June 2024
From the President
We have, unbelievably, reached the end of another school year. I hope that your summertime plans include fun, relaxation, rejuvenation and, of course, a bit of union building activity! Our in-person Powerful Locals Conference is scheduled for July 31 – August 2 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma – there is still time to get your team registered, so please register soon.
As I look ahead to what comes after summer the election is top-of-mind, as I’m sure it is for many of you as well. I know I’ll be hitting the doors to turn out the vote for our endorsed candidates; please create a little space in your calendar when you get the call to join us in that work. We’ve got some terrific legislative candidates and want to help get them elected so they can support our legislative agenda. After the legislative session, we come to convention in May of 2025, capping the school year and setting our course for the next two years.
Many of you have heard my big news already, but I want to make sure everyone knows that I have decided not to run for re-election next year. At our convention in May I will be near the end of my 6th term and I think it’s a good time to create space for new leadership. I have loved this job, with all the ups and downs we’ve faced since 2013 – the high stakes 2016 election that put then-State Senator Pramila Jayapal in congress at the same time Donald Trump brought harmful policies and chaos to the White House; the 2018 Supreme Court Case Janus ending fair share in public sector unions; the devastating pandemic of 2020 resulting in individual, family and community pain and the failure of many of our institutions to deal with the challenges it created; and the insurrection of 2021. We’ve been through a lot together and my respect and gratitude for our members and the essential work you all do has deepened. Equally deep is my respect and appreciation for you, our union leaders. Achieving our goals as unionists is never easy, but you have been through the wringer these last few years, with your own working conditions being turned upside down alongside the increased demands of being a leader in your local. I feel fortunate to have worked with you throughout, as we fought together, and as we celebrated together too!
As I think about the coming year, I have mixed emotions. I’m looking forward to working with our executive board and staff to complete a number of projects we have underway (recognizing that rarely is anything complete…we can almost always build on whatever is in place to make it even better), including building our School-Related Personnel Council, furthering our Anti-Racism in Collective Bargaining Project, and organizing more unrepresented Pro Staff at our CTCs, just to name a few. I also want to make sure we have put in place the systems and processes we need to ensure a smooth transition so that the new president will be able to thrive as they take the helm.
We have a big year ahead of us when we embark on the 2024-25 school year, one that is filled with opportunity. I wish you an enjoyable summer that nourishes you in ways that allow you to enjoy and be energized by the work you do with your union family, as a union leader.
In solidarity,
Karen Strickland, President
Local Highlights & News
Do You Have Delegates Going To The AFT Convention? We Have Special Event Tickets!
By AFT Washington Staff
AFT is holding the 2024 convention in Houston July 22 – 25. Please let us know if your local is sending delegates and who they are. Karen has purchased tickets to several special events and wants to make sure each delegate is able to attend one of them: the PSRP breakfast, Higher Education breakfast, Women’s Rights breakfast or Human Rights luncheon. We also will sit together during the business sessions and enjoy a dinner together. Please email aftwashington@aftwa.org with your list of delegates and their cell phone number.
Celebrate Pride!
By Karen Strickland, AFT Washington President
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 right to marry, to the right to express their full selves at school, at work and in community. Pride month provides us the opportunity to celebrate the expansion of human rights and the people who have made that happen. Pride is the celebration of a community’s survival in the face of violence, hate and degradation.
As we celebrate, we must continue to stand against those who seek to stamp out the gains made by the LGBTQ+ community. We live in a time of backlash against progress, a backlash that threatens the very lives of people who are simply being themselves. We can look to the daily occurrences of anti-trans, anti-gay rhetoric to see evidence of this. We can cite book bans across the country, promulgated by a small group of people intent on denying the reality of people’s lives. We can hear the pain, sadness, and outrage in the voices of those who celebrated Pride at the Mariners’ game as they recall their joy, while also noting the boos they heard around them when Pride was elevated. An atmosphere of rejection is present throughout society, exacerbating the risk of mental health challenges, suicide, violent victimization, marginalization and more.
This must no longer be tolerated. AFT Washington says NO! to this backlash and we stand with a majority of the country on this. We all have a responsibility to create a climate and a culture of equity, inclusion and belonging. And not just during Pride month, but every month of the year!
We seek freedom for all – freedom from fear, from threat, from hiding; and freedom to live life fully, to explore and pursue dreams, to love fully, and perhaps most of all, to love oneself wholeheartedly. As one is. Full stop.
Our 2025 Legislative Agenda Has Passed
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
The AFT Washington Executive Board passed the proposed 2025 legislative agenda at the June board meeting. You can read a draft of the document here.
The 2025 legislative session is a budget year, and we have set an agenda with ambitious goals, particularly around pay equity for contingent faculty, and pay increases for school-related personnel and professional staff. We will also continue our work with Communities For Our Colleges, which will be advancing a push for cost-free college. We are still involved with the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, and look forward to supporting their proposals in this session.
