On Saturday morning of the Council on Classified Employees conference, the union assistant for the Coast Federation of Classified Professionals, AFT Local 4794, Jamie Crowder, welcomed the attendees to Costa Mesa. To cheers, she told them that their local had just changed its name from the Coast Federation of Classified Employees to the Coast Federation of Classified Professionals.
Crowder reminded them their work was pivotal.
“I know I don’t have to tell anybody in this room that the day does not start without a classified professional,” Crowder said. “We’re more than employees. We are the heart of the machine.”
CCE Northern Vice President Janet Eberhardt successfully got the attendees excited even at the relatively early hour.
“Think about what’s going on in the world today. This is the time to be pumped because we’re educators and our union is powerful,” Eberhardt said before introducing CFT President Jeff Freitas.
In his address, Freitas stressed the good things about the November election, like the labor movement turning out to walk precincts and phonebank for winning candidates. But Freitas said it was time to address the depressingly large “elephant in the room:” the election of Trump, who has called for eliminating the Department of Education and plans on appointing Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (which has no obvious links to education), to run it.
He vowed that CFT will keep fighting for great healthcare and working conditions, and he urged people to combat authoritarianism and keep resisting. Freitas pledged CFT would work to defeat Project 2025, which calls for things like banning unions for public service workers, letting bosses take away unions mid-contract, eliminating child labor protections, and letting companies stop paying overtime.
“Don’t hide. Don’t let people not know who you are. Always represent. Don’t let them divide us because it is together that we will stand stronger, and we will build and broaden this labor movement,” Freitas said. “And finally, don’t give up. Don’t walk away from this fight because you think it’s overwhelming.”
CCE President Carl Williams, who spoke after Freitas, jumped right into the fitting theme of the conference saying, “This theme is a testament to our collective strength, a strength that has been forged over decades of struggle, sacrifice, and resilience,” adding, “Classified can do anything. Our work may not always be celebrated but it’s always essential.”
Williams said post-election, people are in stages of grief. “But here’s the truth, brothers and sisters, we cannot afford to stay in any of these stages very long,” Williams said. “We cannot let the fear and sadness and anger and hopelessness overwhelm us. We must use our classified superpower, which we were all built with.”
“When the powers that be push, we’ve got to push back,” he added. “When they stand up, we’ve got to stand taller. And when they say no, we got to say hell yes.”
At lunch, Gloria Alvarado, the Organizing Director of the Orange County Labor Federation, reminded the classified professionals how important their work was to children, telling them her mother had died when she was 12 and amid the trauma of that, school had saved her.
“Every single person told me how valuable I was,” she said. “Children listen to what you say.”
Like Freitas and Williams, Alvarado spoke about the possible consequences of the election and the expected forthcoming attacks on public schools.
The union still has power, she said.
“We have to fight for every single piece of legislation and women’s rights and LGBTQ rights and immigration rights,” she said. “We need to be aligned. The labor movement can move things forward. Nobody is going to come and rescue us. These are the superheroes in this room.”