December 2021
From the President
Greetings Friends,
The new year is right around the corner, offering the opportunity to reflect on the last year. Given that we’re approaching the two-year mark of the COVID pandemic, I’m finding myself reflecting on the last two years and experiencing an array of feelings ranging from fatigue to inspiration, worry to optimism. I suspect I’m not alone in that.
Together, the leaders, members and staff of AFT Washington have navigated remarkable challenges and seized opportunities, both expected and unexpected. Think back to March 13th, 2020, when we learned that schools and colleges were shutting down, restaurants closed their doors, and we suddenly cut off most social interactions. Over the course of the following months, we adapted to the circumstances of the moment, then shifted gears to adapt to new circumstances, and then shifted again, and again, and again. Some number of locals were in bargaining nonstop, including regular contract bargaining, impacts of closure and mandated vaccine bargaining, nurse educator and high demand faculty bargaining and other subjects. Legislation, proclamations, and an unpredictable economy made for a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride experience. These were challenges that we collectively turned into opportunities to mobilize our members, forge cross-union alliances, and improve wages and working conditions.
On March 12, 2020 we launched the Communities for Our Colleges Coalition (C4C) in partnership with the Alliance for a Just Society. Project Director Fernando Mejia-Ledesma had no choice but to digitally organize students, community groups, faculty and staff throughout the state who then joined together to build the coalition, develop a legislative agenda, and then engage legislators before, during and after the 2021 legislative session to win robust investments in our Community and Technical Colleges (CTCs).
In the last two years we provided trainings, workshops, town halls, conferences and our bi-annual convention. Our School Related Personnel Council expanded to include more PK-12 locals and more leaders. Our CTC Council met informally in addition to their regular monthly meetings. The Contingent Faculty Issues Committee acted on a resolution with relentless and escalating advocacy for policy changes to improve working conditions for adjuncts. The Human Rights Committee hosted numerous webinars calling attention to the ways in which racism was exacerbated from the start of the pandemic, starting with the violent and vile anti-Asian hate showing up here in Washington and throughout the country.
In spite of the extraordinary demands placed on you as union leaders and education workers, you solved the challenges in front of you and stood up for your membership, seizing the opportunities (or quite often creating them) as they arose and building power in the process.
I remain grateful and humbled by what you, the local leaders of AFT Washington, have done during this difficult time. As we see worker power surge in America this fall, I am proud, as always, to stand with you as collective action at the ballot box, the legislature, the bargaining table, and the strike line rights the inequities that have plagued our “normal”, empowering educators, students, families, and communities to find a new, equitable normal that elevates all of us and creates a future we can all prosper in. Your dedication is essential, and I look forward to building on the work of the last two years next year, and further into the future. We will keep dreaming our big dreams, and we will keep taking bold action – more to come.
However you celebrate, have a joyful end of year. We’ll see you in 2022.
In solidarity,
Karen Strickland, President
Local News & Highlights
The [Re]Invest in Our Colleges Committee is Planning Actions for the New Year and Beyond
By Anna-Marie Magdalena, State Affiliate Political Organizer
As we prepare for the 2022 legislative session and major actions in 2023 to push for reinvestment and rejuvenation in our community college systems, [Re]Invest in Our Colleges (ROC) is developing a strategy to build on our wins from SB 5194. That bill created 200 new tenure-track faculty positions, removed barriers to college accessibility for students who are undocumented, and created a process for accountability for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. With this major win, due to our participation in the Communities for Our Colleges coalition, we are building a movement that centers the needs of our students, and in turn, the conditions we work under.
Faculty working conditions are students’ learning conditions. High turnover of underpaid part-time/adjunct faculty, a lack of faculty diversity, and divisive funding for some faculty but not others has led to a community and technical college system that doesn’t meet its potential to teach and graduate the students that enter our classrooms.
In the coming year, the ROC committee will be meeting on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 4pm to continue strategizing for a better future. Our goal is to get every local represented at the meetings to guarantee our planning is inclusive. If you are interested in attending, please reach out to Anna-Marie Magdalena via phone or text at 206-475-8775 or email amagdalena@aftwa.org.
Adjunct Faculty Make Their Voices Heard: Be Part of Our Equity Campaign
By Jacqui Cain, Vice President for Contingent Faculty
The Contingent Faculty Issues Committee has been working diligently to represent contingent faculty members and ensure their voices are heard! We’ve been operating on the time-honored principle that open mouths get fed, as evidenced by our recent action at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges’ December meeting on December 1. This follow-up action to the last SBCTC meeting featured yet more members telling their personal stories of how contingency affects them, from loss of healthcare and housing instability to hours of unpaid additional labor thanks to online teaching and the increased needs of students. Our plan is to continue showing up to these meetings until the SBCTC demonstrates that they’ve heard us, through a commitment to doing everything in its power to end the exploitation of contingent faculty.
Personal stories are compelling, and we aren’t stopping at the SBCTC. The legislature needs to hear us too! We are going to need contingent faculty leading the way at the state level; we are the employees of this system who have the most at stake. You can learn how to craft your personal story and connect with other adjunct faculty around the state at our annual Adjuncts Building Community conference, hosted by AFT Washington and co-sponsored by Washington Education Association (WEA). Day one will feature a plenary by Joe Berry, co-author with Helena Worthen of Power Despite Precarity: Strategies for the Contingent Faculty Movement in Higher Education and a workshop on how to tell the story of your precarity, with a view toward meeting with elected leaders.
