MASON CITY – On January 4th at 1:30 PM, AFSCME Member and Construction Technician Daryl Erickson will speak out on Governor Branstad’s double standard for political appointees and middle class state employees at a press conference at the Mason City Public Library (225 2nd St Southeast, Mason City, IA). He will join his AFSCME brothers and sisters in speaking out at six simultaneous press conferences across Iowa.
On January 5th, public employees will begin working with Governor Branstad to determine how effectively we can continue keeping our neighborhoods safe, healthy and strong. Unfortunately, Governor Branstad has chosen to vilify and attack public employees in order to score political points.
When Iowa was in the depths of the recession, state employees stepped up and made big sacrifices in pay and benefits to save jobs and assist our state. Today, the state has surplus and reserves of well over a billion dollars partly because of sacrifices made by state employees. Governor Branstad is using the surplus to reward his friends and cronies rather than investing in Iowa’s neighborhoods. He is using the surplus to pay massive bonuses to his Department Directors, pay corporations as much as $648,000 in tax incentives per permanent job created, and propose huge tax breaks for major corporations all while demanding major concessions by middle class state employees.
AFSCME will speak to how we are ready to work with the governor in the coming days, but will not stand for a double standard that puts the governor’s cronies and friends ahead of Iowa’s middle class and our communities.
In Iowa, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represents 40,000 public employees including law enforcement and correctional officers, home health care and child care providers, firefighters, mental health workers, professional school staff, emergency responders, and many other workers. AFSCME represents 20,000 state employees covered by AFSCME’s contract with the State of Iowa.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2013
WHAT: AFSCME to speak out on Governor Branstad’s double standard for his political appointees and middle class state employees.
WHO: AFSCME Member and Construction Technician Daryl Erickson
WHERE: Mason City Public Library Classroom
225 2nd St Southeast
Mason City, IA 50401
WHEN: 1:30 PM
