Texas State Employees Union/Communications Workers of America, Local 6186.

The Texas State Employees Union/Communications Workers of America, Local 6186 has two full-time lobbyists in Austin working to influence legislators to vote in such a way that the union's goals and initiatives will be favorably affected. The union and the lobbyists also receive backing from the Texas AFL-CIO. In 1992, membership in the state of Texas among approximately 180,000 state employees was 6,618, up from the 1987 membership of 4,000.

Perennial issues with TSEU are maintaining staffing levels, promoting salary increases, keeping members' health insurance costs low, and promoting personal rights such as privacy, protection from liability, and payment for overtime. In November of 1987, the union was successful in its suit claiming unfair invasion of privacy against the Mental Health Mental Retardation Agency. MHMR was requiring employees to take polygraph tests, and the court agreed that this was not appropriate for that agency, banning MHMR's use of lie detector tests as a requirement for employment or to retain employment. TSEU was also successful in the legislature in 1987, with several important victories.

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