April 2025
Worksite Representative Training
Tuesday, April 22nd, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Whether you are called a union steward, building rep, officer, or executive board member, we all want to do our best to represent our members. During this training you will learn the importance of engaging our membership, building our power inside and outside of the worksite, and enforcing our contract.
Register here.
Contract Enforcement and Grievance Training
Wednesday, April 30th, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Our Collective Bargaining Agreements are one of the cornerstones of having a powerful local. A contract that is enforced makes a big difference in how our union and our members are treated in the workplace. This training will cover the ins and outs of filing grievances, unfair labor practices, duties of union leaders, and how we make sure that management does what the contract says they will do. Please plan on attending the entirety of the training and have your local’s contract available for reference.
Register here.
You’re Invited To The Economic Opportunity Institute’s Changemakers Dinner!
Thursday, May 8th, 5:30 PM
The Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI) can't wait to celebrate the powerful work of our community and the significant policy strides we've made with you by our side.
Join EOI in welcoming our fabulous new executive director, Rian Watt (he/him), at his very first Changemakers. You'll have a chance to connect with him and our powerful policy staff as they debut our vision for EOI! We’re thrilled to have April Sims (she/her), President of the Washington State Labor Council, back as our emcee for the evening. We are also honored to welcome Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown as our keynote speaker. A dedicated public servant and trailblazer, Attorney General Brown has been a long-time advocate for justice, equity, and economic opportunity. With a distinguished career spanning law, policy, and civil rights, he has championed policies that protect working families and ensure access to justice for vulnerable communities. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of our state’s most influential leaders!
AFT Washington has purchased a table – if you are interested in attending, please contact Somma Rath at srath@aftwa.org.
The AFT Washington Retiree Chapter Needs You!
At the 2023 AFT Washington convention, delegates unanimously adopted Resolution 2023-04, “Organized Retirees For Action”. The AFT Washington Retiree Chapter, local 8045R, has been working on developing a strategic plan and establishing an organizing team to carry out the goals established in the resolution. This is where you come in!
The Retiree Chapter is calling on local leaders to do two things to support this resolution.
- Appoint a retiree from your local to serve as a representative and advisor to the Retiree Chapter.
- Work with AFT Washington and AFT National to grant authorization to move identified retired members in your local’s Connect database account to the Retiree Chapter’s Connect account.
A flyer about this is available here. An organized retiree chapter is a powerful force, but it’s too easy to lose track of our retired members. Help us grow the chapter and build our retiree power!
If you have questions about the project, please contact Richard Burton at rburton@aftwa.org or at 206-225-0621.
Human Rights Committee Seeks Members
The AFT Washington Human Rights Committee is sincerely committed to our mission statement of advocating for human rights in our workplaces and our community. We are continuing to work with our locals and allies to combat racism, foster community, and educate our members and communities on the importance of Human Rights. The AFT Washington Human Rights Committee needs your expertise, experience, and investment in upholding Human Rights to do this! We want to have a representative committee that includes all the constituencies within AFT Washington, but to do that we need your participation. You are invited to join the Human Rights Committee as an advocate for the Human Rights issues that are important to our members. To join the Human Rights Committee, contact Ray Carrillo, 206-369-4001, rcarrillo@aftwa.org.
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 Briseida Sanchez at bsanchez@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.