Public employees are mad--and they are turning their anger into action in states across the country where many lawmakers are approaching budget deficits with tunnel vision rather than a vision for the future of the state's economy, health and welfare.

The most popular budget deficit solutions are arguably targeting overhead--program cuts, service reductions, early retirement incentives, layoffs, pay freezes and employee benefit reductions--for an easy way out of the red.

But such approaches are shortsighted. They fail to take into account the price society will pay when there are not enough state employees to monitor drinking water, to maintain roads, to protect abused children, to provide mental health services, to keep the judicial system operating and to help unemployed people find jobs.

Lawmakers also cannot overlook the long-term economic impact from cuts in education funding--from kindergarten through college.

The impact of federal policies on state budgets cannot be overstated. When the federal government fails to adequately fund or cuts funds for mandated programs, states either have to find the cash to fund them or scale back.

And then there is the nexus between federal tax policy and state tax policy. While many states are taking some initiative to generate revenue through state tax policy, President Bush's newest wave of tax givebacks would reduce federal and state coffers by untold amounts.

AFT Public Employees affiliates have launched statewide campaigns to educate lawmakers and the public about the essential work performed by state government--and they are doing it with a passion.
 

Montana's 'Work That Matters'

Patti Boggess, a psychiatric aide at Montana's Warm Springs State Hospital, works with the mentally ill. "My patients are Montana's forgotten people," Boggess says.

Debbie Willis, a probation and parole officer, tracks high-risk, maximum-level sexual offenders who have been released from prison. "My job is keeping Montana neighborhoods safe," Willis said. "I need your help."

Jackie Andrich, a child support enforcement officer, works to ensure that child support orders are carried out. "One mom told me that she now can afford school clothes for her kids," said Andrich.

Boggess, Willis and Andrich have three things in common: All are Montana state employees who are providing services that benefit Montanans directly and indirectly. All are members of the MEA-MFT, an affiliate of AFT Public Employees. And all are messengers of the MEA-MFT's new statewide campaign "Work That Matters."

In February, to a packed room of members, state legislators and the media, the MEA-MFT launched "Work That Matters," introducing Boggess, Willis, Andrich and others to the general public--and to lawmakers. The purpose of the campaign is to heighten public awareness of the essential work performed by state employees on behalf of Montanans. The campaign is the union's direct response to legislative initiatives that would erode the quality of public services through a variety of means, ranging from inadequate funding for state programs and higher education to eliminating jobs, in an effort to fill the state's $250 million budget shortfall.

"Montanans don't always connect the public services they rely on with the people who provide those services," said Eric Feaver, MEA-MFT president, at the campaign kickoff at the MEA-MFT headquarters in Helena. "But now, with public services at risk because of budget cuts, it is more important than ever to help Montanans understand the important role that state and university employees play in Montana's economy and quality of life."

MEA-MFT teamed up with the Montana Public Employees Association, an independent state employee union, to run the $30,000 campaign, which centers on four primary components: a series of postcards to be mailed to decision makers that feature state employees and explain what state workers do; radio spots talking about the work state employees do; newspaper ads; and a hot line (877-I-HELP-MT) for state employees to call in suggestions on how the state can save and generate money.

Jim McGarvey, AFT vice president and MEA-MFT vice president, said "Work That Matters" is a by-product of the 1998 "Quality Services from Quality People" campaign.

McGarvey, chair of the AFT Public Employees program and policy council, said the PPC developed the campaign in response to attacks on public services. "Politicians and the public need to understand that quality services require full and appropriate funding and staffing," McGarvey said. "With the current budget crisis, which has triggered a new emphasis on state government cuts, we needed to step up our efforts to remind them of that--and 'Work That Matters' does that. In the end, cuts to state programs and services hurt Montanans, hurt our economy and compromise the state's ability to respond to the needs of its citizens."
 

Tackling shortfalls by tapping revenue

"Finding new revenue sources is a key part of the long-term solution to our budget problems," said Feaver. "The revenue is out there. Recent newspaper polling shows strong voter support for increasing luxury taxes on alcohol, tobacco and gambling. The Legislature is considering several bills to tap these revenue sources, and there are other bills in the hopper to put Montana on a par with other states in the region in terms of car rental and accommodations taxes. Let us be clear, it will do no good to pass these bills only to cut other taxes."
 

State Employees are 'New York's Trust Fund'

The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), the AFT's largest public employee affiliate, launched "PEF: New York's Trust Fund," a $500,000 ad campaign in December to showcase the vital services state employees provide. The tag line on the ad reads: "PEF members. A sound investment of your tax dollars."

The effort is part of PEF's job security initiative. It is made up of ads for both print and broadcast--radio and television--that spotlight union members from around the state in various jobs, ranging from parole officers to advocates for the elderly to environmental engineers to registered nurses. Some of the ads are issue specific, publicizing cuts proposed by Gov. George Pataki's executive budget, including the proposal to give State University of New York (SUNY) trustees the authority to sell SUNY hospitals in Syracuse, Brooklyn and Stony Brook.

"I've seen the television ads, and they do make a powerful appeal for fairness in the New York state budget," said Dennis Anderson, an associate computer program analyst, who is secretary of PEF Division 263, which is made up of PEF-represented employees at the Office of the State Comptroller.

The ads, he said, pose the question: "Do we want to lose essential services that would hurt New York's most vulnerable citizens or do we want to ask New York's wealthy citizens to pay their fair share and close corporate tax loopholes? That has to be a no-brainer to the general public."

PEF started running the ads in December prior to the beginning of the new legislative session in January. New York has a $2 billion budget deficit for the current fiscal year and an estimated shortfall of $10 billion to $12 billion for the coming fiscal year.

"By reinforcing public awareness of the essential services PEF members perform every day, we hope to make sure those services are not sacrificed to fill the budget gap," said PEF president Roger Benson.
 

Connecticut gears up for media blitz

"We've been at war for about five months now," said Colin O'Neill, president of the Judicial Professionals local of the Connecticut Federation of Educational and Professional Employees (CFEPE). "In this battle, there are a lot of actors, the governor, legislators and the unions. We are the only ones fighting for what is right for everybody."

Among the states where AFT Public Employees represents state workers, Connecticut has been hardest hit--2,800 layoffs and counting. The CFEPE and its six state employee locals have been pursuing diligently fairness in the budget process, mobilizing members for rallies and lobbying lawmakers against Gov. John Rowland's budget gutting. But Gov. Rowland continues to trump the unions in the media.

"We have to contend with the governor who has the press at his whim," said O'Neill. "To counteract that, we need to have our people in the press to get our points across."

To get the union's points across, the CFEPE is planning a $300,000 "public information campaign" to encourage public support for a fair and reasonable budget that reinstates laid-off workers and keeps important programs and services intact, said Leo Canty, CFEPE president. Part of that message, he added, is taxes.

While Connecticut is known for its regressive tax structure, one of the latest policy developments that has drawn the ire of unions was the transformation of a millionaire's surcharge proposal, which would have assessed an additional 1 percent to 1.5 percent tax on incomes over $2 million, to a flat 0.5 percent tax increase on incomes $22,000 and above.

"We need to educate the public about the state's tax system, which favors corporations and wealthy individuals over working people," Canty said.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland started his assault against state employee unions in November--taking to the airwaves and using the state e-mail system to fault the 13 state employee unions for the 2,800 layoffs. Specifically, in November, Gov. Rowland asked the unions to agree to contract concessions in lieu of layoffs. While the unions were willing to negotiate concessions, the governor was not. In fact, a $1.1 billion savings plan offered by the unions was rejected by Gov. Rowland.