AFSCME Prepares for 2025: Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
Editorial StaffAFSCME's Upcoming Challenges and Opportunities in 2025
The year 2025 presents both significant hurdles and promising opportunities for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The union's dedication to supporting pro-worker and pro-union political candidates has seen success in several crucial elections. However, some candidates aligned with the controversial Project 2025 playbook have also secured positions.
AFSCME members anticipate renewed challenges to the values they hold dear, including the budgets for their community-strengthening work, necessary health and safety protections, and even the fundamental right to unionize. Anti-worker billionaires, with limited understanding or interest in public services, are strategizing to reduce salaries, benefits, and job security.
Despite these challenges, AFSCME is prepared. Over the past decade, the union has not only survived difficult conditions but has thrived, growing by 40,000 members in the last year alone. The strategy moving forward emphasizes intensified organizing efforts. This involves engaging colleagues in discussions about the union's impact and encouraging participation through card signing. Additionally, AFSCME seeks to represent the many public service workers who currently lack a union voice.
The environment is ripe for continued union growth and influence. Unions currently enjoy a near-historic approval rating of 70%, with a substantial majority of nonunion workers expressing a desire to join if given the opportunity. AFSCME aims to provide this avenue for those workers.
The stakes are high. Substantial cuts in state and local funding could hinder efforts to negotiate favorable contracts, potentially resulting in lower wages and more hazardous working conditions. These cuts could also exacerbate staffing shortages, causing increased burnout and financial strain, making dignified retirement more difficult. AFSCME is poised to lead the charge against such threats.
"I believe moments of great urgency are when we bring our very best as a union," stated a representative. Reflecting on AFSCME's history of overcoming challenges, they emphasized the union's resilience and readiness to confront the tests that 2025 will present.
