Five million join No Kings protests
A shout out to the thousands of CFT members who joined dozens of No Kings rallies across the state last Saturday. Nationwide over 2,100 rallies took place, with conservative estimates that more than 5 million people filled the streets to protect democracy and to speak out against the Trump administration’s growing authoritarianism. CFT Executive Vice President Juan Ramirez and UESF President Cassondra Curiel represented CFT at the major rallies in Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, where they passionately spoke in support of our immigrant communities.
Thanks to all who joined in the nationwide day of action. But there is still more work to be done in the coming weeks. Right now, the Republican-led Senate is taking up Trump’s big, ugly bill that will give massive tax breaks to the wealthy while taking healthcare from 16 million Americans and food assistance from 8 million people, including about 2.5 million children.
Please consider joining AFT’s member-to-member phonebank next Tuesday, June 24 from 3:00–4:45 p.m. to reach out to AFT members to hold our elected representatives accountable for the cruel budget cuts that threaten basic needs for our communities.
A word from CFT President Jeff Freitas
The month of June is usually one of celebration. Educators are celebrating the end of the school year and families are honoring students who are graduating. The joyful celebrations of Pride month are underway, and just this week we commemorated the effective end of slavery in the United States by recognizing our newest federal holiday, Juneteenth.
But this year celebrations of every kind have been dampened by the unwelcome presence of ICE in our communities, particularly in Los Angeles. We have seen labor leaders arrested for speaking out, communities terrorized by their presence. Just this week, we saw ICE and Border Control attempt to use the Dodgers Stadium as a “staging ground” before being told to leave. They are showing up armed and masked at worksites, school sites, and community gatherings to terrorize immigrant communities, while focusing on communities of color. ICE is attacking our neighbors. They are attacking our family members, our friends, and our colleagues. The actions of the federal government are completely unacceptable. They are not making our communities safer; instead, they are only sowing fear and unrest.
CFT will continue to speak up in support of our immigrant communities. We will continue to educate our members, our students, and their families on their rights so that we are all prepared to stand together and confront this creeping authoritarianism and defend our democracy. In social justice work, we often say that, “no one is free until everyone is free,” and that has never been more true than it is today — in this moment. We will keep fighting and keep speaking out until everyone is free.
– Jeff Freitas, CFT President
CFT members, let’s march together in solidarity and celebration at the SF Pride Parade! This is a powerful opportunity to demonstrate our union’s commitment to LGBTQ+ rights and uplift our community. The parade will take place on Sunday, June 29, at approximately10:30 a.m.
RSVP here and we will follow up with specific meeting point and event details.
CFT July 1 webinar: One Faculty, One Future: Working Together to End the Two-Tier System in California Community Colleges
On Tuesday, July 1 from 2:00–3:30 p.m., CFT members who work in community colleges are invited to join the CFT One Faculty Task Force for a 90-minute interactive online workshop on the campaign to transform the current exploitative two-tier system of faculty in the California community colleges into a one-tier system. Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas to advance the movement! Register here.
