AFSCME members around the country are leading the fight to make sure the nation’s 911 dispatchers and other emergency telecommunications workers are properly recognized as public safety professionals under federal law.
Reclassifying these important emergency responders would expand the training and support they need to keep up with rapidly changing communications technology. And it would give them the dignity and respect they deserve.
“We’re the first link in that chain of emergency response,” said Steven Verry, a senior public safety telecommunicator in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and a member of AFSCME New Jersey Council 63. “We make time-sensitive, life-and-death decisions every day, all day,”
Union members from Council 13 in Pennsylvania, Council 36 in California, District Council 37 in New York and Council 82 in New York have also been working for reclassification at the state and federal levels.
AFSCME members are vocal advocates for the 911 SAVES Act (H.R. 637), a bipartisan bill that would reclassify dispatchers as part of the protective service. The 911 SAVES Act is sponsored by California Rep. Norma Torres, a former AFSCME member who worked as a dispatcher, and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. Other legislation endorsed by AFSCME members is the Enhancing First Response Act (S. 725) and the Next Generation 911 Act (H.R. 6505).
AFSCME paid tribute to public safety telecommunicators in a special video that aired during AFSCME’s 47th International Convention in Chicago. We are built for this moment, because when 911 dispatchers are recognized and respected, we all become safer.
