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How One AFSCME Local Is Helping Florida Dry Out and Rebuild

AFSCME Local 1554

Most times, you can find longtime AFSCME member Bert Walthour serving the city of Miami Beach as a heavy equipment operator. He and his co-workers at Local 1554, AFSCME Florida, where he serves as vice president, make one of the world’s most iconic cities function every day.

But these past few weeks have been anything but normal, not since forecasters put Florida squarely in Hurricane Irma’s path.

"Life got real busy, real quick," Walthour said. "We implemented our hurricane preparation for the city as well as make sure our houses and families were getting ready."

Walthour and his crew are among the thousands of public service workers in Florida who are helping their communities recover from Irma and are putting their communities’ needs ahead of their own.

Since much of South Florida, including Miami Beach, fell under one of the largest mandatory evacuation orders ever, sleep became as hard to find as water, canned goods and gasoline.

For Walthour and public employees across the state, the storm was just the start....

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