AFSCME Organizers

Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan went toe-to-toe last night in the one-and-only vice presidential debate of 2012. What are your thoughts? Who do you think won?

Public servants don't always get holidays off. What are some job classifications that have to work year-round?

(And "like" this status if you had to work today!)

AFSCME organizers remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom this Memorial Day. But sometimes work can't stop because of holidays: our Wisconsin team is hard at work on the Scott Walker recall-- only 8 days til voters head to the polls!

Politically, what are most optimistic about this summer?

As he faces recall this June, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker raised over $13 million in 2012 by criss-crossing the country and soliciting donations from America's richest political donors.

Why do you think so many wealthy business people care what happens in Wisconsin?

Founders, CEOs hand Wis. governor campaign cash Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's fan list reads like a who's who of some of the richest people in America — financial gurus, a Las Vegas casino president, even an NBA team owner.

Why do you think public employees are under such an assault by extreme right-wing politicians these days?

Did you know this is National Library Week? Let's celebrate the public libraries in our community by making sure they get the funding they deserve! Can you drop an email to your mayor or a city council person, urging them NOT to cut library services in your community?

Also, share this editorial on your Facebook wall. It talks about why library services are as necessary today as they ever were.

Guest commentary: Why you should check out your public library For many of us, the public library will always be synonymous with books. The books drew us to the library in the first place, helped us discover new worlds. Libraries continue to embody that same spirit of search and discovery, but in a manner that has been transformed. They make this new digital er...

In this day and age, it only makes sense to cross train AFSCME staff on both political and organizing tactics and strategies. AFSCME's International Union has embarked upon a program that will teach our political staff some high-level organizing techniques, which will help better prepare our members for the tough fight ahead, as we continue to push back on the anti-worker assault from the far-right wing.

The participants at the Columbus training are currently working on political work in both Michigan and Ohio-- two states where anti-labor legislation has been especially aggressive in recent months. The training was lead by staff from AFSCME's Education, Organizing and Political Departments.

AFSCME is training a whole new generation of organizers through our Alternative Break program. Our winter session was in Madison, WI (where our union was born), and the spring session was in Memphis, TN (where civil rights met union rights).

Now we've got one more Alt Break session planned for this year. It's scheduled to take place June 3-8 (location TBD).

So are you interested in launching your career as a full-time union organizer? Watch this video, share the video on your page, and then go to www.AFSCMEorganizers.org and click the Union Break logo to apply!

AFSCME Union Break From Cairo to Madison to Occupy Wall Street, the world's 99% are pulling together to face our challenges and build a better future. Looking for a way to make...

LIFE Magazine has released a few previously-unpublished photographs from the Lorraine Hotel on the night MLK was shot.

If you were alive in 1968, where were you when you heard about King's death?

LIFE: The day MLK died View the LIFE: The day MLK died photo gallery on Yahoo! News. Find more news related pictures in our photo galleries.

44 years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was killed while fighting for the rights of sanitation workers in Memphis, who were organizing with AFSCME.

Last month, AFSCME held the spring session of its Alternative Break program in Memphis at Local 1733. The participants, who were learning the basics of union organizing, had the opportunity to visit the Lorraine Hotel, where King lost his life to an assassin's bullet.

Call this picture, "AFSCME's future catches a glimpse of its history."

We'll be posting more pictures from the Lorraine Hotel and National Civil Rights Museum throughout the rest of the week.

AFSCME Alternative Break participants are right now working on the Memphis Public School campaign. They're out in the field this afternoon and they're accompanied by some of the best organizers in the labor movement, learning how to effectively to talk with workers, build our union and fight back against the greedy 1 percent!