Union Solidarity Evident at AFSCME Council 18’s Public Safety Blue Breakfast

AFSCME Council 18 celebrated another successful Public Safety Blue Breakfast in Santa Fe. After a brief hiatus, this event returned to Santa Fe to highlight the critical work the public safety members do every hour of every day to keep our communities safe, despite numerous challenges — pay, staffing, resources. 

AFSCME’s public safety bargaining units—including corrections and detention officers, probation and parole officers, 911 telecommunicators, sheriff’s deputies, police, and security professionals—are the backbone of essential services. President Joe Trujeque and Executive Director Connie Derr spoke about AFSCME Council 18’s unwavering commitment to stand with the public safety members especially when employers fail to respect the work or the workers. AFSCME will always fight to ensure its members’ voices are heard.

Several guest speakers shared their support for the public safety professionals, including:Shane Youtz, AFSCME Council 18 Legal Counsel; Sam Bregman, Bernalillo County District Attorney and candidate for Governor; Ashley Long, President of the New Mexico Federation of Labor; Jeff Ormsby, Executive Director of AFSCME Texas Correctional Union Council 907; and Kristeena Brooks and Alisha Rose of the PORAC Legal Defense Fund. 

Following the breakfast, members headed to the New Mexico State Capitol (the “Roundhouse”) to lobby for critical public safety legislation, then held a press conference in the Rotunda to demand necessary pay increases. 

By standing together, AFSCME Council 18 members are stronger. The union will continue to vigorously advocate, organize, and fight for the respect, pay, and protections our public safety professionals deserve.