AFT not just a teachers’ union, local president says

Service, from workplace representation to contract negotiations to training, was the quality the Keene Police Officers’ Association in Keene, N.H., looked for in its quest to unite with an AFL-CIO affiliated union. And the formerly independent union found it in the New Hampshire Federation of Teachers/AFT (NHFT).

“With NHFT’s guidance and leadership, we can only become that much stronger,” says John Stewart, Keene Police Officers’ Association president and the new NHFT vice president.

The 30-member officers’ association represents patrol officers and detectives—and down the road, Stewart hopes to add dispatchers to the unit.

In addition to the officers’ association, NHFT represents Pittsfield Town employees and Nashua Public Library employees. But the NHFT is determined to grow the number of public employee locals it represents. “We are putting our public sector division up front and center,” says attorney Terri Donovan, NHFT staff representative. “We see that there is a huge need out there.”

The officers’ association is the first law enforcement union in the state to affiliate with NHFT.

“As a result of our lobbying efforts and networking with other law enforcement agencies, we are hoping that we will be able to demonstrate to other law enforcement agencies that the NHFT is not just a teachers’ union but a union of professionals from all areas of the labor movement,” says Stewart.

John Stewart, president of the Keene Police Officers’ Association, led the campaign to affiliate with the New Hampshire Federation of Teachers/AFT.