Posts tagged paraprofessionals
Duval teachers union faces fight for survival after missing 60% membership threshold
September 17, 2026 // The union recruited more than 640 new members between July 30 and September 9 in an effort to reach the threshold. Despite that push, the union did not secure enough members to avoid an election. Now, union leaders are focused on making sure enough employees participate in the vote to preserve DTU as the collective bargaining agent for Duval County Public Schools employees. Sep 16 Duval teachers union faces fight for survival after missing 60% membership threshold.
Editorial Board: $10,000 bonuses teach Mamdani a lesson about the teachers union
September 9, 2026 // Compensation changes for unionized city employees are usually negotiated through collective bargaining between the city and organized labor, but the United Federation of Teachers instead pushed the measure through the City Council. UFT President Michael Mulgrew threatened “all-out war” against Mamdani if he opposed the payouts to school paraprofessionals.
Mamdani Clashes With Teachers Union, Citing Fiscal Constraints
August 30, 2026 // Michael Mulgrew, the president of the 200,000-member teachers union, threatened an “all-out war” if Mamdani tried to stop the legislation in a New York Times interview earlier this summer. “It’s always surprising when you see a big rift between the teachers unions and Democratic politicians, especially a pretty far-left Democratic politician,” said Michael Petrilli, president of Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education reform think tank. “Conventional wisdom would say that Democratic politicians try not to get sideways with important parts of their constituency and the teachers unions are such an important base.” The fight has also exposed the realities Mamdani faces now that he is in office to follow through on campaign promises when faced with fiscal constraints.
WATCH: Seattle teachers could strike despite being among highest paid in US
August 27, 2026 // But district officials have publicly said that Seattle Schools are grappling with a looming $87 million budget deficit for the 2026–27 school year and a depleted $30 million rainy-day reserve, down from a recommended $135 million. Vicki Murray, senior education policy director at the free market nonprofit Washington Policy Center, said investing in great education means investing in teachers, but noted that Seattle teachers' salaries are among the highest paid in the country.
Aurora Public Schools Support Staff Losing Support for Union Efforts
October 24, 2025 // At an APS board meeting on Tuesday, October 21, a few dozen APS classified employees such as cafeteria workers, secretaries and preschool and special education teachers rallied and then spoke during the public comments to renew their call for a union, which they had first brought up in mid-August. With the school semester fully underway, Cy Alison, a pre-school facilitator at the Sable Child Development Center, told Westword that “it’s extremely stressful” to keep up the fight while trying to work.
The AFL-CIO Doesn’t Need To Lobby — It Has Its Own Caucus Now
May 6, 2025 // It was billed as a press conference announcing a new legislative caucus — but the real headliners weren’t the lawmakers. When more than 30 Democratic legislators gathered on April 30 to unveil their “Blue Collar Caucus,” they quickly stepped aside and handed the microphone — and the spotlight — to Connecticut AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne and Building Trades President Joe Toner. The union bosses weren’t just there to show support — they were the main event, delivering lengthy remarks packed with labor talking points, many of which now appear in the caucus’s legislative agenda and are posted proudly on its website.
Struggling to ‘bring food to our families,’ Olathe schools hourly workers want a union Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/education/article286587730.html#storylink=cpy
March 14, 2024 // Arellano was among more than 70 custodians, paraprofessionals and other hourly workers who packed Thursday’s school board meeting, wearing red, “Union Power” T-shirts. The group of employees, who are not certified so cannot join the teachers union, said they are organizing to form their own union, to advocate for better pay, respect and working conditions. If successful, it would be the first union of its kind in a Johnson County school district. Hourly workers have formed unions in other large Kansas districts, in Lawrence and Wichita. The union, Olathe School Workers United, would be a part of Communications Workers of America, Local 6400, which organized workers in the Lawrence district.
FBI, IRS search Duval teachers union offices; financial wrongdoing suspected
September 8, 2023 // Several federal agents including the FBI and IRS are working on an investigation into the Duval Teachers United in Jacksonville's San Marco community. They had been at the teachers union facility at 1601 Atlantic Blvd. since Wednesday morning and left late in the afternoon taking with them computer equipment and loads of additional materials, as witnessed by The Florida Times-Union. The Times-Union has learned it involves potential misappropriation of funds, and prominent defense attorney Hank Coxe also was spotted at the scene. Several agents were seen coming out with loaded-up boxes and bags and placing them into vehicles.