While there’s not a firm calendar of upcoming events, we are talking to legislators already! If you’re interested in getting involved in that work, contact Richard Burton at rburton@aftwa.org, and watch out for opportunities to bring our agenda to legislators.
If you are interested in getting our political newsletter, the Legisletter, sent during the electoral season and the legislative session to share political updates and actions, you can sign up here.
The Second Anti-Racism In Collective Bargaining Report Is Available
This edition of the Anti-Racism in Collective Bargaining project focused on safe workplaces, faculty feedback and course surveys, and complaints against faculty. All three are, in the consideration of the workgroup, contract subjects rife with the presence or possibility of systemic bias against BIPOC and other historically marginalized workers in educational settings.
The workgroup has outlined recommendations and principles to consider in order to protect against this harm. The report is available for review and use here.
Supporting The AFT Washington/Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt Scholarship
It's that time of the year again! The AFT Washington/Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt Scholarship is now open! The deadline for submissions is August 11th, 2024. If you or a family member are eligible for the scholarship, we invite you to apply! You can find the application here. If your local is interested in making a donation to support the scholarship fund, please contact Somma Rath at srath@aftwa.org for information. The more we donate, the more scholarships we award – there is a real, tangible benefit to donating, and we appreciate every donation.
Decarbonization of Our Public Schools, Universities, and Hospitals Resolution Passed
The AFT Washington Executive Board has approved a resolution, in collaboration with other AFT affiliates, regarding a national decarbonization effort. The resolution calls for AFT locals to take a strong stance on decarbonization efforts in their communities, for support of efforts to ensure students engage in climate change and climate justice curricula, and for Inflation Reduction Act funds to be made available for communities to do this work.
Decarbonization of Our Public Schools, Universities and Hospitals Through
Inflation Reduction Act Funds Resolution. for consideration at
AFT Convention, Houston, July 2024
Whereas, the AFT has declared that we are in the middle of a climate emergency; and
Whereas, unless we dramatically move away from using fossil fuels and toward renewable energy, we will succumb to the worst-case scenario of climate crisis, harming the future of our families, our students, and our planet; and
Whereas, public school, college, university and hospital buildings are enormous energy consumers and contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions; and
Whereas, burning fossil fuels to heat and cool buildings is the source of 31% of all U.S. carbon emissions; and is the school and hospital administrator's highest cost after staffing; and
Whereas, burning fossil fuels causes multiple long term health issues, including asthma, cancer, and contributes to heart disease; and
Whereas, the federal Inflation Reduction Act will reimburse public schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals up to 60% for the cost of clean energy projects, and can now receive "direct pay" payments once projects are completed instead of tax credits; and
Whereas, these savings will free up resources for the primary missions of schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals; and
Whereas, because the AFT is profoundly concerned with long-term equity, it is imperative that disadvantaged communities benefit from the transition to clean energy and not be left behind as the climate crisis intensifies; and
Whereas, the benefits of transitioning to limitless clean energy (whether solar, wind, geothermal) are manifold; Clean and healthy environments improve student learning, educational outcomes, and staff retention; Cleaner air reduces asthma and sick days; Schools and universities powered by clean energy can double as climate resilient emergency shelters as we face more extreme weather due to climate change; Transitioning public schools, colleges, universities and hospitals will create jobs and job training opportunities for residents; Reducing carbon emissions saves enormous amounts of energy and money, and ultimately projects to pay for themselves; now therefore be it
Resolved, that the AFT encourage all locals to participate in local coalitions and efforts to advance implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act to transition their schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals to clean energy alternatives; and
Resolved, the AFT and its locals pressure the States to do more to enable every community to make the energy transition especially by making no-interest loans available for up-front costs for decarbonization for public schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals; and
Resolved, the AFT and its locals prioritize low-income communities that are, in general, more vulnerable to the predicted ravages of climate change and more likely to experience the high asthma rates associated with burning fossil fuels; and
Resolved, the AFT and its locals urge and support efforts to ensure our young people engage in robust, meaningful, interdisciplinary climate change and climate justice curricula with the goal of preparing students to participate productively and responsibly in a rapidly changing world, and in emerging green, sustainable professions; and
Resolved, the AFT advance this work through articles in American Teacher and state-wide communications, paving the way for AFT locals to join coalitions and organize for cities, towns, counties, and states to support and facilitate the efforts to implement the IRA in our public schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals.
In Support of Adequate Compensation and Pay Equity For The CTC Workforce
The AFT Washington Executive Board also approved a resolution calling on the Washington State Labor Council and its affiliates to prioritize issues around fair wages for contingent faculty at the CTCs.
