Inside AFT—Week of April 30, 2007

AFT Members Highlight Need for Improved Workplace Safety
Meeting in Las Vegas, PSRPs Stand Up for the Union
Rhode Island Adjunct Faculty Vote Overwhelming for AFT
AFT and AFSCME Boost New Joint Local with Intensive Training
Voting Extended at AFT's 'You Decide' Web Site
NCLB Tops the Agenda at NYSUT Convention
Worthy Wage Day Spotlights Plight of Early Childhood Educators
McElroy Leads AFT Group To Observe U.K. Union Learning Initiative
AFT NCLBlog Post of the Week
Where and When
AFT MEMBERS HIGHLIGHT NEED FOR IMPROVED WORKPLACE SAFETY
In another indication of the changed climate in Congress since the Democrats assumed control, the House and Senate are both taking a serious look at workplace safety and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). AFT members were highlighted prominently in recent hearings on Capitol Hill to bring attention to the Bush administration's failure to protect workers' health and safety. On April 26, AFT member Tracee Binion spoke at a press conference with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Binion, a teacher and member of the Jefferson County (Ala.) Federation of Teachers, described the "occupational asthma" she was diagnosed with after working in a school that was being renovated without proper ventilation. A marathon runner before then, Binion missed four weeks of school and still is on several asthma medications. "If toxic fumes and bad ventilation can have such an impact on me, a healthy adult, just imagine what we're subjecting our children to," she added. A day earlier, AFT Higher Education member Franklin Mirer testified before a House Education and Labor subcommittee on workforce protections. Mirer, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at Hunter College and former director of health and safety for the United Auto Workers, is an expert on OSHA standards. As he told the panel members, the agency has "checked out" of setting standards since 2001. "Slow progress in earlier years has ground to a halt and may even be moving stealthily backward," Mirer said in his testimony. Under the Bush administration, OSHA has set only one new chemical standard—and that was because of a court order.

MEETING IN LAS VEGAS, PSRPs STAND UP FOR THE UNION
Almost 1,000 AFT members and guests gathered in Las Vegas April 19-22 for the national union's 30th annual PSRP conference, which featured a lively collection of plenary sessions and workshops building on the AFT's ongoing "Count Me In" initiative. Keynote speaker Randi Weingarten, an AFT vice president and United Federation of Teachers president, told the crowd that sometimes you just have to be a troublemaker to get an important issue addressed. That's what happened when the UFT fought on behalf of a New York City paraprofessional who contracted hepatitis C from two students who bit and scratched her. That lawsuit, along with a friendly new governor, will bring school staff the basic training, protective gear and treatment required by law to protect them from blood-borne diseases. The key to success is strong member involvement, Weingarten observed, urging PSRP members to write letters, become e-Activists, attend meetings and come out for rallies. Another session featured three past PSRP Pioneer Award winners, all of them current AFT vice presidents—division leader Lorretta Johnson of Baltimore, Kathy Chavez of Albuquerque and Ruby Newbold of Detroit—telling stories of how a union member came to be their first and best friend on the job. The session also provided tips for current activists on how to bring new workers into the union. Conference attendees also heard from AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka, who gave the Bush administration failing grades for allowing family incomes to stagnate, which he attributed to four evils: globalization, privatization, neglect of full employment and union-busting. As the 2008 elections approach, he said, "We cannot and must not give comfort to those who will not stand with us." This year's Albert Shanker PSRP Pioneer Award went to Shelvy Y. Abrams, an AFT vice president and head of the UFT paraprofessional chapter.

RHODE ISLAND ADJUNCT FACULTY VOTE OVERWHELMING FOR AFT
By a 96 percent margin—156 to 3—adjunct faculty at Rhode Island College have voted for the AFT as their exclusive bargaining agent. The year-long organizing campaign culminated in a three-day voting process in late April. The unit of more than 300 adjunct faculty members was the only employee group on campus not represented by a union. Full-time faculty at the college already are represented by the AFT and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals. Said Jim Kittridge, an English department adjunct who headed the organizing committee, "There are many adjunct employees at RIC with more than 20-plus years of service to the university. We had a few causes for concern, but one of the main reasons for wanting to organize ourselves was simply for respect and recognition as legitimate members of the academic faculty." Organizers managed to overcome some of the complications that arise from faculty members' part-time status, which can make communicating and organizing meetings difficult. "We recognized that adjunct faculty had been exploited and deserved a professional voice at the college," said Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island federation and an AFT vice president. "We gladly provided manpower and financial support to their organizing efforts."

