By: Travvis Mahrer
Fairfax County Police Department
Central Records Data Entry Supervisor

SEIU's Public Services Division Working Conference on Innovation and Quality brought public workers from across the country together in July. Members from Houston, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas I spoke to were all amazed that public workers in Virginia cannot have a collective bargaining agreement.

But I realized very quickly our local union was on the right track. What the conference was teaching and what union members would need to tell the others back home, we in Fairfax County were already doing. The Fairfax County Government Employees Union, SEIU Local 5 has been getting the message out that public employees do provide quality service and innovation; we are problem solvers that can help in these hard economic times.

We're on the right path--we're putting into practice the great ideas for improving public services:

• getting involved politically,


• getting the message out to the public that public employees are committed to quality service and can make things better; and


• being proud of the work we do and provide.

I was inspired to hear about SEIU members who improved services and cut costs--like workers in Houston, TX, who had so many good cost-saving ideas that their Board of Supervisors was able to rescind 10% staff cuts.

As FCGEU and SEIU Local 5 we will be making positive changes that will improve services and our jobs.