AFSCME 3976 President Patrick Wicklund has a ready answer to the “What have you done for me lately?” question members often ask their union. “Transit benefits,” says Wicklund, whose members work at USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). “AFSCME just won a hard fought benefit for FAS employees on the Hill,” reports Wicklund in Local 3976’s latest newsletter. “The transit benefit will almost double the maximum from $130 to $255 each month…Without AFSCME there would have been no initial 2009 transit benefit increase and more importantly we wouldn’t even have the transit benefits in the first place!” Noting that “This is only a part of what we do,” Wicklund adds that “our local is your local, it’s only as effective as we want to make it.”