Program spotlighting public employees receives national award during 2004 celebration of Public Service Recognition Week

An MEA-MFT program to heighten awareness of the essential work performed by Montana state employees was at the center of the nationwide kickoff in Washington, D.C., of Public Service Recognition Week 2004.

At the annual Breakfast of Champions, held in the U.S. Capitol, MEA-MFT member Debbie Willis, a probation and parole officer, accepted the award for state government Public Service Excellence for the union’s Work That Matters program.

The MEA-MFT, an affiliate of AFT Public Employees, launched Work That Matters in February 2003 “to showcase the valuable services public employees provide, the challenges we face because of budget cuts, and the need for more revenue to maintain essential services,” said Willis, one of the MEA-MFT members featured in the program’s informational postcards, radio spots and newspaper ads.

“Work That Matters is about putting a face—literally—on the people who provide public services. It’s about telling our stories,” she said. “The aim is to humanize public employees and show us for who we are: dedicated, hardworking people who care about the people we serve.”

“We are trying very much to personalize the professional skills that public employees bring to the citizens of Montana,” says Eric Feaver, MEA-MFT president, noting that the program also has been a good membership mobilization tool because it is “getting members involved in advocating for their own positions of importance.”

“The selection committee was very impressed with the way the union’s program put a face on the services provided by public employees in Montana,” says Steve Porter, director of the AFT Public Employees department. “Many of our affiliates have similar programs, all of which have been effective in increasing the public’s awareness, and thereby the support of decision-makers, about the importance of government services and programs.”

May 3-9 marked the 20th annual celebration of Public Service Recognition Week, which is sponsored by the Public Employees Roundtable, a coalition of more than 30 organizations, including the AFT.

Activities spotlighting public services were held in more than 400 places, according to Kirke Harper, chair of the roundtable.