This March, when the Denver Federation for Paraprofessionals (DFP) sits down to bargain a new contract with the school district administration, they're hoping for a little boost from three new friends on the local school board.

For the first time last fall, the local union endorsed school board candidates and then worked hard to get those candidates elected. "We needed to see if we could get some people in there who support the union," says DFP president Bernie Jiron. "We took a chance and it paid off."

Rather than striking off on its own, the AFT-affiliated local worked in conjunction with the Denver Area Labor Federation, the area's AFL-CIO central labor council. The various unions participated in candidate interviews and ended up endorsing the same three school board hopefuls. The interviews included questions about education, such as where the school district was heading, what changes were needed and, of course, salaries and benefits for employees, Jiron says. Even though the Denver teachers are represented by the National Education Association, their union also worked with the AFL-CIO affiliates during the election.

The DFP was looking for candidates who were willing to tackle such challenges as employee retention, the need to expand health coverage to more paraprofessionals and a push for binding arbitration for labor disputes (which doesn't currently exist), Jiron explains.

Jiron says her members "were happy to see that the people we endorsed were put on the board." She's planning to keep them aware of what's going on politically in the district so they're ready for the next election.