Healthcare victory at Lawndale

For thirty years, the Lawndale Elementary School District denied their part time classified employees health benefits. In fact, the district’s previous superintendent would schedule these employees so that they were just fifteen minutes under the ACA requirement to fulfill health benefits, at 28.75 hours a week.

After years of activism and organizing, the Lawndale Federation of Classified Employees (AFT Local 4529) including dozens of classified professionals will now be granted healthcare benefits come the new school year.

AFT Local 4529 president, and CFT Council of Classified Employees President, Carl Williams, states, “After all these years of fighting, these employees got the benefits that they deserve. There were tears. Tears. Some employees literally died waiting for these benefits.”

He went on to state, “We are grateful to the new relationship with the new superintendent who knows and understands the work of classified employees.”

Great work Lawndale Federation!

Rally June 22 in support of ArtCenter faculty

One year ago, faculty at ArtCenter of Design voted overwhelmingly to join CFT. After 10 months of bargaining, the employer is doing everything to fight the faculty's efforts to achieve a fair first contract. This includes unilaterally making changes in conditions without bargaining and other unfair labor practices.

Join ArtCenter faculty and students on June 22 to rally for a fair faculty contract and the college we all deserve! Show your unity and power as we fight for job security, fair wages and transparent evaluations.

When: Thursday June 22, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Where: 1111 S. Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena
Parking: Paid parking at 750 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena

Sign the AFT petition urging Congress to pass an assault weapons ban

AFT is taking action on gun violence and pushing Congress to pass an assault rifle ban and safe storage laws. Our schools have tragically been on the frontlines of the gun violence crisis in our country.

Weapons of war have no place in our society. These weapons are the main choice of domestic terrorists and other shooters who commit these heinous crimes.

Gun violence does not have to be the norm.

Passing Ethan’s Law and a strong ban on military style weapons and high capacity magazines will make our country and our children safer. If passed, these two bills will undoubtedly save lives. Please take action by signing this petition and sharing with your community.

Solidarity with our union siblings

The Writers Guild West is on their 39th day of the union's historic strike. You can support their fight by showing up to the picket line. The schedule is updated daily and can be found here.

After years of layoffs, suspending 401k contributions, forced furloughs and fair wage issues, journalists at two dozen local newspapers across the country walked off the job on Monday to oppose media giant Gannett. Gannett, a multi-million dollar company, owns over 200 daily newspapers. CFT stands in solidarity with these efforts and will work to uplift our local Coachella Valley Desert Sun News writers.

Lastly, on Monday, June 5th, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) voted on a strike authorization. The authorization passed with an overwhelming margin of 98% of their 65,000 members.