News from AFT Public Employees

We’re doing it again! ‘No Kings’ on March 28

We all know what’s at stake: In President Donald Trump, we have a leader who acts more like a king, as opposed to a president who abides by legal and moral codes. But Americans are fighting back peacefully. “It’s clear that courageous, everyday citizens refuse to be intimidated by our government’s abuse of power,” says AFT President Randi Weingarten. “We will stand up and protect our schools, our hospitals and our neighbors.” Get the toolkit here and the events listing here.

Tips from public employees on mobilizing members

When the president of Colorado WINS learned that the president of the United States might be targeting Denver next in his anti-immigration campaign of terror, she knew how she’d begin to mobilize. One simple thing Diane Byrne does is deck out her activists in matching T-shirts. Wearing union colors promotes team spirit, she says. The AFT Public Employees program and policy council, meeting in New York City last month, abounded with tips to help local affiliates mobilize. PPC chair Gary Feist, president of North Dakota Public Employees, recommended finding members who can tell a personal story to draw media attention. With more media on an issue, he said, legislators will become more motivated to fix the problem.

AFT sues over rule targeting immigrants’ CDLs

Together with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and two individual truck drivers, the AFT has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that would bar many immigrants—including asylum seekers, refugees, temporary protected status holders, and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals who have work authorizations—from holding commercial driver’s licenses.

Let’s stop the anti-voting SAVE Act

Right now, President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are working to silence our voices with the SAVE America Act and the Make Elections Great Again Act—together known as SAVE 2.0. These bills are designed to silence people’s voices at the ballot box through excessive paperwork, prohibition, purges and punishments. Specific measures would abolish safe, reliable vote-by-mail systems; impose restrictive photo ID requirements to cast a ballot; and create a centralized voter surveillance system in every state to intimidate voters. We can’t let our vote be taken away. Tell your senators to vote no on SAVE 2.0.

Together, we are America

What one rural hospital means to a community’s survival

Across the United States, rural healthcare is in crisis. In one upstate New York county, AFT members fear that as one of their region’s key hospitals fights to survive, their community will lose access to care—and the way of life their families have known for generations.