This issue of CFT United highlights the tenacity and motivation our members are bringing to the phone banks, to knocking on doors, and to supporting candidates that put our best interests first.
A note from the editor: It is fair to say that we are all on the edge of our seats this election season. But as union members we know one thing to be true: turning anxiety into action works.
That is exactly what CFT members across the state are doing.
This issue of CFT United highlights the tenacity and motivation our members are bringing to the phone banks, to knocking on doors, and to supporting candidates that put our best interests first. We hope that if you have not volunteered to GOTV yet, this will inspire you. Similarly, if you have been hitting the phones and walking precincts, we hope this issue keeps you going!
Follow CFT on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with member activities
CFT Retirees Are Powering GOTV Efforts Across the State
Retirees from up and down the state are hitting the pavement and putting pen to paper this election season. Hear from retired CFT members like Ken Tray, Arlene Reddick, Ann Killebrew, and Johnathan McLeod.
That excitement is exactly what the new president Andrea Edwards wants. The local and the district have had a lot of upheaval in the last few years, she says, and she’s been working hard to change how people see their union and to remind everyone of the local’s legacy.
“Classified Rising really is a testament to just every day getting up and saying, ‘I want to be the change that I seek. I will stand in the storm and with you guys," Edwards said.
Congressional candidate Derek Tran joins CFT State Council
As one of six targeted congressional races in California, Derek Tran’s race in Orange County is critically important. Tran highlighted the need to focus on bread and butter issues that matter to voters, specifically educators and school staff, as we work to take back the house.
Taking back Congress through California and electing the Harris/Walz Ticket
The presidential election before us in November is unlike any we’ve ever faced. This year, we have the chance to put a fellow Californian in the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris was born in the Bay Area and educated by the CFT teachers and classified workers in Berkeley.
CFT has supported her in her elections for California Attorney General, US Senator, and Vice President of the United States. Unlike any other candidate before her, she has deep experience in the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government, making her the most qualified presidential candidate our country has ever seen. In California and at CFT, our support for her has never wavered, and we believe in her similarly unwavering support for labor and for public education.
Universities should be a place to challenge the status quo, says Katie Rodger, UC-AFT president.
Rodger, who teaches writing at the University of California, Davis, says she and her colleagues are concerned that the UC system has changed its “campus climate” policies without meaningful feedback from campus unions, the Academic Senate, and student governments.
For faculty members without tenure at UC campuses, they have long felt their right to free speech is precarious, Rodger said.
Introducing CFT’s Newest Task Force: Educators for Quality Schools
Members of a new CFT task force have been working on coming up with actions, both legislation and bargaining, to address the problem of understaffing in schools.
Carl Williams and Steve McDougall, the co-leaders of the task force, Educators for Quality Schools (EQS), felt it was critically important to involve classified workers in conversations about the staffing crisis, so the EQS includes leaders from the Hawthorne Federation of Classified Employees and the Gilroy Federation of Paraeducators, along with leaders from ABC Federation, El Rancho, Galt, Jefferson AFT, Lompoc, Pajaro Valley, Petaluma, and Salinas Valley, from the EC/TK-12 Council.
The theme of this year's conference, Classified Standing Strong: Yesterday, Today, and Always, is a testament to the council's unity and continued strength.
President of the Council of Classified Employees, Carl Williams, encourages all classified professionals to attend the conference.
"Our CCE Conference will be the first CFT event held after the November 5th election. This makes it that much more important to participate and gather with your fellow union siblings so that regardless of the outcome of this election, we come together and strategize for classified professionals for the fast approaching new year."
For story ideas and inquiries email the editor, Nason McCarthy: [email protected]
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