Reflecting on the importance of education to "lift us up in life," U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in his column in the current issue of the Baltimore Afro-American praises AFT executive vice president Lorretta Johnson as a heroine in the field.

 

A dozen nurses, paramedics and EMTs who are members of the AFT-affiliated Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (VFNHP), as well as doctors and an AFT national representative, are leaving for Haiti on Jan. 20 to provide much-needed medical assistance for the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake. Members of the medical team work at Fletcher Allen Health Care, an alliance of the University of Vermont's medical and nursing schools.

In a major speech Jan. 12 at the National Press Club, AFT president Randi Weingarten unveiled a serious and comprehensive reform plan to ensure great teaching, taking on systems that have been ingrained in public education for more than a century.

When you go to the AFT's public Web site, you will find a new, improved and totally redesigned site. The redesign—the first in more than five years—involves more than just an updated, more attractive design. The site includes improved navigation and lots of new features that not only will make it easier to find what you're looking for but also to share your voice and opinions on important issues in a variety of ways. One thing you will notice is the prominence throughout of AFT members' quotes and faces.

Starting in late January, AFT members across the country will start receiving their new AFT membership cards in the mail. Once you receive your card—the entire mailing is scheduled to be completed by late February—you will want to validate it on the members section of the new AFT Web site. That will give you not only access to exclusive members-only discounts on retail shopping, entertainment, travel, magazine subscriptions, mortgage services and insurance, but also the chance to win prizes, including $500.

• During union campaigns, bosses threatened to close plants 57 percent the time and threatened to cut wages and benefits 47 percent of the time.
• In more than 60 percent of union campaigns, workers are forced to attend mandatory one-on-one sessions with supervisors and are given anti-union messages or interrogated about their support for a union.
• The number of employers using 10 or more identified coercive tactics to intimidate and harass workers has doubled.
• When employees actually win an election to form a union, 52 percent still have no contract a year later, and 37 percent are without a contract two years after they voted to join a union.

At the AFT Colorado Convention on April 25, 2009, an outstanding volunteer was awarded the Meyer/Mall Outstanding Volunteer Award.