Day two is professional development focused: SB 5194 has resulted in 200 adjunct-to-full-time faculty position conversions. Workshops will discuss teaching philosophies, diversity statements, and preparing for the interview. There is no cost to register.
AFT and AFSCME Members Stand Up to Save the Early Learning Center at Everett Community College - And the School Backs Down!
By Bob Downing, Union Organizing Representative
On November 30, around 100 union members, family members, and children mobilized at Everett Community College (EvCC) to save the Early Learning Center, which the school had recently announced would be leased out to the YMCA for use as a limited-service daycare. The EvCC Board of Trustees and the college president announced that same day that the leasing plan would be halted, and union members celebrated this victory for our community.
The Early Learning Center at EvCC provides high quality preschool education that includes individualized curriculum, developmental screenings, quarterly Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSG) ongoing assessments to track children’s development, parent teacher conferences, nutrition education, literacy preparation, STEAM-based hands-on exploration using Early Childhood Hands-On Science (ECHOS) curriculum, Zeno Math, Social Emotional support using Second Step curriculum, and violence prevention education using Child Protection Unit (CPU) curriculum. The YMCA is not prepared to offer these important services to parents who utilize them, many of whom live under the poverty level.
Bethany Duschene of WFSE and Nina Benedetti of AFT Everett Faculty.
President Nina Benedetti of AFT Faculty Local #1873 and President Kelsey Lindstrom of AFT Professional Local #6485 both spoke out in favor of saving the Early Learning Center, conserving quality jobs for the union members who work there and quality education for the children who study there. United with members of AFSCME and our two AFT locals, hundreds signed the petition and came out to tell the Board of Trustees that, when it comes to quality education for our kids, we won’t back down.
Masks Available!
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
As a reminder, the AFT Washington office has a supply of N95 and surgical masks, as well as face shields. The face shields are proving useful for teachers who work with students who have hearing impairments and use lip-reading as a means of communication, and can relieve the need to lecture for several hours in a mask, as well. If your local would like to get some masks and/or face shields, please contact Lydia Petroske at lpetroske@aftwa.org to arrange for pickup or mail delivery.
Union Tips And Reminders
Save The Date! Classified Conference on Saturday, March 12th, 2022
Whether the conference is fully virtual or hybrid, make sure that your calendar is marked for this coming year’s Classified Conference on Saturday, March 12 from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Classified Conference Committee met this last week to discuss possible workshops and other planning ideas. Discussion on possible workshops include the neurodiverse classroom, nutrition and food cost increases, planning for retirement, facing student loan debt, and knowing your union contract.
The committee welcomes participation from all classified locals! If you are interested, please reach out to amagdalena@aftwa.org.
Join Us For Virtual Lobby Day 2022!
Lobby Day is February 21st! Last year’s passage of the landmark bill SB 5194 shows that when we fight alongside our community, we win! Let’s build on this work by making sure we are expanding access to wraparound services for our students, benefits for our early childhood educators, student loan forgiveness for our contingent and part-time faculty, and other key legislation.
We are RSVPing early this year to make sure we have appointments set up with key legislators or their staff. You will receive more information as the date for Lobby Day gets closer.
If you have any questions about Lobby Day, please contact Anna-Marie Magdalena, State Affiliate Political Organizer, at amagdalena@aftwa.org or 206-475-8775.
Register here.
Adjuncts Building Community Virtual Conference 2022
The Contingent Faculty Issues Committee is excited to announce this annual conference, hosted by AFT Washington and co-sponsored by Washington Education Association (WEA). Day one will feature Joe Berry, co-author with Helena Worthen of Power Despite Precarity: Strategies for the Contingent Faculty Movement in Higher Education and a workshop on how to tell the story of your precarity, with a view toward meeting with elected leaders. Day two is professional development focused: SB 5194 has resulted in 200 adjunct-to-full-time faculty position conversions. Workshops will discuss teaching philosophies, diversity statements, and preparing for the interview.
Join us Friday and Saturday, February 25th and 26th! Register here.
Communications Help Is Available
Is your local not sure how to best use your website? Did you know you can have a free website? Would you like help with figuring out strategies for better communications outreach? Got something for the whole union to hear about? We can help with all of these, and more!
On top of helping your local, we can provide outreach to the union as a whole, through the Pulse and the Union Spotlight. We are actively interested in anything your members are doing, such as workshops or innovative problem solving.
If you have questions about them, want guidance, or are interested in learning more, please contact Cortney Marabetta at cmarabetta@aftwa.org.
AFT Connect: Better Data For A Stronger Union
Connect is AFT’s new, powerful, web-based, secure data management system. It provides a great way to record individual member data, and so much more!
- Track your local’s support from Community Allies.
- Record member event attendance.
- Create forms and surveys.
- Capture detailed employment and employer information.
- Manage COPE and other local committees.
Readily use these features and more through AFT Connect’s dashboard or let Connect help your local turn data into a powerful tool through easy, customizable reports.
Connect is replacing both Membership Suite and the Affiliate Toolkit Workspace. Get ahead of the rush and sign your local up to use Connect today!
To get started with AFT Connect, contact Christine Landon at clandon@aftwa.org.