Our Shared Union Values

As members of CSEA, we also belong to our larger union family; our national union AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), and the international house of labor, the AFL-CIO. At each level, statewide, national, international, we offer exclusive member benefits designed to save YOU and your family money, and we’re really good at it! We often return members savings that outweigh what you invest in our union through your dues, thanks to our immense buying power.

We feel more secure knowing that our union membership provides: job protections against unfair treatment; affordable family insurance programs; wages guaranteed by binding legal contracts; and the ability to collectively bargain for our working conditions, giving us a real voice in our work. Knowing we are better able to provide for our families allows us to sleep better at night.

Our union membership empowers us through the concept of strength in numbers. It’s really quite simple: by ourselves, we have little power to make significant changes and stand up to mistreatment, but together, we gain the collective power to make positive change. We can harness that power to improve our working conditions or participate in activities that benefit or improve our communities. We also harness our group buying strength to provide great discount benefits for our families. Being strong politically also gives us the clout and the opportunity to have influence with lawmakers to protect what we’ve got and fight back against the rich and powerful corporate interests who would like to take more and more away from us.

CSEA is all about providing opportunities for career advancement for our members. Whether it’s our popular Civil Service Test Preparation services or our negotiated tuition reimbursement programs, we work hard to give you the resources you need to move ahead in your career. 

If you don’t come home safe and healthy from your work, not much else matters. That’s why our union has such a strong focus on workplace safety. From office buildings to roadside work zones, the staff professionals in our award-winning Occupational Safety and Health Department are highly trained and dedicated to keeping every workplace safe. They are available to do workplace assessments and free training to ensure safety.

No union offers a better network of support than CSEA — people, resources and services available at all levels of our union – locally, regionally and statewide. The difference between any small local workplace association, and an internationally-affiliated union like ours, is the resources we can draw on to make sure that someone always has your back.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch,  so everyone contributes toward our shared values and resources with your dues. We understand you work hard for your money, and that’s why our union works hard to make sure the money you invest in us is returned to you many times over, through your benefits, wages, protections and services. We also have safeguards in place to ensure your dues money is spent appropriately and in accordance with government standards and our own strict financial standards codes.

We all want acknowledgment that our work matters. That’s why CSEA invests time and money to promote the value of your work to the general public, and with your bosses. We want the public to recognize the importance of the work you do, not to take you for granted. We work hard to make sure you’re fairly compensated for that work as well, with wages and benefits that far outweigh what non-union workers typically get.

When you come home from work, it’s family time. The majority of us value our families most of all. Knowing you have all the other things that our union provides — protections, benefits, security, strength, opportunity, safety and all the rest — these allow us to have more quality time for our families, and to be better providers for them. As a member of CSEA, you are also part of our UNION family, and we all take care of each other, because an injury to one is an injury to all.