Press | AFT Washington, AFL-CIO

Senate's Budget Plan Shortchanges Students, Unemployed, and State's Future

March 30, 2009

“The proposed supplemental and 2009-11 operating budgets the Senate leaders unveiled today have dealt a devastating blow to education in our state,” said Sandra Schroeder, union President of the American Federation of Teachers in Washington State. (read more)

Statement by Karen Strickland on the Anniversary of Executive Order 9066

January 16, 2017

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." This quote, initially stated long ago either by Edmund Burke or George Santayana, seems especially relevant today, as the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 approaches. Executive Order 9066 was President F. D. Roosevelt’s order to incarcerate roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII . . .

Statement by Randi Weingarten on the Nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education

November 23, 2016

Weingarten on Nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education

WASHINGTON—In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education, AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement: “The president-elect, in his selection of Betsy DeVos, has chosen the most ideological, anti-public education nominee put forward since President Carter created a Cabinet-level Department of Education. [see full statement]

Students, Community & Labor Stand Together to Stop Cuts

May 12, 2016

MEDIA ADVISORY

Rally to take place at 3 PM to call attention to closing academic programs, reducing student services, and giving faculty “pink slips”

Renton – Community activists, labor, and students will gather this Saturday, May 14, from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM at Renton Technical College, Bldg. C. The purpose is to highlight the need to reinvest in our students, our faculty, and our communities and to recognize the role of higher education in redressing institutional racism and racial inequities that impact teaching and learning experiences for employees and students of color. Community and technical colleges provide greater access to higher education for lower income, first-generation, and students of color. Nearly half (42%) of students who attend two-year colleges are students of color, according to data from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges’ 2014 Fall Enrollment Report.

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.

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 46^th district.

Part-time Professors Get Unemployment Advice from the Pros

The media's job is to interest the public in the public interest. - John Dewey

May 16, 2012
Chris Thomas, Producer

RENTON, Wash. - Getting unemployment benefits can be a challenge, particularly for those in temporary jobs. This weekend, part-time college instructors are getting a short course in how and when to file for unemployment. [click here to read full story or hear audio]

WNS | Paraeducators Protest Work Cutbacks - and Win

August 15, 2011 | Washington News Service

TACOMA, Wash. - As many schools ponder cutting another ten percent from their budgets in the coming months at the governor's request, the Tacoma School District's decision not to cut some employees' hours is a stark contrast. Those employees are paraeducators, who work one-on-one with students with severe physical or learning disabilities. Already some of the lowest-paid workers at schools, their hours were going to be trimmed by 30 minutes a day. [more]

UW Extension Lecturers Vote to Unionize

Washington News Service | March 28, 2011

Seattle, WA - While labor unions – and union-busting efforts – are making headlines elsewhere in the nation, a new union local is being formed on the University of Washington campus without a controversy. The lecturers who work in the Educational Outreach English Language Program say the nature of their work has put them in a kind of limbo. They want to clarify how they are classified on the job, and to have a voice on campus. Comments from Richard Moore, one of the lecturers. [more]

UW Extension Lecturers Approve Union

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release March 25, 2011

Contact: Sandra Schroeder, President, 206-715-1824; Sylvia Watson, 206-261-3603

UW Extension Lecturers Approve Union
First lecturers at UW to unionize

SEATTLE – Extension Lecturers at the University of Washington (UW) have overwhelmingly agreed -- by 83 percent -- to unionize. The Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission certified this week that 56 out of 67 approved unionization – the state’s first bargaining unit of its kind. [more]