Addressing Staff Shortages in the Government Workforce

WHEREAS, public workers provide the services Americans need; and

WHEREAS, public employee wages and benefits increasingly have fallen behind the private sector since the 2008 Great Recession—a fact that was exacerbated when the global pandemic began in March 2020; and

WHEREAS, public sector workers have retired and left public service in record numbers in the past decade; and

WHEREAS, the majority of work in federal, state and local governments is done by knowledge workers who often incur student debt to qualify to work in their public profession. In May 2020, entry-level jobs requiring a postsecondary education comprised over 63 percent of state government jobs and 61 percent of local government jobs, compared with 35 percent of private sector employment^[1]; and

WHEREAS, vacant government positions continue to be unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates or a lack of awareness of government employment by those seeking work, causing important public services to be discontinued or to fall dramatically behind so that citizens lose faith in the government; and

WHEREAS, it’s become clear that without dramatic changes in how the public sector operates, in this very tight labor market where unemployment is at historic lows, our democracy is challenged with a lack of resources and workers to maintain our system of government; and

WHEREAS, according to Harvard research, there are 27 million “hidden workers”^[2] who are working one or more part-time jobs, unemployed for a long time but seeking employment or willing to work under the right circumstances, who might be attracted to public work:

RESOLVED, that the AFT will educate locals on these issues and on solutions, including how union leaders and management can work together to ensure that government work becomes a “destination” employment opportunity for workers, and that new hires can begin building careers in public service that transform communities and strengthen our democracy; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue efforts to work with the federal government to expand avenues for underemployed and unemployed people in the “hidden workforce” to seek employment in government service; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will help locals work with management to attract a new workforce to the public sector, to build a better life for themselves and to help strengthen our communities; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will develop resources to support affiliate work addressing inadequate compensation in the government sector through collective bargaining and publicizing the comparative research and analysis that makes this point; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will research and lift up critical employment benefits such as pensions, paid parental leave, child care and student debt relief that may make working for the people in government service more attractive; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will assist locals in an in-depth examination of the root causes of high vacancy rates in all levels of public service and work to address them to fill positions; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will adopt the report “Making Democracy Work: Real Solutions for Recruiting and Retaining Public Employees,” and recommendations made by the AFT Public Employees Short Staffing Task Force; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT Public Employees Program and Policy Council will build on the work of the Short Staffing Task Force to develop a comprehensive strategy to address government employee shortages.