AFT AND AFSCME BOOST NEW JOINT LOCAL WITH INTENSIVE TRAINING
Less than one month after the AFT and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) announced the formation of the Kansas Organization of State Employees (KOSE), member activists and staff from both unions were on the ground meeting with state employees. Pending approval by the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board of a bargaining unit restructuring proposal, KOSE will be the certified collective bargaining agent for most of the state's 14,000 executive branch employees. From April 15-20, nearly five dozen AFT Public Employees and AFSCME members, along with staff from more than a dozen states, conducted early morning leafleting, work site meetings and home visits with nearly 800 state employees in the Topeka area. The week-long mobilization and organizing program focused on educating Kansas state employees about their new organization, but the hands-on effort also provided participants with strategies and tools to help build their respective local unions.

VOTING EXTENDED AT AFT'S 'YOU DECIDE' WEB SITE
Thanks to an explosion of interest, AFT members now have until Sunday, April 29, to help select questions that the union will pose to leading presidential candidates when they meet with the AFT executive council in May. Voting for the best member-generated questions was extended due to a torrent of interest in You Decide 2008, the union's online effort to engage members in the 2008 presidential race. You Decide 2008 actively solicits member views on issues that shape the presidential race. The site currently is asking members to pick the best question for candidates from seven—out of more than 750 that were submitted by frontline AFT members. The two questions that receive the highest number of votes will be posed to candidates at the upcoming executive council meeting—and the two AFT members who authored the winning questions will be invited to the sessions to hear the candidates' answers.

NCLB TOPS THE AGENDA AT NYSUT CONVENTION
Nearly 3,000 delegates to the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) annual convention were set to meet in Washington, D.C., April 26-28, with No Child Left Behind topping the list of key issues on the agenda. Delegates to the NYSUT Representative Assembly—the first since NYSUT and the former NEA/New York merged last September—are expected to push for meaningful changes to NCLB as Congress debates its reauthorization this year. The debate will be informed by results of a survey of New York teachers, in which an astounding 95 percent said that NCLB's overemphasis on test scores is narrowing the curriculum. "Standardized tests alone cannot give an accurate or complete picture of a child's or a school's performance," says NYSUT president and AFT vice president Richard Iannuzzi. "Parents tell us anecdotally what teachers say in the surveys: The pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction." Other resolutions will deal with a range of education, healthcare and labor issues, including the proposed privatization of State University of New York hospitals, the delivery of special education services, and school safety. Among the scheduled speakers: AFT president Edward J. McElroy, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state education commissioner Richard Mills. Convention updates are available online, and Inside AFT will include more coverage next week.

WORTHY WAGE DAY SPOTLIGHTS PLIGHT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS
On May 1—Worthy Wage Day—early childhood educators nationwide will raise their voices to let the public know that they deserve better pay, benefits and respect. Under this year's theme, "We're Hanging by a Thread," the day is intended to remind policymakers, legislators, other educators and parents that early childhood educators are important and deserve more than the minimal pay and benefits that lead many to leave the field. One special activity this year will take place in New York City outside the "Today" show studio. A group of New York-based early childhood members and AFT staff will be there, bringing with them several quilts that feature the names of thousands of early childhood colleagues who share their commitment to providing high-quality early education to young children. In addition, a bipartisan resolution in support of Worthy Wage Day has been introduced in both houses of Congress. First Class Teachers, the AFT's early childhood education program, has information and ideas about how to celebrate Worthy Wage Day.

McELROY LEADS AFT GROUP TO OBSERVE U.K. UNION LEARNING INITIATIVE
AFT president Edward J. McElroy headed an Albert Shanker Institute study group of AFT leaders and staff on a whirlwind U.K. trip April 15-18 to see firsthand the impact of a new workplace position called the "union learning representative." The reps—selected by unions and guaranteed released time by law—help members with the career development and further education that surveys indicate they want and need. The British Trades Union Congress, or TUC, (the U.K. equivalent of the AFL-CIO) has made further education and career development a new and central piece of the labor agenda. The learning rep program is part of a broader effort by the British labor movement, government and employers to make workers in the U.K. more competitive in today's ever-changing economy. The AFT group met with the three major teacher unions and other public employee unions, as well as other partners involved with the initiative. All of them told the AFT delegation that they would continue support for the program even if government funds were discontinued. The union representatives thought it had revitalized their organizations, brought in new members, and activated more women, minorities and young people. As follow-up, trip participants want to meet with members of a previous Shanker Institute study trip to determine what applicability the learning rep model might have for the AFT. Together, the two study groups included all the AFT's top officers and representatives from all AFT divisions.