Elected officials can dramatically affect the lives of our members especially the governorship in Nevada. At the beginning of the political season, AFSCME sent questionnaires to all candidates that were running to see if they'd support working families. However, all the candidates ignored our questions except for Steve Sisolak. Below is are excerpts from AFSCME Local 4041's endorsed candidate regarding the issues state workers face daily:
On Collective Bargaining Rights
“I believe in collective bargaining for State employees. It will take a strong leader to bring all the players together to address any issues whether jurisdictional or otherwise, so that bill will be successfully passed.”
On Pay Increases For State Workers
Supports pay increases for state workers and restoration of longevity pay.
On Pension and Health Care Costs
“State employees must have a reasonable [PERB] deductible because right now the outrageous current deductibles can barely be considered insurance at all. I will fight to ensure that deductibles remain low and employees can finally afford to have the insurance they deserve.
Moreover, Nevada along with the rest of the nation is in the middle of a health care crisis with an unstable ACA, supplemental health care organizations being cut, and outrageous costs for prescriptions, tests and office visits. We as a state must also come together to fight Congress and make sure revamping the health care system in this nation is a priority. Health care reform can’t take a back seat any longer.”
On Privatizing State Work
“I think the record speaks for itself on privatizing services in this state. Many of the outsourcing experiments failed miserably and put Nevada in a weaker financial position. My position has been clear at the County as well: if any positions that are public employee jobs, and have fallen in the hands of an outsourced service, we must do everything we can to bring them back in-house. Only in the case of extreme situations when no remedy may be found should privatizing government positions be an option.”
On Receiving AFSCME’s Endorsement
“It would be an honor to be endorsed by the men and women who make up such an important organization. AFSCME’s work empowers public service workers to get the fair wages and benefits they deserve, which in turn helps our communities thrive and our economy grow. AFSCME’s commitment to public service is to be commended and their work protected, which I intend to do so as governor.”