Posts tagged AFT
Teachers’ Unions vs. Teachers, Parents, and Children: The NEA and AFT
September 20, 2023 // Between them, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have nearly five million members. Their national associations report annual revenues of approximately $370 million and $200 million, respectively, which are drawn overwhelmingly from dues paid by those members, and that doesn’t include the hundreds of millions in revenue that their local affiliates collect. The Bigfoot lobbyists of the NEA and AFT want more more more when it comes to spending, as lobbies invariably do, but they are frequently found in a negative posture, for no one hates the idea of reform quite as much as a teachers’ union. Vouchers, charter schools, education savings accounts, merit pay for teachers…you name it, the teachers’ unions are against it.
Op-ed: Workers Rights Won by Unions, From the 8-Hour Workday to Overtime Pay
September 11, 2023 // The overall proportion of unionized workers in the United States remains relatively low, with only one in every 10 workers in the country belonging to a union. But whether you're a union worker or not, you may benefit from policies for which unions have fought long and hard — and they continue to fight. Labor organizing has helped secure everyday benefits that many of us now take for granted. And these efforts have shown people what kind of protections they can hope to secure in the workplace.
First Faculty Unions Form at Two Maryland Community Colleges
September 7, 2023 // Before passage of the 2021 collective bargaining law, some employee groups were already organized at the Community College of Baltimore County, Montgomery College, and Prince George’s Community College. There are additional faculty organizing efforts by AFT-Maryland underway now at the Community College of Baltimore County and Prince George’s Community College.
Unions Against Teachers
August 29, 2023 // Many teachers comply, despite disagreement with the union, simply to avoid perceived or actual liability. Among those who don’t, many would rather quit than get dragged to court or end up in the local news over a political dustup.
Full-time FCC faculty says union would address campus culture, contracts
August 24, 2023 // According to Trigger, the full-time faculty members at FCC are hoping to address several issues in their first union-negotiated contract. Through collective bargaining, the faculty hopes to gain better health coverage, guaranteed personal days and higher salaries. Last year, the college's board of trustees voted to increase employee wages by at least 2% after a compensation study found substantial variation between the minimum and maximum pay for the same roles. The same study also found that most FCC employees fall at the bottom end of the pay scale. In addition to advocating for fair contracts, the union will also focus on improving the relationship between FCC faculty and the school's administration.
REPORT: Teachers Unions Trained Educators To ‘Inject Gender Ideology Politics’ Into Classrooms
August 17, 2023 // The DFI report, “Summer of Woke, The Sequel,” said the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) allegedly encouraged educators to promote gender ideology in classrooms. (RELATED: Teachers Union Conference Encouraged Educators To Lobby For Gun Control)
America’s Largest Teachers Union Isn’t Beyond Reform
July 20, 2023 // Washington can make the NEA less political and more accountable by revising its federal charter.
Despite President Joe Biden’s repeated boasts, union membership continues to fall
July 18, 2023 // Union members do not always agree with Democrats on policy matters. Biden's own green energy agenda is coming up against labor resistance, with organized auto workers prepared to strike over the hazards and lack of benefits in electric vehicle production. Biden must also work to keep blue-collar union members from slipping into the Republican column as candidates like former President Donald Trump play up American manufacturing and the virtues of import tariffs. But more recent headlines showcase unions fighting their traditional battles over pay, benefits, and worker protections.
Teachers union presidents blast Supreme Court affirmative action ruling
July 17, 2023 // Weingarten said, “At the end of the day, those of us in education, and frankly for those of us in Labor … we fight for a better life for everyone. Neither of us are going to stop fighting for what kids and communities need to succeed,” Weingarten said. “Whether that kid is dyslexic or scarred by social media issues or, frankly, whether that kid, because schools were closed for a long time, has issues because of that.” Those words stand in stark contrast to her and her union’s actions, such as when AFT handcrafted school shutdown policies at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) federal agency in early 2021. Based on released emails, AFT sent a list of suggestions (which included closing schools) to the CDC, and the CDC adopted much of the AFT’s list in their final public health guidance that kept schools closed.
Teachers union presidents blast Supreme Court affirmative action ruling
July 14, 2023 // In a Twitter Spaces online, audio-only discussion event hosted by the progressive group Alliance for Justice, both Weingarten and Pringle blasted the Court. Weingarten emphasized that the Court’s ruling was “horrible” and immediately drew a connection to her interpretations of history. “What this decision does is basically ignore the original sin of slavery and the effects of that original sin and pretends that there is no longer an effect to it,” Weingarten affirmed. “And [it] basically says that equal protection means whatever the dominant power play is right now, that’s what should be happening in America.” Weingarten claimed that the Court “is no longer calling balls and strikes” and is too busy “making law that is quite ideological.” In her words, “Our job has gotten both harder and easier in the last couple years because of these decisions — a dynamic she attributes to the public having “no confidence in the Court.”