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AFT Washington Partners with First Book to Provide Free Books to Young Children and Students

May 9, 2014

 Saturday, May 17, Doors open at 11:30 AM - Seattle Center Exhibition Hall

The American Federation of Teachers in Washington State (AFT Washington, AFL-CIO) is holding a book giveaway and community resource fair to get free books into the hands of local public school students to support their literacy and educational success. Mayor Ed Murray is scheduled to attend as well as award-winning author and UW Professor Emeritus Charles Johnson and his daughter Elisheba Johnson co-authors of “The Adventures of Emery Johns, Boy Science Wonder: Bending Time.”

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Exempt Staff at Seattle Community Colleges Approve Union

March 14, 2014

Seattle – Exempt employees who work at the four Seattle Community College campuses today voted 68-39 to form their own union through a secret ballot process certified by the Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission in Olympia. The vote means that 156 staff who work in advising, IT, financial aid, student outreach, and other departments will be represented by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Washington. Faculty at Seattle Community Colleges are already represented by AFT Washington.

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Statement on Gov. Inslee's State of the State Address

Statement on Governor Inslee’s State of the State Address
By AFT Washington President Karen Strickland

We are pleased to hear today in his State of the State Address that one of Governor Inslee’s top priorities this session is to educate every child, from early learning to higher education, and that he is backing his priority by advocating for $200 million in school funding this session.

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ParaEducator Maria Haynes on the Impact of Positive Adults in a Child's Life

Maria Haynes, a paraEducator with Tacoma Public Schools, talks about the importance of having positive, caring adults in a child's life to help them succeed.

Adjunct Professor on What Reclaiming the Promise Means to Him

Pierce College adjunct instructor Michael Boggess believes that equitable faculty hiring and working conditions are important to having a world-class community college system.

Seattle faculty member on taking the word "community" out of community college name

AFT Seattle faculty member Tracy Lai talks about how community colleges are considering taking the word "community" out of their names and how that symbolizes an important change in mission and purpose of the community college system.

New President Elected for AFT Washington

NEWS RELEASE | July 16, 2013

Karen Strickland is the new president of AFT Washington, which represents over 6,500 education employees in 32 community and technical colleges, universities, Head Start, and K-12 schools. She will serve a two-year term beginning July 15. 
 
Strickland has been active in the labor movement and public education for 20 years. [full release]

 

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AFT Washington Statement on Senate Budget Proposal

“Unrealistic, Unsustainable, and Unfair”

AFT Washington Statement on Senate Budget Proposal

The budget proposal the Senate released on Wednesday is unrealistic, unsustainable, and unfair. It’s a mishmash of bad compromises driven by internal political strife in the Senate that will hurt education and vital public services and will damage our state’s economic recovery.

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Governor Proclaims March 11-15 as "Classified School Employee Week"

Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed March 11-15 as Classified School Employee Week. You can download the proclamation as a pdf here.

 

AFT Washington Files PDC Complaint Against PAC on Candidate Mailing

10/25/12 - The American Federation of Teachers in Washington State (AFT Washington) today has filed a complaint against the Stand for Children Washington’s Political Action Committee (PAC) with the state Public Disclosure Commission. The PAC improperly used AFT Washington’s logo as an endorsement on their candidate mailing for Sylvester Cann who is running for the House of Representatives in the 46th district.

 

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