November 2021

• Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act & Build Back Better agenda
• Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act introduced
• Voting Rights
• Social Security COLA rises
• Biden-Harris support for federal worker unionization

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act & Build Back Better agenda

Infrastructure week is here! The House passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), sending one of the largest investments in physical infrastructure in our history to President Joe Biden’s desk. The bill has $1.2 trillion in funding for things like roads, bridges, airports, replacing lead pipes for all families, rail, ports and transit. In addition to providing investments to rebuild our infrastructure, the bill is expected to create millions of good-paying, union jobs over the next 10 years. 

Shareables: AFSCME press release on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and this tweet about the bill. 

Congress also advanced the companion bill, the Build Back Better Act, by agreeing to the rules for debate in the House. This bill includes investments in child care, elder care, public housing and other programs to help American families get back on track. Of great importance to AFSCME members and retirees, the bill also includes language allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. This is a provision AFSCME members and retirees have been demanding for months. AFSCME will continue to advocate for passage of this critical piece of legislation to provide investments in our people.

Shareables: AFSCME blog on the Build Back Better framework, Facebook post about the framework and this tweet about President Saunders’ statement.

Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act is introduced

H.R. 5727 seeks to empower public service workers with the freedom to join a union and collectively negotiate for fair compensation, safer job conditions and better public services for the communities they serve. First introduced in 2019, this legislation would set a minimum nationwide standard of collective bargaining rights that states must provide — a right public service employees are currently denied in 25 states.

Learn more at freedomtonegotiate.org and take action.

Shareables: AFSCME Press Release: Union leaders applaud introduction of landmark legislation, AFSCME Blog: Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act Introduced, Facebook post about the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act and this tweet about the bill’s introduction.

Voting Rights

Expanding access to the ballot box should be a bipartisan value. AFSCME continues to advocate for Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act as well as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These bills would protect voting rights from the continued onslaught of suppressive legislation being passed in the states to restrict voters access to the ballot box.

Shareables: AFSCME press releases on the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Facebook post about John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, these tweets about the Freedom to Vote Act and attacks on our right to vote.

Social Security COLA rises

There’s good news for those collecting Social Security: the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will increase by 5.9% in 2022, according to the Social Security Administration. This would be the largest increase since 1982 (this year’s COLA adjustment was just 1.3%) and will affect 70 million Social Security recipients. The much-needed increase comes as inflation is rising.

Shareables: AFSCME blog on the COLA increase, this tweet about Social Security and this AFSCME Facebook post  about how Congress must do more.

Biden-Harris support for federal worker unionization

During a roundtable talk Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced new guidelines to encourage federal workers to join unions. Harris spoke with a panel of federal workers alongside Walsh, making a powerful case not only for the importance of the jobs that federal workers do, but also why they must have a voice on the job.

“[Federal workers] do their work every day tirelessly on behalf of people who may never know their names but will forever be changed because of that work,” Harris said, noting the nurses who’ve served during the pandemic, firefighters who’ve braved this year’s wildfires and countless others whose sacrifices often go unseen.

Shareables: AFSCME Press Release: AFSCME’s Saunders: ‘This is what it means to have a truly pro-worker administration, AFSCME Blog: Biden-Harris administration announces rules to encourage federal workers to join unions, this Facebook post about the roundtable and these tweets about the announcement and the pro-worker administration.