A message from Local 199 Administrator Andy Madtes

For over 20 years, I've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with South Florida's working families as we work to improve our future. I have a track record of helping build stronger locals with an involved membership and political clout. Now, I have the honor of serving members of AFSCME Local 199.

In January when I became Local 199's Administrator, I started the hard work of rebuilding the local gain strength. Listening to members, I've been able to identify problems and work towards solutions.

One of the major problems was communication and now we are committed to making sure you're kept up to date concerning issues that affect your family. You should expect your newsletter in the mail shortly, our new website has launched and we're establishing text message alerts.

Communicating with our members is certainly not the only challenge we face. We could be the most powerful union in the county but we can no longer settle for only 20% membership. When we have 20% membership, we're only going to get 20% of what we ask for when we bargain our contract later this year. We must organize our co-workers and educate them about the value of working under a collective bargaining agreement.

There is hope. Since January, we have signed up 100 new members, we are addressing communication problems and tackling every challenge we face to building a stronger union. We are committed to holding general membership meetings every 6 weeks, steward meetings and trainings.

Call the office at (305) 805-1075 to sign up as a member today!

You can also rest assured that you will receive the best representation possible when it comes to contract enforcement. Building a powerful union and having informed representation go hand-in-hand.

We find ourselves in a unique moment. Let's put the past behind us and build a better union for all of our families.

In Solidarity,
Andy Madtes
Local 199 Administrator