More than 800 AFSCME members from across the state converged on the Capitol Thursday to speak out for better public services.

The gathering was part of AFSCME?s annual ?Day on the Hill,? where state, county and municipal workers discuss issues and meet with their legislators. They also held a noontime rally in the Capitol rotunda.

Local 66 member Sharla Gardner and Local 695 President John McGovern, both from the Duluth area, addressed the crowd. Gardner talked about the increasing number of people who are falling through the cracks as public services are cut. McGovern discussed the road problems caused by reductions in the state transportation budget.

Gardner, a St. Louis County employee, described the hardships faced by one of her clients, a young man employed at a trucking company who had no health insurance. He developed a toothache but left it untreated because he didn?t have the money to go a doctor. When the tooth abscessed and he became very ill, he missed so much work that he lost his job.

?He lost his job because he had a toothache!? Gardner exclaimed. ?It has come to this.?

"We want to see the Legislature have real solutions that offer real help for real people," said AFSCME member Sharla Gardner.

Gardner said she has worked with dozens of people who are uninsured or under-insured and that Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Legislature must address the crisis in health care.

?We want to see the Legislature have real solutions that offer real help for real people,? she said.

If you?ve had problems on Minnesota?s roads this winter, blame it on the Pawlenty administration and budget cuts made by last year?s Legislature, said McGovern, a highway maintenance worker. Statewide, the snowplows are about 40 percent understaffed, he said.

Even as a blizzard rages, it?s not unusual to have scores of snowplow trucks sit in garages because the Department of Transportation has not hired enough drivers, McGovern said. The situation would be worse if the administration hadn?t eased its restrictions on overtime in the face of the heavy snowfalls, he added.

While the state has cut staff, it has engaged in more outside contracting ? indicating the Pawlenty administration?s desire to privatize more public services, McGovern added. ?The consulting budget is going up and the staff budget is going down.?

During Day on the Hill, AFSCME members told their lawmakers that budget cuts have led to fewer probation officers to prevent crime, icier roads and less access for citizens to many public services.

?We?re asking for health care, education, public safety,? said Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 14, which represents county and municipal workers. ?All it takes is a few extra dollars from the people who can afford it the most.?

AFSCME members met with their legislators, including (left) Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis.

For more information
Visit the AFSCME websites, www.afscmecouncil6.org and www.afscme14.org