| AFSCME Council 18 |
 As Sequestration Hits Families Hard, Ryan Budget Would Be Devastating for New Mexico (miss the call? Listen Now on Soundcloud) The press conference took place prior to a rally in downtown Albuquerque organized by the American Federation of Government Employees outside the Social Security Offices. The actions in New Mexico were part of nationwide efforts this week by labor and progressive organizations to begin putting a face to sequestration. CLICK for PHOTOS From the Rally
 State Rep. Georgene Louis and Community Members Hold Press Conference Call ABQ, NM- In New Mexico, the impact of sequestration is just now being realized, and the proposed Ryan Budget could lead to even more job killing cuts for the state. AFSCME Council 18 and other community members will hold a tele-press conference call on March 20, 2013 at 9:30 AM to discuss sequestration and the Ryan Budget.  We say it a lot, but bears repeating, everything is at stake for AFSCME members during a New Mexico or Federal legislative session. A huge thank you to Carter Bundy and Josh Anderson for their unrivaled tenacity, fighting not only for AFSCME members, but ALL workers' rights. They survive and thrve on little sleep for sixty days and are right back to it this Monday morning, keeping the foot on the gas for our green machine. Our lobby team of Stephen Perkins, Eric Allen, Barb Pardo, Joaquin Maestas, Linda Landez Garcia, and Tony Garcia were some of the best lobbyists in the building. YOUR Member emails, phone calls, and visits, kept pressure on Legislators to remember public employees, and all working people, before every vote they took. CLICK for AFSCME 18 Legislative Session wrap up:
Read more >>>  Gov Martinez's Last-hour Corporate Tax Breaks Would CRUSH County and City Budgets NO DEAL IS BETTER THAN A BAD DEAL Call House and Senate leadership and ask them to OPPOSE 3 THINGS: CLICK to email Leadership list-- you only have to send one email: PRIVATIZATION BILL DEFEATED--DOT JOBS SAVED! Our Department of Transportation members can breathe easier tonight knowing that a massive privatization bill--with almost no protections for taxpayers or employees--was just defeated on a 7-3 bipartisan vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Thanks to everyone who called and emailed! 5 of 6 Democrats voted with workers and taxpayers, and 2 of 4 Republicans also voted for fiscal responsibility and against special insider deals. ONE MORE TERRIBLE PRIVATIZATION BILL NEEDS YOUR CALLS AND EMAILS NOW! Read more >>>  Two nightmare privatization bills are moving through the legislature. These bills are some of the worst in the country and allow for privatization of everything from janitorial and groundskeeping work to senior center staff to parks and rec staff to libraries to DOT employees to K-12 workers to museums to water utilities to wastewater to almost anything else done by public sector workers. Senate Bill 273 has the added nightmare of allowing toll roads and bridges all over our state. If you're a state, university, city, county, water utility, or K-12 employee, the sleeper issue of this legislative session is that big developers and out-of-state companies are pushing legislation (HB405) that allows for privatization of virtually any job associated with operating or maintaining any public building, facility, infrastructure, water utility, road, rec center, senior center, or almost anything that taxpayers pay for. Read more and Make Four Calls today!  On a party line vote, with all Democrats voting for and all Republicans voting against, our nurses in AFSCME 1199 won a major victory in the House Health, Government, and Indian Affairs Committee when House Bill 445 (sponsored by Christine Trujillo, D-Albuquerque) passed 6-5...read more Governor Martinez has made it crystal clear that she'll line item veto a 3% raise, and she'll only accept even a 1% raise if the legislature caves to her on other issues that would hurt labor (and our education sisters and brothers in particular). But that doesn't mean we're not going to stop fighting for a bigger raise...read more Senate Bill 27, which is the good PERA reform bill, and Senate Bill 115, which is the good ERB reform bill, are still awaiting hearings in Senate Finance....read more Read more >>> AFSCME is fully committed to protecting the rights of Public Defender attorneys and support staff as the legislature finalizes the Public Defender Department's move to becoming an independent entity. Many PD attorneys and staff are