On Saturday, in a one-of-a-kind event, AFSCME members will ask presidential candidates about their support for public services and the people who provide them when AFSCME, in partnership with HuffPost, hosts the 2020 Public Service Forum in Las Vegas.
This event, featuring 19 candidates, will be livestreamed starting at 9 A.M. PT / noon ET.
Watch the full livestream at www.publicserviceforum.com on Saturday, Aug. 3, at 9 A.M. PT / noon ET.
Unlike presidential debates or other televised candidate events, the AFSCME 2020 Public Service Forum will be unique.
The event will take place at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where each candidate will take turns fielding live and video-recorded questions by AFSCME members, some of whom are among the 20,000 Nevada state employees who recently won historic collective bargaining rights. Questions will also be posed by HuffPost Washington Bureau Chief Amanda Terkel and Nevada Independent Editor Jon Ralston, who are moderating the event.
The audience will be made up of AFSCME members who’ll ask candidates a range of questions about the issues that matter to them the most.
Whether it’s strengthening public services, providing affordable health care, fortifying collective bargaining rights, protecting Social Security and Medicare or fixing the student debt crisis, the forum will allow candidates to articulate their visions for putting workers back in the driver’s seat and unrigging a system that has long favored the wealthy and the powerful.
Candidates will have a platform to describe how they view the vital work AFSCME members perform and detail how they plan to build a thriving working class in 2020 and beyond.
“AFSCME members want to hear candidates discuss their specific plans to invest in public services and to give working people a seat at the table by making it easier to join a union,” AFSCME President Lee Saunders said. “Candidates should lay out a vision for unrigging the rules of our economy and restoring power to working people.”
The issues touched on during the 2020 Public Service Forum affect far more than those who work in public services. Candidates are being asked to present their plans for empowering all working families, for fostering strong, thriving communities, for checking corporate greed, for partnering with and promoting a robust labor movement, and for ensuring that the American promise is available to all.
If these are issues that matter to you, please tune in tomorrow.
The lineup of candidates includes