AFSCME holds job fairs to recruit talented public service workers

As part of its Staff the Front Lines nationwide bus tour, AFSCME will be holding job fairs in cities across the country to recruit people who are interested in good, union jobs working in public service.

On July 24, AFSCME’s Staff the Front Lines bus stopped in Minneapolis. Elected officials and AFSCME leaders talked about the need to fill vacant public service jobs in Minnesota, while emphasizing the quality, variety and importance those jobs play in their communities.

AFSCME also partnered with the state to hold a job fair to recruit qualified people to fill positions in everything from health care to transportation to public safety and more.

“If you want to make a difference in your community and help the people around you,” said Peggy Kinzler, a social worker and vice president of AFSCME Council 65, “there is no better place to do it.”

The New York Times, which attended the job fair and highlighted the innovative role AFSCME is playing in placing job seekers, pointed out that public sector jobs still have not recovered compared to where they were before the pandemic.

While the staffing shortage is a huge challenge for workers on the front lines, for people looking for a promising career, it is also a chance to do meaningful work that directly benefits your community and neighbors.

As the hiring hall in Minneapolis demonstrated, these are job opportunities that allow you to experience the union difference: good union jobs with paths for career advancement that also boast good benefits, as well as strong rights and protections.

Seventy-five job seekers, including recent high school graduates and working mothers with their kids in tow, attended the Minnesota job fair, taking the first step toward a rewarding career. AFSCME promoted the hiring hall ahead of time in churches, mosques, community groups and elsewhere.

AFSCME will be partnering with state and local officials around the country to pair candidates with positions that fit their skills. Job seekers can apply on the spot and even get help with their resume. The effort is well underway: AFSCME affiliates have already used job fairs to recruit new workers – everything from municipal employees in New York City to Texas corrections officers to California home care providers.

Click here to see highlights from the Minneapolis event, and follow along as the Staff the Front Lines bus heads west in early August, with stops in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Albuquerque.