drastic cuts to vital city services – including $900,000 from the Refuse Division - AFSCME Local 410 and Council 72 sprang into action. As a result of that action, the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment refused to ratify those cuts, and the vast majority of funding has been restored.
“The people of St. Louis need critical services like garbage removal. When those services are cut, businesses can’t function as efficiently and residents suffer,” said Council 72 Staff Representative Eric Moore. “Vital public services like these are no place for petty politics, and AFSCME members will be watching closely to ensure those services are protected.”
After the initial move to cuts city budgets, members and activists from Local 410 reached out to city officials to protest the cuts. A week after the initial proposed cuts, a board comprised of the Mayor, Comptroller and President of the Board of Aldermen, rejected those proposals. Subsequently, the Board of Aldermen has made clear its intention not to go forward with the proposed cuts.
While there is likely still to be some small reduction to the budget allotted for overtime in the Refuse Division, those reductions are far smaller than the nearly $1 million in cuts first proposed. Local 410 and Council 72 continue to work against all cuts to vital services in the City of St. Louis.
As the final seconds of the 2011 Missouri legislative session ticked away, all of us who had devoted ourselves to protecting the middle class against a legislature that is increasingly hostile to working people could, at last, lift our arms in victory. Many of you know how good this felt, as you had been a part of the fight.
Ever since Senate Bill 202 - “Paycheck Deception” legislation - reared its head, passing the senate without warning in April, AFSCME members quickly circled the wagons and aggressively took on our opponents in Jefferson City. AFSCME led a program that saw more than 500 of our members reach their elected representatives in Jefferson City to voice their opposition to SB202. Across the state, our campaign saw 5,000 calls pour into Jefferson City from our brothers and sisters in Labor.
We knew that “Paycheck Deception” was designed to silence the power and voice of public workers. The bill, a brazen payback to political supporters who want to silence workers to pave the way for even greater corporate influence for Wall Street and the big banks, would have hemmed in our ability to speak with a shared voice on politics or even to have a union at all. But many of you spoke out. You called your legislators. You rallied with your co-workers across the state. You talked to your colleagues in the workplace about the challenges we faced. Because you raised your voice, and because hundreds of other AFSCME members like you across Missouri did the same, legislators in Jefferson City saw they had picked a fight they did not want to finish. They let the session end without taking action on SB202.
We can’t know exactly what assaults the enemies of working people will dream up for the 2012 session, but they’ve got plenty to choose from: Paycheck Deception and Right to Work for Less. Those who despise public services and those of us who provide them will likely fund an effort to replace the state income tax with a broadened sales tax that will not only defund many government services, but also put a greater share of the tax burden on working and middle class people. They may return to old favorites like drastic cuts to pensions or privatization of the services we provide.
In the wake of our victory over Paycheck Deception we must continue the aggressive push forward by making ourselves even stronger for the next fight. That means stronger local unions, more local union members, and the continued construction of real, working activist structures for getting involved and fighting back against attacks on our rights.
We can’t pick up a phone tomorrow and call a legislator and ask him to vote against an as-yet undefined evil bill. We can talk to our colleagues and tell them why a union is important, and why politicians and bills that seek to crush unions will ultimately hurt them, their paychecks and their families. We can ask those workers who aren’t members to join the union. And we can make sure our leaders have our email addresses and our cell phone numbers so they can engage us quickly in the fight when the next battle gears up.
We should all be happy that we won a huge victory in the legislature in 2011. But we must not be satisfied. The scrapyard is littered with the remnants of machines that won a battle or two but then sat idle. Let’s be proud of what we did this session, but prouder still of what we’ll do tomorrow.
Yesterday dozens of parents and advocates for the clients at Bellefontaine Habilitation Center gathered to oppose Senate Bill 56. The bill, introduced by Senator Scott Rupp, would force the state to begin closing habilitation centers across Missouri; leaving clients and their loved ones without a choice in their care, and out in the cold. To read the press coverage follow the links below, and don't forget to call your Senators and Representatives to oppose this disastrous bill.