CFT members join thousands at AFT Convention in Boston
This week over 150 CFT delegates are joining thousands of educators, school workers, public employees, and healthcare professionals from throughout the country at the 2022 AFT Convention in Boston.
According to CFT President Jeff Freitas, the national gathering comes at a critical time for public education, our professions, and our communities. “It is incredible to once again come together with AFT members from every corner of the country,” says Jeff. “We are tackling critical issues like de-professionalization, staffing shortages, equity for part-time faculty, right-wing attacks on our schools and our communities, gun safety, and more. But we are also reconnecting and recommitting ourselves to organizing and fighting back.”
Keynote speakers at the convention include U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Christian Smalls (Amazon Labor Union leader), and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. The convention has also been an opportunity to celebrate the historic affiliation between AFT and AAUP.
For more on the Convention, including a livestream of the proceedings, go to www.aft.org/convention.
CFT members on the way to Poland to support Ukrainian refugee children
Starting this week two CFT members will take part in a delegation of 15 educators from across the country on a two-week journey to Poland where they will provide on-the-ground educational support to Ukrainian and Polish students (ages 12-15) affected by the traumas of war.
Gabrielle DeVilla (pictured left) and Patricia Mason (pictured right) from the Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers will join fellow educators on the trip.
“I'm overjoyed with gratitude for this opportunity to represent my community through AFT and serve Ukrainian kids who have been displaced from their country,” says Gabrielle. “I am excited to learn and grow from this, and to share my experiences with everyone.”
For more on the delegation, click here.
CFT’s Kent Wong in conversation with Bernie Sanders on the history of the labor movement
UCLA Labor Center Director, and CFT Vice President, Kent Wong got a chance to participate in a national conversation convened by Senator Bernie Sanders this week on learning from the history of the labor movement.
“The voice of labor today is growing stronger, workers across the country are organizing in unprecedented numbers, and the positive image of unions is at a 50-year high,” said Kent during his remarks. “So this is a huge opportunity to advance change and to advance social justice unionism.”
Watch the full conversation here.
