A RESOLUTION TO STOP THE REAGAN BUDGET

WHEREAS, Reagan cuts in federal aid to state and local governments for vital social programs has forced state and local governments to work with over $57 billion less than in 1981; and

WHEREAS, these cuts have had the most harmful impact on the people who need public services the most, i.e., the handicapped, the poor, the aged, the sick, the homeless, the unemployed, and the disadvantaged; and

WHEREAS, these cuts have also shown disregard for the lives and families of the federal, state and local government employees who provide these important and valuable services by causing layoffs and poor staffing; and

WHEREAS, the federal, state, and local governments of the United States should be more responsive to the needs of the public and its employees rather than less responsive; and

WHEREAS, key programs such as employment and training, community services, the Center for Disease Control, and economic development have been cut by more than 50 percent since 1981 at a time when there is critical need for increases in such services; and

WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers has always taken an active role in promoting the interests of the disadvantaged and the underprivileged as well as the interests of the federal, state, and local government employees who provide the important services to the public, and since the AFT has also worked in coalition with other unions in the AFT-ClO Public Employees Department to prevent cuts in social programs:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers increases its efforts to prevent further budget cuts that undermine critical social programs and that the AFT continues its work with the AFL-CIO Public Employee Department to stop the Reagan budget and the serious consequences that this budget has on government employees and their families.