Newsroom
We need you… to become a Unionist
Editor’s note: What follows is a condensed version of an inspired presentation from the CFT’s annual Classified Conference.
My name is Carl Williams and I am southern vice president of the CFT Council of Classified Employees, a CFT vice president, proud president of the Lawndale Federation of Classified Employees, a father, a husband… and a Unionist. Now don’t get me wrong, I have not always been a Unionist… the transition from union member is not instantaneous.
One job should be enough! Classified conference-goers unite with hotel workers
“Good morning, San Francisco!” Luukia Smith called out to a sea of striking Marriott hotel workers and their supporters. Among the crowd were CFT classified employees who had bussed from the Classified Conference on October 20 to join the downtown rally.
Supreme Court’s Janus decision barely ripples through classified locals
No one was surprised when the Janus decision from the U.S. Supreme Court came down over the summer. In the months since then, however, locals across California have defied predictions of a mass exodus of dues-paying members. In fact, after two years of recruiting new employees and convincing agency fee payers to join, union ranks are growing.
A Blue Wave – but what next?
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
By all measures, this was a very successful midterm election. Democrats picked up 40 seats in the U.S. House, which they will now control, and more than 300 legislative seats nationwide. In California, we ran the table on statewide officers and elected a supermajority in both houses of our state Legislature. Most importantly for us, Tony Thurmond was elected superintendent of public instruction.
Election 2018: CFT’s heavy lifting helps flip seats, elect Thurmond, win local races
As anxious citizens watched the November 6 midterm election results, they weren’t at all sure how candidates and measures would fare. Results trickled in, but many races remained too close to call for weeks.
Strike? Stand with L.A. teachers to win the schools students deserve
UPDATE: After the factfinding report was released on December 18, UTLA announced it will go on strike January 10.
A Red-for-Ed wave rolled through downtown Los Angeles on December 15 as tens of thousands of members and supporters of United Teachers Los Angeles protested large class sizes, low pay, over-testing, a shortage of school nurses and other support staff, and the unregulated growth of charter schools.
It’s a family affair: When parents and children are union brothers and sisters
“Working for a small district has its pros and cons,” said Carl Williams, “but it’s mostly pros.”
Williams is president of AFT Local 4529, the Lawndale Federation of Classified Employees. The federation represents about 450 staff in the Lawndale district’s six elementary and two middle schools.
Four members tell their stories of election success
Our voices must be heard! Members elected to district governing boards
Jeanie Wallace had considered running for office before. As a union rep for the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers and the chair of the local Democratic Party Central Committee, she knew how hard it could be to find candidates for the school board. But she thought she was too busy, and planned to do it when she retired.
Students need more mental health support on campus, faculty too
By Mia L. McIver, President UC-AFT
In a recent survey of UC-AFT faculty, members highlighted mental health as an issue that deserves our union’s attention and energy. UC students experiencing psychological challenges often seek support from lecturers and other contract faculty, who are sometimes the only faculty with whom they can develop a one-to-one relationship.
Retirees stay true to the cause – keeping political, union skills sharp
AFT activists don’t stop being active when they retire. United Teachers Los Angeles retiree Jimmie Woods-Gray, for example, remains a whirlwind in the fight to stop the privatization of public education. UC-AFT Riverside’s Stephanie Kay, meanwhile, continues the daily fight for lecturers’ rights on University of California campuses.
Rank & Files
Nov-Dec 2018
KATHRYN MAYO, instructor of photography at Cosumnes River College and member of the Los Rios Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2279, grew up in a rural farming community just outside Selma, Alabama. Her narrative photography work – We are Selma: The Selma Portrait Project – will be honored at the local’s Union Hall Gallery in Sacramento in February.
Tony Thurmond wins State Superintendent race!
Updated November 19, 2018
Following a hard fought campaign, Assemblymember Tony Thurmond has won the election to be California’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Across the state, teachers and school workers celebrated Thurmond’s election as a resounding call by voters to protect public education. Fighting the headwinds of unprecedented spending by a handful of billionaires and mega-donors in support of Marshall Tuck, Thurmond ran a campaign based on investing in all public schools and supporting all students.