The bus has hit the road.

AFSCME’s Staff the Front Lines bus tour has launched with a stop in Rochester, New York, on Monday morning. AFSCME members and local officials gathered at City Hall to talk about the urgent need to fill essential public service jobs with strong applicants.

Go to the Staff the Front Lines website and watch video highlights of Monday’s event.

You work hard every day to keep your neighborhoods safe, healthy and strong. But everywhere I go, I hear the same concern: There isn’t enough support and backup. Staffing shortages are putting a huge burden on public service workers. And our communities are suffering as a result.

That’s why we launched this initiative — to work with employers and local leaders to find qualified recruits in everything from sanitation to corrections to health care. And our efforts are already paying off. Public sector hiring has picked up in the last few months.

Tawanda Ciccone, a 911 dispatcher in Rochester and member of AFSCME Local 1635, put it this way at Monday’s stop: “We often work 16 hours straight to make up for these shortages, but the workload is simply unsustainable. We need help.…I can tell you wholeheartedly that if you apply for a job in public service, you won’t regret it.”

Tawanda is right. Public service is a great career opportunity: union jobs with good wages and benefits, jobs that allow you to make a difference. We’re going to take this message to cities across the country — from San Diego to Baltimore — throughout the next few months.

Check out what happened on the bus tour’s first stop and learn more about Staff the Front Lines.

We’re just getting started. I can’t wait to hop on the bus in a few weeks.

In solidarity,

Lee Saunders
President