Page 3 - Work Force October 2025

National fight, shared struggle
Editor’s note: Some of the material
in this article was originally published
on AFSCME’s blog.
After congressional Republicans
pushed through their massive
budget reconciliation bill that was
signed into law by President Donald
Trump on July 4, union members
across the nation are bracing for the
fallout.
The sweeping federal cuts
threaten programs that working
people, retirees and vulnerable
communities depend on every day.
CSEA has been raising concerns
about how these cuts will harm New
York, but we are not alone.
AFSCME members across the
country are speaking out, showing
that this fight is national, and our
union family is united in demanding
fairness. Here are a just a few ways
that AFSCME members are fighting
back.
Cuts harm working families
Ohio workers are seeing what
these cuts mean on the ground.
Ohio Association of Public School
Employees/AFSCME Local 4
President Lois Carson highlighted
how reductions to Medicaid and
SNAP will hurt working-class
families, children and people with
disabilities. For too many union
members, the consequences of the
cuts will mean less health care,
more hunger and deeper economic
insecurity.
“I’ve seen
firsthand how
poverty and
lack of health
care hold back
our children,”
said Carson.
“When families
struggle, our
schools, our communities, and our
entire state suffer.”
In Wisconsin, the birthplace of
AFSCME, members are bracing for
the worst.
Zabdiel “Zab” Martinez, an
economic support specialist at Dane
County, Wisconsin, sees every day
how federal programs keep people
afloat. This includes single parents
trying to stretch every dollar, laid-
off workers getting back on their
feet and retirees struggling to afford
groceries.
“Let’s call this budget what it is:
a massive giveaway to billionaires
at the expense of our futures,” said
Martinez. “More than 15 million
people stand to lose their health
care and another 3.5 million could
lose food
support,
all so
billionaires
can buy
more
yachts. It’s
shameful.”
AFSCME
Local 3055 President Ben Delie,
a utility worker at the Green Bay
Area Public School District, knows
firsthand how fragile state and local
budgets can be and how much they
rely on federal support. Delie noted
that federal Medicaid money makes
up more than 20% of Wisconsin’s
state budget.
“These pro-billionaire cuts are
going to punch a huge hole in the
Wisconsin state budget,” said Delie.
“We’re not going to forget in 2026,
and in 2028.”
AFSCME Local 3282 President
Joshua Capilla, who is based in
Arizona, warned about the effects of
the budget.
“These cuts will have deep ripple
effects on our local budgets and will
put our communities in a fiscal hole
that could take years to crawl out
of,” said Capilla.
cut Social Security to think about
what they’re doing, not just the
bottom line. Have some compassion
for seniors,” said Donaldson “Seniors
are afraid and insecure…Anti-worker
politicians want us to pay for their
tax breaks with whatever little
money we have.”
In Texas, AFSCME Retirees
Chapter 12 President Luther Elmore
underscored how Social Security is
already under attack.
“The Social Security
Administration has closed field
offices and now has 7,000 fewer
employees than it had at the
beginning of the year,” said Elmore at
a rally in Brownsville, Texas.
In Florida, AFSCME Retiree
Chapter 79 member Peggy Goodale,
a former Florida state worker, called
out congressional representatives
who supported the reconciliation
bill.
“Shame on [them] for not showing
the leadership to fix a budget
bill that requires massive cuts to
Medicaid, food assistance and other
essential programs,” said Goodale.
Many retired CSEA members
who have relocated to Florida have
continued to stand up for the very
same rights they worked their entire
careers to earn through being active
in CSEA’s three Florida retiree locals.
Retirement security at stake
AFSCME retiree members have
also made it clear they won’t sit
back while retirement security is
jeopardized.
In Pennsylvania, AFSCME retiree
members are fighting back and
holding elected officials accountable.
District Council 47 Retirees Local
member Chuck Donaldson recently
joined several congressional leaders
at a rally to save Social Security.
“I’d like politicians who want to
CSEA stands strong
CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan
has repeatedly stressed that New
York’s budget crisis is tied directly to
decisions made in Washington.
“Public service
workers everywhere
are saying enough
is enough,” said
Sullivan. “Together,
we are standing
strong to defend the
programs that keep
our communities
safe, healthy, and
secure. This is a
national fight, and CSEA members
can take heart knowing that across
the country, our union family is
stepping up shoulder-to-shoulder
with us.”
Sulliivan
October 2025 3
The Work Force
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