Skip to content

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

TSEU MEMBERS ONLY
CHARTWELL’s
KLRU

TEXAS STATE EMPLOYEES UNION CWA Local 6186

We are the united voice of workers at state agencies and public universities across Texas.

Search

HOME
JOIN THE UNION
Find Your Agency/University Caucus
Political Action
Lobby Day 2025
ABOUT/CONTACT
Calendar

Quick Links:
Become a Union Member
Statewide and Agency/University 2025 Legislative Goals
Get Involved: Lobby Day 2025 on April 9th

Contact your regional TSEU office:

Austin: 512-448-4225
Houston: 713-661-9030
Dallas/Fort Worth: 214-942-4305
San Antonio: 210-354-2900

Unsure of your region? Call any of the above and we can connect you. You can also reach us via email at info@cwa-tseu.org

Or find the union organizer for your agency or university via the caucus page.

Recent stories:

Join us Thursday, February 13th from 6pm to 8pm fo

Join us Thursday, February 13th from 6pm to 8pm for a training event to prepare for the threat of ICE or law enforcement actions targeting our coworkers and community members. Immigrants, colleagues, classmates, family, and allies welcome.

The training and discussion will cover:
-Knowing and advocating for your rights
-How to advocate in solidarity to defend undocumented and targeted immigrants
-What to expect when interacting with ICE
-Role play to practice exercising one’s rights
-English / Spanish translation

The event will be hosted at UBC (University Baptist Church at 2130 Guadalupe St in Austin)

Masks strongly encouraged. There will be a limited supply available at the event; bring more to share if you have them!

Weekly Legislative Recap! What Happened: TSEU’

Weekly Legislative Recap!

What Happened:

TSEU’s University Caucus kicked off TSEU Mini Lobby Days this week, meeting with 17 legislative offices about university priorities.

TSEU President Ilesa Daniels, along with Legislative Director Tyler Sheldon and @every_texan Labor Policy Analyst Amanda Posson, presented the results of a survey of nearly 7,000 state employees that focused on the pay and staffing levels of state agencies. This presentation was focused at educating legislators and their staff on the continued need for an across-the-board pay raise and increased FTE’s. The results of a similar survey completed by university workers are forthcoming.

What’s New:

The Senate has begun passing bills. On Wednesday, the first bad bill of the session was passed out of the Texas Senate since it was designated an Emergency Item by Gov. Abbott. With a vote of 19 to 12, SB2, the Public School Voucher bill has passed. A single Republican opposed the bill, Senator Robert Nichols. The rest of the vote was along party lines.

The Lt Governor announced 25 of the 40 priority bills of the senate. That leaves 15 more Senate bills to be announced. The house has 150 bill numbers reserved for their priorities and have not yet announced these.

The House is still working on getting organized. Committee appointments are expected early next week. The first indication of the priorities of new Speaker of the House, Rep Dustin Burrows, will be which Representatives are appointed to which committees.

What You Can Do:

Opportunities to testify at committee meetings will continue throughout the session. Reach out to TSEU Legislative Director Tyler Sheldon at tsheldon@cwa-tseu.org if you are interested in testifying.

Retiree Mini Lobby Day is next on the calendar: Wednesday February 12th. During Mini Lobby Days, we meet with Legislators and staff to ask for their support of our agency/university specific legislative goals, in addition to our statewide employee/retiree goals.

Mini Lobby Days lead up to our biggest event during the session, Lobby Day on April 9th! Get your ticket via link in bio.

Welcome to TSEU! Don’t forget to snap a pic and

Welcome to TSEU! Don’t forget to snap a pic and send it to us when you help your coworkers join the union. Joining your union is the first step you can take in the fight to win a $10k across-the-board pay raise for all state workers (including university workers), a long overdue COLA for state retirees who have not seen a pension increase in over twenty years, and more. Check out our full list of legislative goals via the link in our bio!

