Zabdiel Martinez, an AFSCME member from Wisconsin, is sad but determined.
This economic support specialist connects people in Dane County, Wisconsin, with food assistance and Medicaid. He traveled to Washington D.C., this week to fight a cruel budget bill that anti-union extremists are pushing on Capitol Hill.
The Council 32 member told House members to reject the bill because it would gut food assistance, Medicaid and public services. It would hurt the very people he serves and his community.
All to give massive tax breaks to billionaires.
As he spoke up for his community during Capitol Hill meetings, Martinez kept seeing the faces of the people he connects with food assistance through SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The single mom having a hard time paying her bills. The working households struggling to feed their children at dinner time. The laid-off workers who need help to get back on their feet. The elderly people who can’t afford groceries and will go to bed hungry.
When the House of Representatives passed the bill Thursday by a one-vote margin, Martinez’s heart sank.
But he isn’t giving up. He’s resolved to fight harder for his community. He’s focusing his energies on the Senate, which will take up the bill next.
“We need to talk to our senators and we need to let them know these cuts are not right, tell them not to cut services to these working families to give tax breaks to billionaires,” Martinez says.
Anti-worker lawmakers are cutting almost $300 billion from SNAP and shifting costs onto states. The result? Food assistance for millions of families will be in jeopardy as states struggle to bear the financial strain of cuts to SNAP and other services.
Go here to see how cutting SNAP will affect communities in your state.
It boggles Martinez’s mind that extremist politicians are gutting SNAP so billionaires like Elon Musk can buy more yachts.
“When the House passed the bill, it really broke my heart. What about the people who are just trying to get by?” Martinez says. “You’re taking away people’s food security. I see their faces. I work with these people in person and over the phone. It really makes me sad. It feels like you’re kicking them (when they are) down.”
AFSCME President Lee Saunders warned that the budget bill would:
- Cancel food assistance for nearly 3.5 million people — many of them kids
- Kick more than 13 million people off health coverage
- Close hospitals, nursing facilities, clinics and veterans’ homes or force them to lay off staff
- Spark massive layoffs in health care, education and other areas
- Devastate local economies
- Trigger huge cuts to Medicare
“At every turn, working people will pay the price while anti-union extremists in Congress prioritize tax breaks for billionaires,” Saunders said. “But this budget is not yet law, and this fight is not yet over. In the coming weeks, we will be relentless in our efforts to make sure every member of the Senate knows exactly what’s at stake.”
You can do your part to fight these cuts in the Senate.
It’s time to Get Organized. That means going to a union meeting. Engaging your co-workers and getting them involved in fighting these attacks on public services and working people. The bigger we are, the more power we have to say working people shouldn’t just get by – we demand to thrive.