AFSCME Women
Motivated, Mobilized and Leading the Way
AFSCME women know firsthand the power of POLITICAL organizing.
When AFSCME women stand together and lift our voices, we create strong communities. We organize for rights and respect, and in 2020 we will organize to make sure people in public service have a say in the elections.
Whether you’re running for president, Congress, city council or anything in between, you had better be committed to public service and the people who get the job done every day.
Women are a majority of public service workers and a majority of AFSCME members. We keep our communities thriving, and we won't sit on the sidelines when the future of our country is at stake. Our deep love for our families and a commitment to our communities mean AFSCME women will work hard in 2020.
Jessica langhorst
Changing minds, one conversation at a time
As a security counselor in the Minnesota sex offender program, AFSCME Council 5 member Jessica Langhorst spends her days making sure her facility is secure at all times. There is no room for mistakes.
Langhorst brings that dedication to her political activism. Making sure her fellow Minnesotans are aware of the issues that affect their lives and livelihoods, their voices on the job and their ability to provide for their families, is a must-win endeavor.
Langhorst, an Army veteran, brings her 5th grader, Raymond, when she goes knocking on doors to spread the word to their neighbors. “He’s gone with me about 15 to 20 times. He’s been involved since what happened with Scott Walker in Wisconsin!” jokes Langhorst.
Langhorst led a hybrid campaign in which she and a group of five other union activists from Council 5 had one-on-one conversations with community members.
“We would talk to members and get them to sign cards, while also having a conversation to find out what people wanted in their governor. We’d key into whatever value was important to them — like health care or education — to explain where the candidate we were supporting stands on those issues. It’s about changing minds one conversation at a time.”
I know firsthand that if politicians try to cut corners when it comes to investing in public services, our communities will be less safe. That’s a chance I’m not willing to take.
Jessica Langhorst
esther lopez
Jamie Shumaker
Monica Robinson
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Jamie Shumaker
Bringing candidates and members face to face
I’d told the people running, ‘No speeches.’
When Jamie Shumaker, president of AFSCME Local 2191, Council 8 in Columbus, Ohio, organized a candidate meet-and-greet for her members, she wanted to make certain the candidates were listening as much as talking.
“It was great,” recalled Shumaker. “Sometimes it seems like a candidate might be bigger than you or more important. But this was a way for our members to really connect with them and to make sure the candidates heard from them. It was just about sitting and talking to the people running for office. It was the coolest thing.”
For Shumaker, getting involved in politics is about making sure her elected officials share her values. Regardless of party, she wants to know that the people in office are speaking for the working families she represents.
Shumaker believes that sort of grassroots engagement is essential for union members, especially in local politics. But it extends to national politics as well. Before the Janus v. AFSCME case went before the Supreme Court, Shumaker handwrote more than 270 notes to each of her members to explain the issues at stake.
“It was a lot of work,” Shumaker said, “but it really helped. I got a lot of thank you cards back, saying how much it meant to people to receive a letter from me.”
That politics-is-personal philosophy extends to the 2020 elections. “It’s scary what’s happening out there,” says Shumaker. “I look at what they’re taking away from public workers. We don’t know what the future holds. Each of us needs to do our research and endorse the best candidate who we think will be behind labor.”
Monica Robinson
Holding elected officials accountable
Monica Robinson of Pennsylvania's Council 47 doesn’t post about politics on Facebook. She doesn’t go door to door, canvassing for candidates. As an employee of the courts of the city and county of Philadelphia, she has to avoid even the appearance of bias toward one side or the other.
Robinson’s job requires “being a presence in the community” she says, so she knows what resources her clients need to rebuild their lives. Many of them have drug or mental health problems they need addressed. She sees the difference that things like parenting classes or anger management courses can make for someone. When someone tells her, “Here’s my first pay stub from the first job I ever had,” she understands what it took to reach that moment.
