FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AFSCME Wisconsin Statement on Governor Evers’s Biennial Budget Proposal Respecting Essential Public Workers

AFSCME Wisconsin applauds Governor Tony Evers’s 2021-2023 biennial budget proposal promoting frontline essential workers’ freedom to bargain with their coworkers. As introduced, the budget proposal includes collective bargaining rights for all essential public workers. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers are risking their lives and the health and safety of their families to serve our communities.

AFSCME Wisconsin members organized a campaign calling the Governor to demand that the Evers’s budget include collective bargaining for frontline, essential public workers. Many AFSCME members shared their essential worker experiences and called upon Evers to release a budget honoring their lives and labor.

AFSCME President Paul Spink stated, “it’s common sense that the voices of the people who do the work of this state are heard. Collective bargaining ensures that the frontline experts who directly serve their neighbors can stand up for their safety and the services they provide. A voice in the workplace has never been more critical than during a pandemic which has overwhelmed our veteran homes, publicly operated mental health and correctional facilities, and unemployment services. Now is the time for politicians to deliver on our demands for a seat at the table.”

AFSCME Wisconsin Executive Director Patrick Wycoff explained, “every AFSCME member, neighbor, and ally who called the Governor ensured that the Evers’s budget prioritizes workers. The budget proposed by Governor Evers improves Wisconsinites’ lives and our communities. Governor Evers listened to the clear demand for essential workers to be treated equally with police and fire and to have the same workplace freedoms as all other Wisconsinites. It is necessary for legislators to respect essential workers and join the Governor in supporting his budget.”

For more information, please contact AFSCME Wisconsin Communications Director

Valerie Landowski ([email protected]) or (715) 347-2740

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