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In 1886, the organziation that would become the American Federation of Labor (AFL), set out to help workers across the United States to gain better working conditions.

1968. Memphis, Tennessee. The heart of the racially segregated South. Black sanitation workers faced poverty wages and degrading, dangerous conditions on the job.

March 8, 2023 is international women's day! We want to thank all the women who make AFSCME Council 81 Happen.

As the weather changes and signs of fall are all around us, we are also reminded that October is breast cancer awareness month. In 2020 it’s estimated that there will be over 200,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in women. While the death rate in women over 50 has continued to decrease, in the US, the number of women under 50 who die from breast cancer remains steady. The good news is, when breast cancer is caught earlier and treated sooner, the survival rates continue to increase.

Due to COVID19 our annual Labor Day festivities, including the Annual AFL-CIO Labor Day parade in Wilmington and Council 81's Annual Cookout at Banning Park have been cancelled for 2020. We look forward to seeing all of our members again in 2021. 

We hope you enjoy your well deserved day off, and if you're working that day as an essential worker, thank you for all you do keep Delaware Happening! 

Below you will find a letter sent to all Council 81 Presidents regarding a vote taken at the Council 81 July 2020 Executive Board Meeting to postpone the 2020 convention until September-October 2022. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Council 81. 

Please join us on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at one or more of the following stops as we continue to thank AFSCME frontline workers!  Watch our Tuesday, May 19, 2020 parade video here! 

To Council 81 Blog Subscribers, Presidents, and Executive Board:

To Council 81 Blog Subscribers, Presidents, and Executive Board:

We want to show our appreciation to our members and frontline workers across the state of Delaware and we want you to join us! This Thursday, May 14, 2020 please join the Staff from Council 81 as we thank our AFSCME frontline workers at the following locations. You can join us at any one of these locations and bring your own homemade signs, or decorate your car with car paint! These times are estimates and we suggest you arrive 15 minutes in advance, and allow for some time for us to move from facility to facility.

As we all prepare to spend Mother's Day with our moms, grandmothers, aunts and women who have been like mothers to us, we at Council 81 wanted to take a minute to thank all of the women in our lives and in our union who are the caregivers of their families. We know that when women have a seat at the table, their voices are heard and when women lead more sustainable solutions are implemented. Nationwide a majority of workers in state and local governments covered by collective bargaining agreements are women.