represented by AFSCME, and the constitutional amendment in no way was intended to strip workers of their rights. Read more and make calls in support of AFSCME Represented Public Defenders BUDGET Just this afternoon the House floor voted to pass House Bill 2 (the budget bill) with the 1% raise in tact. We will be supporting an improvement to a 3% raise in the Senate, although there's no question Governor Martinez will veto a 3% raise. We'll get a good sense of who our friends in the Senate are, though. Read more >>>  Senate Bill 115 (Sen. Ingle, R-Portales) provides a long-term fix for the Educational Retirement Association, and has now been in Senate Finance for a week.Senate Bill 27 (Sen. Munoz, D-Gallup) puts PERA on a path to solvency and has also been in Senate Finance for a week. The hold up has primarily been due to pressure from Governor Martinez to force employees to take a bigger hit in pension reform. The bills already put most of the changes on future hires, with less on current workers and least on retirees. Employers are on the hook for a very small part of the PERA Board and ERB solutions. We need calls into the Senate Finance Committee asking them to vote FOR Senate Bills 27 and 115 with NO AMENDMENTS. Put in emails and calls this week, and we may get the bills heard next Monday. Chair John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) 986-4365 john.smith@nmlegis.gov Vice Chair Carlos Cisneros (D-Questa) 986-4362 carlos.cisneros@nmlegis.gov Pete Campos (D-Las Vegas) 986-4311 pete.campos@nmlegis.gov Howie Morales (D-Silver City) 986-4863 howiemorales@yahoo.com George Munoz (D-Gallup) 986-4371 munozgeo@gmail.com Nancy Rodriguez (D-Santa Fe) 986-4264 nancy.rodriguez@nmlegis.gov Sue Wilson Beffort (R-Sandia Park) 986-4395 sue.beffort@nmlegis.gov Bill Burt (R-Alamogordo) 986-4366 bill.burt@nmlegis.gov Carroll Leavell (R-Jal) 986-4278 leavell4@leaco.net Steven Neville (R-Aztec) 986-4701 steven.neville@nmlegis.gov The House also has an ERA reform bill (HB 64, Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque) that has stalled in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee due to a battle among legislators over completely unrelated education funding. This is what we call cross-fire in the legislature, and our education pension reform bill just got caught in it. However, there are many paths for that bill to be revived, and once the budget is finished in the House we expect HB 64 to be up for consideration again. 
Thanks for your calls and emails in support of protecting our pensions--your activism paid off last night. Earlier Monday evening the Senate Judiciary Committee, with 9 of 10 members voting, approved the good PERA solvency bill (Senate Bill 27, sponsored by Sen. Munoz, D-Gallup) on a 9-0 vote. Please call and email the NM Senate Finance Committee today and ask them email them to ask them to SUPPORT Senate Bill 27 with NO new amendments. Read more on the Pension Bill, and Budget Bill.
 VOTE Sí,
WATCH YOUR BOX! BALLOT IN YOUR BOX LAST DAY TO RETURN BY MAIL MARCH 7 Beginning February 12, voters in the City of Albuquerque will receive a special mail-in ballot to fix the city charter and make our elections fair.
 AFSCME activists took to the Roundhouse on Wednesday, Feb 6, and held a rally and press conference in the rotunda of the Roundhouse at 11:00 a.m. Then we sent out our Green Machine (wear your green!) to talk to legislators about key issues we face, like finally getting a raise after 4 years of pay cuts and saving our pension funds for decades to come. CLICK to SEE download and share PHOTOS from the Lobby Day! 100's of postacards were delivered to legislators, TAKE TWO minutes add your own message to AFSCME Council 18's 2013 Legislative Message. We're disappointment that Governor Martinez has put forth a budget proposal containing 0% raises for classified employees after 4 years of pay cuts. CLICK to send a postcard. The state has balanced the budget on public employees’ backs over the past four fiscal years through the pension swaps, furloughs, and layoffs. We have smaller paychecks today than we did in 2008. “The administration’s claim that an expiring 1.5% pension swap wasn’t a pay cut is dead wrong. That was money that used to be in my pocket, and the state used it to shore up the budget over the past four years,” Tim McGrew, AFSCME Council 18 Steward at Department of Aging and Long Term Services. These pay cuts generated over $200 million for the general fund over four years. Send a message to your legislators!
