February 2023
From the President
Greetings Friends,
I’m writing to you mid-way through week six of the legislative session and it’s been a rapid ride. As we navigate that and prepare for Monday’s Lobby Day, we’re also planning ClassCon 2023, R.I.D.E.ing The Waves In Education, which will be held virtually on March 11th and preparing for our convention May 18th-21st. I’ll use my letter today to elaborate on convention and encourage you to begin making plans for your local’s participation.
Each convention year all our executive board positions are open for election. I’d like to formally announce now that I am running for another term as your president, and I hope I’ve earned your support. I will be available to meet with your board or membership over the next several months.
We’ve had several vacant positions for the last few months, including the Secretary, Vice President for Higher Ed Classified, and Vice President At-large. Links to all positions and the nominations process are included in this Pulse. If you are considering running for a board position a good way to explore that is to talk to one of our board members or to me.
Although our board has met in person just once since the start of the pandemic we have been able to develop our priorities and increase our engagement with our membership, our leaders, and our community partners over the last couple of years. I look forward to continuing our work to fulfill Resolution 2020-04 – Becoming an Anti-Racist Organization by extending our Race and Labor program, continuing with our Anti-Racism in Collective Bargaining project, developing our relationships with tribal governments and education leaders, applying a racial and economic equity analysis to our legislative and political work, and more. I’m also excited about working with you to help build the most powerful locals we can, resulting in gains in collective bargaining, thriving workplaces and building a highly engaged membership.
There are two other opportunities I’d like to mention. One is the opportunity to submit resolutions to help guide our work. Over the years we’ve passed resolutions on a wide range of topics, from strategies for increasing funding to our CTCs to climate justice to immigration rights and so much more – you can see past resolutions here. I welcome a conversation with you about resolutions you might want to consider. We are also seeking nominations for our Board Awards. These offer the chance to acknowledge your members and leaders who have gone above and beyond in your local, in our state federation, or in the labor movement more broadly. Please take some time at an upcoming board meeting to explore the possibilities.
I hope to see you at Lobby Day on Monday and at our convention kick-off social event on May 19th at Renton Technical College.
In solidarity,
Karen Strickland, President
February 2023
Lobby Day Is Monday!
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
Don’t forget! If you signed up to attend Lobby Day, it is Monday, February 20th, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. If you have not confirmed your lunch and other information, please contact Rosalinda Aguirre at raguirre@aftwa.org.
A Quick Legislative Update
By AFT Washington Staff
This year, AFT Washington and Communities for Our Colleges are supporting a number of bills that would significantly improve student access to higher education. Of particular note, there are two bills this year that focus on making sure students have the materials and textbooks they need.
SB 5557 (Liias, LD-21) sets a floor of 85% compensation for part-time faculty, as compared to compensation for comparably qualified full-time and tenured faculty. The law also notes some of the impacts of inequitable compensation. It is currently still in the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development committee, and is scheduled for Executive Session on February 17th.
SB 5522 (Liias, LD-21) provides a $1200 stipend to students who receive the full Washington College Grant to help pay for tools, textbooks, and materials required to participate in their program or courses.
SB 5703 (Randall, LD-26) makes statutory the improvements in the student aid system that were put in place in last year’s supplemental budget. It also increases eligibility for maximum grants, and places the maximum Bridge Grant at $1000.
If you would like updates on these and other bills, please subscribe to the Legisletter here.
The Working Families Tax Credit Has Launched!
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
Have you heard about the Working Families Tax Credit Washington state is now offering? The program is open for applications now!
The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) is a new annual cash tax rebate of up to $1,200 for Washington state households with low and moderate incomes. It is expected that more than 400,000 Washington households are eligible. This new credit opened for applications February 1st.
In addition, unlike similar programs at the federal level, the Working Families Tax Credit will also be available to people who file their taxes using an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), which includes undocumented immigrants.
Learn more about the Working Families Tax credit on the WFTC Coalition website.
The Next Stage of the Anti-Racism In Collective Bargaining Project
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
With the first stage of the ARC-B complete and being shared with locals, we have set our sights on the next set of subjects to work on: student evaluations, complaints, and discipline. These tools can be and have been weaponized against faculty of color, and it will be an important step to include language and best practices addressing that in contracts.
Dr. Farhana Loonat recently gave a TEDxUSCB talk on this subject. You can watch it here.
Officer Nominations
Every other year at Convention, AFT Washington members elect officers to the Board and to the union leadership. The nominations are now open. The guidelines are available here.
For the 2023 Nominations & Elections process, we are adding an online LeaderNet Nomination Form option. If you are interested in being nominated to the 2023 AFT Washington Executive Board ballot here are the steps to follow:
- Share the LeaderNet Nomination Form link or paper Nomination Form with members who wish to nominate you.
- Ten (10) members in good standing will need to nominate you using either the paper or LeaderNet Nomination Form. It is acceptable to have nominations come from each of the two methods.
- Members nominating you with the paper form may mail those electronically or through the postal service directly to the AFT Washington office or to you. If sent to you, you will then mail them to the AFT Washington office.
- Contact Geno Amador (gamador@aftwa.org) to confirm you have received the ten signed Nomination Forms, online or paper, required to be added to the ballot.
- The Nominations & Elections Committee will confirm both types of Nomination Form following the Nominations and Elections guidelines and AFT Washington’s bylaws and standing rules. The committee will contact you if there are any issues.
Please note that candidates for AFT Washington Executive Board positions may also be nominated from the floor of convention by an attending delegate, and that this process is in addition to that option.