In Support of Adequate Compensation and Pay Equity for the
CTC Workforce, for consideration at
WSLC Convention, Wenatchee, July 2024
Whereas, the thirty-four community and technical colleges (CTCs) of Washington serve nearly every family in our state, providing adult basic education, English Language Learner programs, workforce development programs, supplemental instruction for state-certified apprenticeship programs, associate degrees, academic transfer degree programs, Running Start programs, and Bachelor of Applied Science degrees; and
Whereas, over 257,000 students are enrolled in a one of the 34 CTCs, with over 50% of these being BIPOC students; and
Whereas, for many years the workforce of the community and technical colleges, comprising Classified staff, Professional staff, and Faculty, has been underpaid; even with a recent COLA, salaries for these workers remain lower than their peers in other analogous work sectors and in other states, and they are insufficient to attract and retain new employees, and
Whereas, over 60% of the CTC faculty in the state are contingent workers who lack job security and are paid at woefully lower rates than their fulltime peers for teaching the same courses; and
Whereas, most Professional Staff earn salaries that are below the current labor and Industries overtime threshold – a threshold scheduled to increase precipitously in 2025 and 2026, and exorbitant costs of living, e.g., in Puget Sound communities, make it increasingly difficult for them to remain in their jobs, and
Whereas, the solution to this is a significant infusion of funding from the state legislature, as part of their 2025-27 biennial budget, directed toward increasing the wages of CTC staff and faculty, and
Whereas, such funding may well require the passage of legislation calling for progressive revenue increases, i.e., reversing our state’s unfortunate status as among the more regressive in our taxation policy, such as the Wealth Tax (SB 5486/HB 1473) proposed by Senator Frame and Rep. Thai in 2023, and
Whereas, Washington’s elected leaders recognize the importance of an educated workforce in attracting good jobs, building strong communities, and continuing the state’s track record of a cutting-edge economy, and has committed to a goal of 70% of adults achieving a post-secondary degree or credential; and
Whereas, the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO and its affiliates throughout the state recognize and value the role of the CTC workforce in ensuring working families have access to living wage jobs and a pathway to economic security; and
Whereas, the future of Washington’s economy, communities, and workforce is directly linked to the health of the CTC system; therefore, be it
Resolved, that affiliates of the WSLC raise awareness of the value of the Community and Technical Colleges to working families amongst their membership and with their community allies; and be it further
Resolved, that the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (WSLC) will prioritize legislation establishing progressive sources of new revenue that will help to reverse Washington State’s regressive tax code, and provide stable and sufficient sources of revenue to meet the needs of our communities, and be it finally
Resolved, that the WSLC prioritize addressing the issues of inadequate compensation and pay inequity for the CTC workforce in its 2025 legislative agenda, urging the governor and state legislature to develop a robust funding allocation for workers in the CTC system.
Resolution in Support of Labor Education and Research in Washington State
Another resolution passed by the AFT Washington board, and going to the Washington State Labor Council convention next month, is regarding supporting the Labor Education and Research Center (LERC), the Harry Bridges Center, and other entities such as the Labor Archives in Washington state.
Resolution in Support of Labor Education and Research in Washington State
for consideration at WSLC Convention, Wenatchee, July 2024
Whereas, expanding labor education and research is essential to providing support to workers during this recent spike of pro-union sentiment and interest in organized labor amongst the American workforce; and
Whereas, labor research is an indispensable organizing tool for the labor movement, informing campaign and bargaining strategy, policy impacting workers, and training programs; and
Whereas, after decades of anti-union propaganda, labor history education arms workers with a deeper understanding of pro-worker culture and essential context around the victories workers have won throughout history; and
Whereas, students in K-12 schools and two- and four-year colleges from working class, immigrant, and BIPOC backgrounds benefit from education on workplace rights and have little access to it other than through existing labor education programs; and
Whereas, labor education and research are integral to undoing institutional racism and advancing anti-racist practices in Washington's labor movement; and
Whereas, labor education and research can foster the next generation of union organizers and worker leaders to continue the growth of the labor movement; and
Whereas, demand among students for labor unions and labor-related programs in higher education has accelerated in Washington state, generating record enrollments in labor classes and internships at the University of Washington, and leading to overwhelming student worker votes to join new union locals at Western Washington University and Washington State University; and
Whereas, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies’s Building a Movement Labor Internship at the University of Washington, now in its fourth year, has created a pathway for students into the labor movement, placing more than forty students with labor unions and community organizations, many of whom have gone on to professional positions on the staff of Washington state unions; and
Whereas, the labor movement is making great strides in higher education across the country, as in California where the State of California allocated $13 million in 2023 to labor education and research in the University of California system, expanding labor centers at UCLA and UC Berkeley and establishing new centers at every other UC campus; and
Whereas, the WSLC has an established history of supporting labor education programs in Washington state, raising tens of thousands of dollars in 2009 from the labor community for Harry Bridges Center and the Labor Archives of Washington at the University of Washington, as well as the Washington State Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) at South Seattle College; and
Whereas, the Harry Bridges Center, the Labor Archives, and the Washington State LERC work closely with the WSLC and its affiliates, including but not limited to the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, UAW 4121, and UNITE HERE Local 8; and
Whereas, thanks to WSLC’s lobbying efforts, in 2019 the Washington state legislature granted proviso funding to the Bridges Center, Labor Archives, and LERC that allowed these programs to expand their staff and programs; and
Whereas, this funding was renewed by the state legislature in 2021 and 2023, and will require renewal again in the 2025 legislative session; and
Whereas, existing programs require new funding to maintain present services and programs as well to expand and meet the growing needs of the labor movement; and
Whereas, labor education and research is poised to grow in Washington state, but not without the concerted effort and support of the Washington state labor movement; and
Whereas, existing higher education programs (the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, the Labor Archives of Washington at the University of Washington, and the LERC at South Seattle College), support labor education and research happening within affiliated unions, worker centers, and other pro-worker organizations and plan to grow collaboration through convening and direct support.
