Dear John,

Many of you are back on campus today after the national election yesterday. First of all, thank you for voting and for all that you did to advocate for candidates and issues up and down the ballot. I am so proud of the work that so many CFT members have done during this election season.

We are all feeling so many different emotions right now, and every single one of those feelings are more than understandable. I also know that the political pundits and researchers will be analyzing the election results for weeks and months to come.

While we believe in democracy and will accept the outcome of the votes for the presidency, we will also be vigilant to ensure every vote is counted in all of the races from Congress to local school board elections. Over the next few days and weeks we will know much more on many of the other election outcomes, and we believe that we will see success at the local and state level because of our collective work.

In the coming years, we can be certain that many of the institutions and rights that we hold dear will be under attack. Public education, collective bargaining rights, and many of our individual rights will be targets of the new administration in January.

But as unionists and as educators we will continue to advocate for what we believe in through the organizing work that we do. Together, we will defend our constitutional right to collective action. Together, we will fight for our right to self determination. Together, we will protect public education that is the basis for our democratic society. And together with our union siblings in the labor movement, we will fight to improve our communities and our country, even when the odds may be stacked against us.

We are stronger together, so thank you for what you do every day and for being a part of the CFT family.

In Unity,

Jeff Freitas
CFT President