The Pulse

Coming off our Lobby Day this week, the theme for 2026 seems to be building our community. We had a very strong showing of over 80 participants plus our staff, and for the first time, we were joined by 14 members from AAUP’s University of Washington chapter, who lobbied together with our members and had meaningful conversations with our legislators and their staff. Together, we rallied with Communities for our College to demand free college for all Washingtonians, and then, memorably, marched to the Capitol rotunda where we lowered banners from the fourth floor and chanted our demands of free college, taxing the rich, and funding education! It was a powerful, unprecedented moment, that was followed shortly afterwards by the historic Senate vote that passed the millionaires' tax legislation, allowing it to move forward, and taking another step in the systemic changes we need to ensure a stronger future for Washington.

I also want to share my gratitude for having the opportunity to continue to expand our community thanks to the outreach of CAIR Washington, a grassroots civil rights organization working to support Washington’s Muslim community. They invited me to participate in their long-running Muslim Day at the Capitol. There, I learned more about their work to fight Islamophobia in a variety of spaces and met their leaders and upcoming leaders. I also got to enjoy some truly fantastic baklava!

The end of the year is a natural time to reflect on the work that we’ve done and celebrate what we have accomplished. Together we faced what can only be described as unprecedented and unthinkable attacks on our institutions and our communities. But we faced these challenges together, taking strength from the fact that we were united in standing up for what we know is right.

The incredible outpouring of solidarity, strength, and yes, even joy, were visible at the No Kings Day's, Labor Day, and other resistance events in our state and across the nation. It seems like every time we gathered, we gained strength in numbers and in our commitments to each other. I was at two landmark events heralded as being the “largest ever.” And I am looking forward to adding more knots in my proverbial union belt! I’m starting with the Regional Leader meeting in January, where we will have the largest number of AFT Washington participants in memory. Coming together and refusing to give in to fear of the promised attacks on our unions and our communities are crucial ways we reinforce our power.

The past month continued the roller coaster pattern of ups-and-downs we’ve been experiencing all year. The Mariners did not advance to the World Series, sadly, but we did achieve record level turn out for No Kings Day. The people who crunch the numbers are still crunching, but it is on track to have been the second largest single day of protest in our nation’s history – 1970’s inaugural Earth Day did draw 20,000,000 attendees! The No Kings numbers are still amazing: I attended the No Kings event in Olympia, and many estimates are saying that it was the largest protest ever at the state capitol!

Election Day brought home how big the shift really is. In Washington, we elected a progressive mayor in Seattle and had a clean sweep of the nine legislative races, as well as important progressive wins in a number of city and county local elections. Nationally, the voters sent a clear message that they are unsatisfied with the current administration’s approach, and candidates running on those platforms were shown the door.

This Fall is shaping up to be one of deep transitions. Hopefully, shortly after you read this, the Mariners will have joined the list of World Series Champions, we will be sharing new stories of solidarity that we experienced at the No Kings Day events that we just attended, and we’ll have a better understanding of where we stand in the upcoming legislative session.

I just returned from the New Leader Tour at AFT National’s headquarters in DC, where I was able to collaborate with other recently elected Presidents from around the nation. Whether from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nebraska, or Arizona, we all came together with a deep commitment to our mission of serving, not just our members, but our democracy. I was also able to connect with AFT staff and leadership. Randi Weingarten shared with us her unmatched determination that we will continue to rise and take on the fight ahead. And it is a fight.

Hello AFT Washington Leaders! I am still feeling the energizing effects of our convention as we make our way through June and I know you are all busy wrapping up the school year, holding your officer elections and bargaining contracts – there’s a lot going on!

June is also Pride Month and the value of elevating that is increasingly crucial as we see the array of efforts to squelch the rights and freedoms of people who identify as LGBTQIA+. We also celebrate Juneteenth and Gun Safety Awareness month in June.

We live in especially uncertain and chaotic times. Reading the headlines can cause vertigo as we swing from changes to tariffs day to day, to the drama of the power struggle between Trump and Musk, to the militarization in Los Angeles in response to peaceful protests of ICE’s overreach, to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine. Add to that the challenging state budget and the high likelihood of cuts in federal funding, and things can feel overwhelming.

Even so, it is imperative that we do the work to maximize our greatest strength – our collective power that we achieve through solidarity and a commitment to action.

As you know, we held our biennial convention this past weekend and it was terrific! Delegate energy was high throughout and it reminded me of the power of coming together in person…virtual meetings make our lives easier in some respects, but there’s no question that our power and solidarity are strongest when we have interactions in real life.

We were honored to have AFT President Randi Weingarten join us Saturday evening, where she spoke unequivocally about the need to take our power and solidarity to the streets. AFT has mounted a vigorous legal strategy along with an unrelenting presence on Capitol Hill. In fact, they were in the hearing room at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning as the Rules Committee got to work slashing and burning the programs and services that millions of Americans rely on, like the more than 8 million who will lose their healthcare, or the 42 million who will lack the nutrition they need when their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits go away, or the 5 million students who will lose access to affordable college. The House passed the bill and it will take all of us, to mitigate the damage as it moves through the Senate.

As you are likely aware, Project 2025 provided a roadmap for an attack on many federal programs, organized labor, and marginalized communities. The Trump Administration is implementing this roadmap, causing tremendous disruption and fear among the people of this country, and undermining the institutions and programs that meet our collective needs and create opportunity.

Standing for Democracy is a national group launched in 2024 to build a multi-racial, multi-gender, multi-generational, multi-class movement to strengthen our democracy, fight back against any degradation of it, and build the future that uplifts us all…that better future that truly is possible. For workers, what’s at stake is the right to organize and bargain, the right to just cause, the right to speak freely without fear of retaliation, and so much more. For immigrant workers, the threat to these rights is even greater and fighting back is essential.

For months now we have been talking about and mobilizing for the looming revenue deficit in our state, which has grown to an estimated $15 billion over the next four years. This has led to discussions of budget cuts throughout state government, including in early learning and higher education. Lest we think that PreK-12 education has been left out, let’s remember that given decades of underfunding, no cuts or minimal increases make it extremely difficult to meet the needs of students and do right by the workforce.
 

Our members have shown up to meet with legislators in their home districts, at their workplaces, on zoom and in Olympia over the last 9 months to paint the picture of harm if there is no investment in education while also highlighting what can be accomplished if meaningful investment is made. Legislators have listened, lamented, and often stated a commitment to raising new, progressive revenue to deal with the reality before us. With just about 40 days left in this legislative session, the time has come to demonstrate that commitment. It is unlikely, however, that we will see the new revenue needed without mobilizing our members and taking collective action. The AFT Washington Advocacy Team is planning the next step in our advocacy plan and we’ll share it with you soon.

I was invited to give the keynote speech at the Public School Employees’ legislative conference on February 16th. It was an honor and a treat to spend time with our union siblings in a union representing the same constituencies that we do. My intention was to acknowledge that we’re up against it right now, but that we have a lot of collective power, as long as we decide to use it. That takes a lot of work, but I’m up for it and I hope you are too! I decided to share my speech this month as it is a true reflection of where I am as the president of our union. Thank you for reading it!