June is Pride month and on behalf of the AFT Washington membership, I want to say to our LGBTQ+ members – we see you! The existence of a designated month means so much, both in terms of the possibilities it creates and in terms of the history that generated the need for a month to recognize the beautiful diversity of people. Pride month seeks to make visible the millions of people who, for decades, have needed to be vigilant of the risks to their well-being as they navigated a hostile world. LGBTQ+ people, with allies alongside, have fought hard for their rights, from the right to exist to the

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.