A printable version of the above guidelines is available here.
Union Tips and Reminders
We Out Here!: A Celebration of Diverse Leadership
Saturday, February 25th, 7:00 - 11:00 PM
The Racial Justice & Diversity Committees of the Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO invite you to “We Out Here!” A celebration of diverse leadership in Washington's labor movement.
We Out Here! will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the Teamsters Hall in Tukwila. Join us for food and drinks from around the world, music, a dance floor and an evening filled with joy and justice, in honor of and in solidarity with AFL-CIO Constituency Groups during Black History Month.
All are invited to attend this space centering Black and brown working people. All allies are also invited to volunteer to support this event. Contact Kasi Perreira at kperreira@wslc.org with questions.
Register here.
Save the Date For Classified Conference!
Saturday, March 11th, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Make sure that your calendar is marked for this coming year’s Classified Conference! Likely workshops include de-escalation and support, nutrition and teaching kids to make healthy choices, supporting gender diversity in the workplace and the classroom, supporting special education students, planning for retirement, burnout and self-care, know your rights, and more.
Registration opens February 24th. This year, the conference is virtual.
More information on our website.
AFT Washington Adjunct Unemployment Workshop
Friday, March 10th, 12:00 - 1:00 PM
AFT Washington has helped hundreds of adjuncts successfully apply for unemployment benefits over more than a decade.
This workshop is intended for seasoned and new applicants alike. The aim is to increase your chances of getting your unemployment claim as adjuncts resolved quickly, decreasing the potential of accidently triggering delays that could delay payments by months.
Attending a workshop in-person is important, so we can answer questions live! We do not record sessions, but we can provide additional accommodations as needed.
Register here.
APALA's 2023 Annual Gala!
APALA’s annual gala is coming up! It is Monday, March 13th, in person at the Jerry Brockey Center at South Seattle College. AFT Washington is purchasing a table and we have 5 tickets if you are interested in attending. Attendance comes with an annual membership.
Contact Geno Amador at gamador@aftwa.org if you are interested.
AFT's Annual PSRP Conference
Join the AFT in historic Baltimore for our 45th PSRP Professional Issues Conference, April 14-16, 2023. The agenda is centered around three mini-plenaries, focused on our theme This Is How We Do It: School and College Staff Taking Center Stage to Support Our Students, Our Communities and Ourselves!
- This Is How We Do It—Celebrating PSRP Wins;
- This Is How We’ll Do It—Advocacy, Resources and Strategies; and
- This Is How We’ve Done It—Sharing Successes, Failures and What We’ve Learned Along the Way.
The conference will also offer a wide range of professional development workshops to help strengthen our union, develop leadership skills and equip workers with new tools to help activists advocate for our professions. We look forward to seeing you in Baltimore!
More information here.
Race & Labor Trainings Available
Would you like to be a better leader in your workplace and a voice for change? AFT Washington has several leaders who are trained in presenting the Washington State Labor Council's Race & Labor training. If you are interested in doing the Race & Labor training for your local or e-board, contact your UOR and we can arrange that.
More Details on The 2023 Convention
Mark your calendars now for the AFT Washington convention, which will be held May 18-21, 2023! We’ll have much, much more information as we go, but four things to be aware of now are resolutions, board awards, the scholarship fund, and the social event. We are particularly encouraging leaders to consider resolutions that you want to bring forward.
If you have any questions about whether your idea is suitable for a resolution, talk to your UOR! They can help you turn your idea into a strong resolution that will guide our work. Resolutions can be in support of a constituency, such as last year’s resolution supporting contingent faculty, or for the full state federation, as 2020’s anti-racism resolution is. There are many options in between, and we’ll have more information on them as well very soon.
The board awards are briefly described here. They are divided into categories, most of which only union members are eligible for, but the Cesar Chavez Human Rights Award is a special case: that award is for an individual, group, or local who has a mission or vision that embraces human rights and confronts challenges to human rights head on. Be thinking about people you would like to nominate for the awards, and talk to your UOR about the process of nomination.
In addition, the Convention is typically when we start our fundraising campaign for the scholarship program. We are planning changes to accommodate the virtual format, but while we iron out the details if you’d like to start building the fund now, you can do that here
And finally, this year we are changing the format a bit. While the business and workshop portion of the event will be virtual, we are going to host a social event, with a dinner and keynote conversation, at Renton Technical College on Friday, May 19th in the afternoon. More details will be available soon!
AFT Connect: Better Data For A Stronger Union
Connect is AFT’s web-based, secure local data management system. It provides a great way to record individual member data, and so much more!
- Capture detailed employment and employer information about members, prospective members, and retired members of your local.
- Make sure your members can access their union-provided benefits (discounted insurance, home mortgages, travel, goods and personal services).
- Keep track of changes in member earnings to ensure proper payment of your local’s per capita obligations.
- Manage your local executive board as well as COPE and other local committees.
- Plan outreach to your members and prospects. Have the information you need to conduct mailings, email, phone and text message outreach via local efforts or using AFT’s communications tools. Record member event attendance and outreach responses.
- Create forms and surveys.
- Track your local’s engagement with and support from Community Allies.
Readily use these features and more through AFT Connect’s dashboard, upload bulk spreadsheet updates of your membership, or let Connect help your local turn data into a powerful outreach and management tool through easy, customizable reports.
Maintaining your local’s membership and leadership information in Connect meets AFT and AFT Washington requirements for your local to remain in good standing.
To get started with AFT Connect, or to request training and other member data support, contact Christine Landon at clandon@aftwa.org.
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.