So, despite her commitment to keeping her political beliefs to herself, Robinson still understands that as someone involved in public service, she has an important perspective that potential elected officials need to hear. As secretary-treasurer of her local, she knew that the best way to have an influence was through AFSCME. That’s why she joined AFSCME PEOPLE, the political action committee funded by voluntary contributions from members, and sat on the endorsement committee. She interviewed candidates for city council, county commission, sheriff and judge. She asked them what resources they planned to put in place to help the offenders she works with to keep them from making the same mistakes they’ve made in the past. “Through the AFSCME PEOPLE committee, I’m able to interview candidates to find out their stance on public safety, mental health and drug treatment, which are high areas of importance in the city of Philadelphia.”
Most of all, she wants to make sure officials are held accountable, and that they listen to the people like her who do the work to keep places like Philadelphia running. “Our opinions matter. Our experiences. Our ideas. All those things definitely matter.”
Esther Lopez
Judging candidates by actions, not words
I tell people that we must be well informed about who we vote for. We must judge politicians by their actions more than their words.”
Through the AFSCME PEOPLE committee, I’m able to interview candidates to find out their stance on public safety, mental health and drug treatment, which are high areas of importance in the city of Philadelphia.
“I don’t tell anybody whom they should vote for,” says Esther Lopez of Council 79 in Florida. “My role is to tell them that knowing how to choose properly is very important. Voting is a civic duty, but you need to know how to make the choice. To choose the right candidate, we need to make sure who understands us best.”
A native of El Salvador who immigrated to the United States 30 years ago, Lopez has never forgotten a lesson from her home country’s politics. “Many people left El Salvador because in the end the country chose poorly,” she says. “We chose politicians who promised everything but didn’t deliver. Which is why in this country, I tell people that we must be well informed about who we vote for. We must judge politicians by their actions more than their words.”
For almost two decades, Lopez has been engaged in politics. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Lopez has been educating her co-workers and fellow residents about candidates for office at all levels of government. Lopez has been involved in politics since she first started working as an accountant in Miami-Dade County courts back in 2000.
“I became involved in local politics at first,” she says. “I’m very vocal and like to give my opinion whenever I can, on social media as well. Whenever I can, I tell the mayor what I think. I think it’s because I like to make a difference and work with people who want to make a difference.”
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Monica Robinson
Jamie Shumaker
esther lopez
Jessica Langhorst
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Monica Robinson
Jamie Shumaker
esther lopez
Jessica Langhorst
Join Us!
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Join us in 2020!
Motivated, Mobilized and Leading the Way
AFSCME Women
AFSCME women know firsthand
the power of POLITICAL organizing.
When AFSCME women stand together and lift our voices, we create strong communities. We organize for rights and respect, and in 2020 we will organize to make sure people in public service have a say in the elections.
Whether you’re running for president, Congress, city council or anything in between, you had better be committed to public service and the people who get the job done every day.
Women are a majority of public service workers and a majority of AFSCME members. We keep our communities thriving, and we won't sit on the sidelines when the future of our country is at stake. Our deep love for our families and a commitment to our communities mean AFSCME women will work hard in 2020.
Jessica langhorst
Changing minds, one conversation at a time
As a security counselor in the Minnesota sex offender program, AFSCME Council 5 member Jessica Langhorst spends her days making sure her facility is secure at all times. There is no room for mistakes.
Langhorst brings that dedication to her political activism. Making sure her fellow Minnesotans are aware of the issues that affect their lives and livelihoods, their voices on the job and their ability to provide for their families, is a must-win endeavor.
Langhorst, an Army veteran, brings her 5th grader, Raymond, when she goes knocking on doors to spread the word to their neighbors. “He’s gone with me about 15 to 20 times. He’s been involved since what happened with Scott Walker in Wisconsin!” jokes Langhorst.
Langhorst led a hybrid campaign in which she and a group of five other union activists from Council 5 had one-on-one conversations with community members.
“We would talk to members and get them to sign cards, while also having a conversation to find out what people wanted in their governor. We’d key into whatever value was important to them — like health care or education — to explain where the candidate we were supporting stands on those issues. It’s about changing minds one conversation at a time.”
I know firsthand that if politicians try to cut corners when it comes to investing in public services, our communities will be less safe. That’s a chance I’m not willing to take.
HEAR FROM JESSICA
HEAR FROM JAMIE
HEAR FROM MONICA
HEAR FROM ESTHER
HEAR FROM MONICA
HEAR FROM JESSICA
HEAR FROM ESTHER