Resolved, that the Washington labor community commit to sustaining and growing labor education and research in both two- and four-year colleges and at new locations such as Western Washington University and Central Washington University; and, be it further
Resolved, that the WSLC encourage affiliates to invite staff of the Harry Bridges Center and LERC to address union members and leaders, present current research, offer educational programming, and request support; and, be it further
Resolved, that the WSLC encourage affiliates to make ongoing financial contributions to sponsor labor internships, research, and scholarships for events like the Summer Institute for Union Women and the Cascade Regional Labor Leaders Initiative; and, be it further
Resolved, that the WSLC will push for continuing and expanded funding for the LERC, Labor Archives, and the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies in the 2025 legislative session.
Union Tips & Reminders
Registration for Powerful Locals is Open!
Wednesday, July 31st - Friday, August 2nd
If you haven't attended Powerful Locals before, it's a great opportunity for people who want to learn more about the nuts and bolts of union leadership. We'll have tracks on contract bargaining and member engagement, as well as workshops on topics like fiscal analysis and new employee orientation.
We do recommend that locals send teams to the conference. And save those dates - July 31st through August 2nd, in person. We'll see you there!
Register here.
Washington State Labor Council Convention
Tuesday, July 16th – Thursday, July 18th, 2024
The 2024 Constitutional Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, will be held July 16-18 at the Coast Wenatchee Hotel and Convention Center. This year’s theme is “Reclaiming Worker Power, Energizing Our Movement”. Visit the 2024 Convention page for more information.
AFT National Convention
Monday, July 22nd – Wednesday, July 24th, 2024
From the AFT: We are honored to call the 88th convention of the AFT. The AFT convention is the highest authority of our union and demonstrates union democracy at work. The convention is hereby called to convene at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. and will remain in session until such time as it has given full consideration to such matters as legally may be brought before it.
Human Rights Committee Seeks Members
The AFT Washington Human Rights Committee is sincerely committed to our mission statement of advocating for human rights in our workplaces and our community. We are continuing to work with our locals and allies to combat racism, foster community, and educate our members and communities on the importance of Human Rights. The AFT Washington Human Rights Committee needs your expertise, experience, and investment in upholding Human Rights to do this! We want to have a representative committee that includes all the constituencies within AFT Washington, but to do that we need your participation. You are invited to join the Human Rights Committee as an advocate for the Human Rights issues that are important to our members. To join the Human Rights Committee, contact Ray Carrillo, 206-369-4001, rcarrillo@aftwa.org.
AFT Connect: Better Data For A Stronger Union
Connect is AFT’s web-based, secure local data management system. It provides a great way to record individual member data, and so much more!
Readily use these features and more through AFT Connect’s dashboard, upload bulk spreadsheet updates of your membership, or let Connect help your local turn data into a powerful outreach and management tool through easy, customizable reports.
Maintaining your local’s membership and leadership information in Connect meets AFT and AFT Washington requirements for your local to remain in good standing.
To get started with AFT Connect, or to request training and other member data support, contact Briseida Sanchez at bsanchez@aftwa.org.
Communications Help Is Available
Is your local not sure how to best use your website? Did you know you can have a free website? Would you like help with figuring out strategies for better communications outreach? Got something for the whole union to hear about? We can help with all of these, and more!
On top of helping your local, we can provide outreach to the union as a whole, through the Pulse and the Union Spotlight. We are actively interested in anything your members are doing, such as workshops or innovative problem solving.
If you have questions about them, want guidance, or are interested in learning more, please contact Cortney Marabetta at cmarabetta@aftwa.org.