Thousands mobilize for workers’ rights

AFT members and leaders joined thousands of trade unionists, civil rights and religious leaders, elected officials and others in cities across the country during the week of Dec. 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day and draw attention to the fact that even in the United States, the basic right to form a union can no longer be taken for granted.

Rallies, town hall meetings and other events put a spotlight on the increasing assaults on worker rights by corporations and anti-union politicians, aided and abetted by the White House. Throughout the week, an overriding message was to urge Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would ensure that a majority of employees in a workplace could form a union without facing crippling anti-union tactics.

In Boston, AFT president Edward J. McElroy spoke at the Workers’ Freedom Trail Rally and March. Even though the right to organize is not a radical one and has been a “settled matter for generations,” McElroy declared, “most Americans would be shocked to find out what nonunion workers go through trying to organize and that union workers often can’t get a contract.”

In Washington, D.C., more than 200 AFT members and staffers were among the nearly 3,000 unionists and others who rallied in front of the AFL-CIO headquarters and then marched to the White House, chanting slogans and carrying signs. AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese told the crowd that workers should be able to decide for themselves whether or not to join a union, “free from threats and intimidation.”

In October, U.S. secretary of education Margaret Spellings granted flexibility to states that are making a “good-faith effort” to help teachers become highly qualified under No Child Left Behind requirements. In a letter to the secretary shortly after that decision was released, the AFT asked her to extend that same flexibility to paraprofessionals. The new process related to teachers calls for a state to submit a revised plan for reaching the goal by the 2006-07 school year in order to avoid losing federal funds.

“We are asking that you establish a similar process for paraprofessionals. States that submit appropriate data and demonstrate concrete efforts to meet paraprofessional requirements should be exempt from sanctions and should earn the right to submit a revised plan for reaching full compliance in the 2006-07 school year,” AFT president Edward J. McElroy wrote. “It is misguided to apply one standard of state compliance for teachers and another for paraprofessionals. Undermining these good-faith efforts at the state level would be highly disruptive to students—particularly low-income, ELL and special needs students—who benefit greatly from the support services that paraprofessionals provide.”

The letter to Spellings is posted online at www.aft.org/topics/nclb/downloads/SpellingsLetter_111005.pdf.

The AFT continues to distinguish itself as a leader in early childhood education. In December, the union and its affiliated organization, the Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW), played a major role in the National Association for the Education of Young Children annual conference in Washington, D.C.

CCW, a project of the AFT Educational Foundation, joined with the Albert Shanker Institute to sponsor several conference workshops and an exhibit booth. One of the workshops featured folksinger and songwriter John McCutcheon, who offered a tuneful lesson on using music in an educational setting. McCutcheon’s presentation, “Developing Children’s Social Conscience Through Music,” brought the crowd of more than 300 early childhood educators to its feet.

AFT members Elaine Merriweather from California and Bridget Caruth from New York City followed up McCutcheon’s performance with a presentation on how the union can help early childhood educators gain the respect, recognition and pay they deserve. Another CCW-sponsored workshop discussed the impact of staff turnover on the quality of child care. And the Albert Shanker Institute hosted a workshop titled “What Matters for Children and Teachers.”

Meanwhile, at the AFT booth, staff and members distributed publications and other materials produced by the AFT for early childhood educators.

“Our participation in this important conference helped showcase the AFT’s and CCW’s understanding of and commitment to the needs of those responsible for the care and education of our youngest children,” says CCW deputy director Marci Young.