Weekly Legislative Recap What happened: Newly ele

Weekly Legislative Recap

What happened:
Newly elected Speaker Dustin Burrows presented new rules for the Texas House. This included a condensing of standing committees and a ban on Democrat Chairs. The new rules of the Texas House will forbid the Speaker from appointing members of the minority party as Chair of any committee. Vice Chairs will be reserved for members of the minority party. This is a move away from the bipartisan approach historically taken by House leadership. Committee membership has not yet been announced in the house.

TSEU Legislative Director Tyler Sheldon and Legislative Aide Maggie DiSanza have continued meeting with legislators and their staff regarding priority legislation and education on state employee issues. Tyler has also been participating in various panel discussions aimed to educate legislators and their staff.

What’s new:
The Senate and House have released their initial versions of the state budget. Noticeably missing are across-the-board pay raises and a Cost of Living Adjustment for ERS retirees. There are some targeted raises such as a 15% raise for Parole Officers and $1 billion ear marked for the ERS to continue to pay off past liabilities. The first 150 bill numbers in the House and first 40 in the Senate have been reserved for priority legislation and have not yet been filed.

What you can do:
The Senate Finance Committee begins holding hearings on their version on of the budget, Senate Bill 1 next week. At 9am Wednesday, January 29th, the Finance Committee will be discussing ERS. This is an opportunity for members and concerned retirees to bring up the need for an immediate Cost of Living increase for state retirees. Email Legislative Director Tyler Sheldon at tsheldon@cwa-tseu.org for more information and to RSVP.

TSEU will be partnering with Representative John Bucy and Senator Sarah Eckhardt on a press conference to promote the bills filed by these legislators to provide a $10,000 pay raise for all state employees including university workers (HB237 and SB572) and a meaningful COLA for ERS retirees (HB343 and SB573). The press conference will be 11:30am on Monday, January 27th and will be livestreamed here!

The 89th Legislature has been called to session!

The 89th Legislature has been called to session!

On Tuesday January 14th, the first day of session, TSEU members delivered packets with our union's key priorities to all 181 members of the legislature. You can find our legislative goals via the link in our bio.

The House also elected a new Speaker, Representative Dustin Burrows from Lubbock. The Speaker's office is crucial as
they determine the makeup of committees and play a major
role in moving key legislation.

Democrats formed a coalition to get Rep. Burrows elected as Speaker rather than a far-right Republican championed by the Attorney General, Governor, Lt. Governor and the Republican Caucus.

Throughout the rest of the week, TSEU President Ilesa Daniels Ross, Secretary Joanne Day, Legislative Director Tyler Sheldon, and Legislative Aide Maggie DiSanza visited every freshman legislator's office to further explain our priorities and to ensure TSEU's role as a resource to support state employees, retirees, and state services in their district.

Want to make your voice heard at the Capitol? TSEU Mini Lobby Days are an opportunity for TSEU members to speak with legislators and their staff about legislative goals specific to our sector caucuses. From lowering caseloads and staffing ratios to safe levels to stopping privatization and attacks on academic freedom, TSEU members have a long tradition of making our voices heard on Mini Lobby Days. You can find the schedule for Mini Lobby Days via the calendar linked in our bio.

TSEU Statewide Lobby Day: Wednesday, April 9th!

Get on the bus! State employees and retirees from across Texas will meet, march, rally, and then meet with our legislators to ask them to support our issues. TSEU is calling for a massive show of strength to tell the legislature that we will fight to improve public services, to protect state employee benefits, and for pension increases and across-the-board raises for ALL STATE EMPLOYEES!

Join TSEU members from around the state for the fi

Join TSEU members from around the state for the first day of the 89th Legislative Session at the Texas Capitol!

Tuesday, January 14th at 10am

TSEU members will meet at 10am in the Capitol Rotunda to distribute TSEU’s legislative priorities to members of the Texas Legislature. Meet state legislators and get to know fellow union members! Packet drop will take about an hour and many of the offices will provide breakfast/lunch. Please RSVP to Tyler Sheldon at tsheldon@cwa-tseu.org if you plan to attend. Wear a TSEU shirt or ask Tyler how to get one!

Check out our full events calendar via the link in our bio.

Load More Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 TEXAS STATE EMPLOYEES UNION CWA Local 6186

Theme by: Theme Horse

Proudly Powered by: WordPress