First-ever air quality training held at AFT

More than two dozen AFT leaders and activists, including a number of PSRPs, gathered at the union’s national headquarters in June for a weeklong intensive training on indoor air quality. The first-ever training, developed by the AFT’s health and safety staff, included presentations by outside experts, lots of hands-on activities designed to help people address air quality issues back at work, and a walk-through of an elementary school near the AFT office to give participants direct experience in using their new analytical skills.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about half of the nation’s K-12 schools have problems linked to poor indoor air quality. The AFT participants certainly came from schools and colleges with an alarming range of environmental problems, including mold, dust, contamination from sources such as poorly maintained buildings, rats and roaches, and more.

The AFT PSRP department has produced a series of brief health and safety tips for support staff on a variety of issues, including indoor air quality. They are available online, in English and Spanish, at www.aft.org/psrp/topics.

California federation turns back governor's contracting law

One of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s early priorities after becoming California’s governor was to repeal a law that sets some sensible guidelines for school districts and colleges that want to contract out services. The California Federation of Teachers and its allies, in a broad coalition of unions, made sure the governor didn’t get his way, winning important victories when two bills to repeal the existing contracting provisions were defeated in May.

The labor coalition not only fought the legislative proposals but also worked to educate legislators and the public about the vital work of classified employees in the state’s schools and universities. At a news conference, state Sen. Richard Alarcon, who wrote the existing legislation that limits privatization, said that “quality must be the first priority when hiring employees who will work around our children. And when jobs pay low wages and have poor benefits, it’s the taxpayers who end up paying for assistance programs.”

The law that Schwarzenegger attempted to repeal says that if districts want to contract out services, they have to demonstrate actual savings from the decision, ensure that the contractor’s wages are comparable with district and industry standards, and make sure district workers aren’t displaced.

New Jersey nurses stage 20-day strike

Nurses and health professionals at Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, N.J., hung tough and won a solid three-year contract during a 20-day strike in June that drew attention to issues of safe staffing and pay and pension parity with other area hospitals.

The 420-member Bergen unit is one of 10 locals of the AFT-affiliated Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) that participated in the union’s One Voice campaign. The affiliates aligned their contract expiration dates to focus in a broader way on such issues as staffing, pensions, salaries and retiree health benefits.

“With this agreement, we have moved forward in our goals of achieving safe staffing and retaining our experienced caregivers,” said HPAE president and AFT vice president Ann Twomey. “The nurses and health professionals at this hospital took on a fight against for-profit healthcare and for safe staffing—and emerged stronger than ever.”

Throughout the strike, the union had the support of the community as well as state and federal lawmakers, including state assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg and U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, both Democrats. As the strikers picketed daily, the hospital flew in scab nurses from around the country, putting them up in hotels and paying premium wages.