 For Immediate Release: Contact: State Employees expressed disappointment that Governor Martinez has put forth a budget proposal containing 0% raises for her classified employees after 4 years of pay cuts. Click to send a POSTCARD to your legislator. The state has balanced the budget on public employees’ backs over the past four fiscal years through the pension swaps, furloughs, and layoffs. State employees have smaller paychecks today than they did in 2008. “The administration’s claim that an expiring 1.5% pension swap wasn’t a pay cut is dead wrong. That was money that used to be in my pocket, and the state used it to shore up the budget over the past four years,” Tim McGrew, AFSCME Council 18 Steward at Department of Aging and Long Term Services. Read more >>>LEGISLATIVE SESSION PREPARATION
We've also built a strong coalition to reform pensions in a way that minimizes impact to current retirees and members, but pension reform is always a brutal battle, and we're going to need a strong, unified, active membership in order to preserve the best funds in America and to keep the retirement that our retirees and active members have earned. "Earned" is the key word: PERA and ERA are not handouts, they're something our members have earned over years of hard work, and we need those benefits there for decades to come.  Good Jobs for Santa Fe 2013 // SF City Council ACTION! Tuesday, January 8th at 5 pm Sunday, January 6th, at 5:00 - 8:00 pm. In particular, we need calls to Finance Committee Chair Carmichael Dominguez, 955-6814. Please specifically call him and ask the committee to vote against repealing the CWA. People can leave a message. There are plenty of talking points below. Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone has enjoyed the relatively lower-activity window between the election and now. But elections are only the beginning. We don't participate in elections to help one party or to elect friends. We participate to get results to make sure our members have the resources to provide the best quality services possible to New Mexicans. And you can't do that without battling at the legislative session for adequate staffing levels, adequate pay, preserving basic benefits like health care and retirement, and allowing workers a voice on the job. Read more >>> AFSCME Council 18 Member Survey / Political Action Sign-Up Member input is vital and necessary in the lead up to the 2013 legislative session. Please go online today and fill out this member survey regarding retirement and compensation for state employees. Access the ONLINE survey by going clicking HERE January 7th Deadline State Director 575-574-2720 Statewide Walk and Phone Banks  2012 New Mexico General Election Tuesday, November 6 AFSCME Council 18 Voter Guide / 2012 (Click) (pdf) Remember, you can still vote early through Saturday, November 3rd. Call your county clerk’s office or go to their website for times and locations for early voting.  We don't have an Election Day in New Mexico anymore--we have an ELECTION MONTH. You can vote NOW at your county clerk during normal business hours. November 6th isn't Election Day--it's the last day of Election Month. Don't wait for the last day to vote! I just early voted Wednesday at the Santa Fe County Clerk's office. It was quick, easy, and now I don't have to worry about my boy getting sick on election day, last-minute lines, a northern NM snowstorm, or anything else--and we can spend all of our time on November 6th getting the folks who haven't voted early out on the last day of the election. Plus, if you vote early, campaigns will take you off of their calling and walking lists--and we'll have fewer voters we can concentrate on in November.
 Joan Raymond is a City of San Diego sanitation driver. Her route included the La Jolla, Calif., community where Romney owns a $12 million oceanfront villa. AFSCME has just released 3 videos featuring Richard Hayes, Temo Fuentes, and Joan Raymond, the public employees who picks up Mitt Romney's trash, and provide services to Romney's home and neighborhood in La Jolla. Please watch the videos and consider sharing them via social media. Watch here: http://www.afscme.org/meetrichard Here is sample Facebook sharing text: "Please WATCH and SHARE this video about Richard Hayes, one of the public employees who provide services to Mitt Romney. Watch here: http://www.afscme.org/meetrichard" To share on Twitter, please click the link and then click RT: https://twitter.com/AFSCME/status/252798427488976897
On a court request by AFSCME, District Judge Valerie Huling ordered Gov. Susana Martinez to stop publishing the names of non-exempt employees in the state's Sunshine Portal. Read more >>>
AFSCME Council 18's 2012 Lobby Day
Thanks to everyone who came out!! During the 2012 New Mexico Legislative Session you can find all of AFSCME Council 18's legislative updates under this link. Read more >>>
Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality
PEOPLE is AFSCME's program to elect candidates in Congress and in state houses across America that support us. Through PEOPLE we help elect candidates who stand for what matters to AFSCME members: • Strong contracts PEOPLE’s power comes from AFSCME members. Get involved today! Need to find the contact information for the AFSCME Council 18 PEOPLE Steering Committee? Please click here. Read more >>> Need to download a copy of the 2011 PEOPLE Bylaws? Please click here to find out how. Read more >>> These rallies are important to show politicians and the world that many of us understand that our problems have been created by Wall Street gambling and a lack of regulation, not by the hard working families of New Mexico and America--who are the ones suffering the most right now. If you're sick of the giant multinational corporate ownership of politics, this is just the start of how we fight back. Read more >>> ALBUQUERQUE ELECTIONS On Tuesday, October 4, the City of Albuquerque will hold its electionsfor four city council seats and bond issues. Polls are open from 7a.m. to 7 p.m., and you can find your polling location at www.cabq.gov under City Clerk. Read more >>> American workers at events across the country this week urged their elected congressional representatives to quickly pass The American Jobs Act, President Barack Obama’s plan to put Americans back to work. “It is time to rebuild the economy for those who have been under attack for decades – the middle class,” said Nellie Rosales, a worker at New Mexico State University and a founding member of AFSCME Local 2393 (Council 18).“The American Jobs Act will help put unemployed Las Cruces residents back to work, rebuilding our roads, bridges and schools. It’s time to get this country back on track, where hard work and responsibility are embraced.” Read more >>>The Albuquerque City Council Elections are right around the corner. Click here to find out how you can get involved! Read more >>> Albuquerque—Today the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) announced its support for Congressman Martin Heinrich’s bid for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate. New Mexico members on AFSCME’s political committee, PEOPLE, voted unanimously to recommend a national endorsement of the Congressman. Read more >>> Sisters and Brothers |
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