Join union members and activists at an April 5 “Hands Off!” event near you
This Saturday, April 5, AFT members are joining thousands of fellow union members and activists in a nationwide day of action to say: Hands off our Social Security. Hands off our public schools. Hands off our Medicare. Hands off our jobs.
Click here to find an event near you.
Social Security, Medicaid, and other essential public services are critical supports to many American workers and families. But Trump and Musk want to defund them to give tax breaks to their billionaire cronies. Let’s stand together for public education, healthcare, jobs, retirement, democracy, and basic dignity. We have to show this administration that we will never stop fighting for what is right.
RSVP now to join a local Hands Off day of action event!
CFT members head to Delano for Cesar Chavez Day march
On March 31, Cesar Chavez Day, CFT members gathered in Delano, CA, to join the California Federation of Labor Unions, UFW, SEIU, and many other unions to march together in a strong show of solidarity with immigrant workers. Attendees marched three miles through the town – the location of the famous 1965 Delano grape strike and the historic home of the UFW – and gathered for a rally afterwards, hearing from many speakers like Attorney General Rob Bonta and UFW President Theresa Romero.
CFT President Jeff Freitas, who attended the march, said, “Now more than ever, CFT is proud to stand with our immigrant siblings and to honor those who feed the world through their labor. We will always show up to honor the important contributions of farm workers and immigrants, on Cesar Chavez day and every day.”
Stunning Solidarity! CFT women attend the 2025 “Union Women: Stronger Together” conference
CFT women turned out for the 2025 “Union Women: Stronger Together” conference in Los Angeles on March 29 and 30 in Los Angeles. CFT was a sponsor of the event.
Participants heard from incredible speakers like former Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and former NLRB lead counsel Jennifer Abruzzo; head of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor Yvonne Wheeler; and State Senate Labor Committee Chair Lola Smallwood-Cuevas. We also heard from many rank-and-file women workers and learned so much about the hard work that our siblings in the trades and other professions do to keep our communities safe and strong.
Attendees remarked on how refreshing it was to be in a celebratory space with like-minded union women and to have the chance to spend the weekend in what California Federation of Labor Unions President Lorena Gonzalez called “stunning solidarity.”
UTLA member and conference participant Nicolle Fefferman said, “It was energizing and inspiring to spend the weekend with hundreds of other union women. We had a chance to learn from one another and to find some much needed solidarity in these truly difficult times.”
CFT women also helped lead the work of the conference, with AFT 1521 member and CalSTRS Vice-Chair Sharon Hendricks leading a workshop on public pensions and Berkeley Federation of Teachers Vice President and ECTK-12 Northern Vice President Regina Chagolla sharing the public educator perspective on a panel about women on the frontlines fighting back.
We can’t wait to attend again next year!
AFT’s Weingarten calls on chief fiduciary officers to examine Tesla investments
AFT President Randi Weingarten sent a letter to more than 75 state and city chief fiduciary officers who oversee most major U.S. public pension funds, telling money managers to urgently review their current holdings in struggling electric-car maker Tesla. Pension fiduciaries are charged with preserving retirement security for millions of AFT members, including teachers, nurses and other workers. Tesla stock makes up a material portion of those funds’ investments.
The letter was sent to state treasurers and city comptrollers across the country, including stewards of heavy hitters such as the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York and the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund.
“Today’s precipitous drop in Tesla sales increases the retirement risk to plans that millions of nurses, teachers and other workers are invested in,” said Weingarten. “Our members’ right to retire with dignity and grace after decades of service to families and communities is paramount. It’s why we were bitterly disappointed in the initial lack of response from asset managers, and why today we are urgently asking chief fiduciaries to demand additional and immediate clarity.”
The full letter can be read here.
April 8 “Kill the Cuts” Day of Action – By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These reckless cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy. Cuts to NIH funding will mean cuts to ongoing clinical trials, lifesaving treatments, jobs, and local economies – for working families in every state. On Tuesday, April 8th, 2025 workers across the country are standing up and demanding NO cuts to education and life-saving research. Find an action near you.
