AFSCME Members Continued Winning Across Florida in 2025

As we reflect on the year gone by and look ahead to what awaits with the turn of the calendar, I want to share with you some of the big accomplishments our AFSCME family had in 2025.

We continued winning recertification elections. The anti-union politicians and their corporate backers thought we were never going to make it after SB256 was passed in 2023. We showed them that we were still here in 2024, and in 2025 we showed that we are not giving up. We overwhelmingly won 30 out of 32 recertification elections. This includes locals that had lost their certification in the chaotic early days of implantation, but they organized their way back. And we are even growing with the addition of Duval County Public Schools Supervisors who voted 100% in favor of joining AFSCME.

We bargained strong contracts. From South Florida to Jacksonville and all along the I-4 corridor, AFSCME locals are securing new contracts that are making our workplaces safer, raises to fight the inflation caused by tariffs and greed and the health care our families rely on. As the economy continues to inch towards recession, we know there are tough days ahead, but we are ready for them.

We fought back further attempts to weaken our rights. Once again, there were multiple bills filed in Tallahassee with the intent of further limiting our rights and freedoms on the job. But thanks to our phone calls, emails and support for AFSCME’s PEOPLE program, we were able to beat them back. The relationships we have built over the years with legislators from both parties helped to spread our message and our personal stories. It underscores that we are bipartisan, but laser focused – we don’t care about your party, we just care about your support for AFSCME members.

We spoke out for the communities we serve. It has been quite the year on the national level, and we are going to feel the impact of the reckless cuts to programs that fund not just the services we provide but our very paychecks. That is why we held press conferences, attended rallies and spoke out. And we are proud of the wins we’ve had in the court of public opinion and our legal efforts to protect our future.

We built our skills to prepare for the fights ahead. In 2025 we held numerous trainings around the state to build skills and share expertise. From the day-to-day needs of running a union, elevating our communications efforts, even how to prepare and protect each other during unprecedented times of extremist violence. And we even gathered members from across the state for a leadership training that has helped us chart a course for continued AFSCME growth in 2026.

You can read about all of our wins on our website – www.afscmefl.org/news.

Make no mistake, 2025 had its fair share of downs to go with the ups. That will always be true because the work we do is never predicable, but always critical. And that is why AFSCME members fight – to make our jobs, our family’s future and our communities stronger one contract at a time. Thank you for all you do and I look forward to standing together in 2026.

Happy holidays, a happy new year and in solidarity,

James Spears, Jr. 
Administrator, AFSCME Florida