News from AFT Public Employees

Unions and allies win in defense of student debt relief

A federal court has ordered the Trump administration to stop its unlawful rewriting of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program as a way of silencing local governments and nonprofit groups that do work at odds with the administration’s political agenda. The ruling comes in National Council of Nonprofits et al. v. McMahon, a case brought against the U.S. Department of Education by a broad coalition of more than a dozen cities, labor unions and nonprofits. The case sought to stop a new rule that would allow the secretary of education to disqualify government and nonprofit employers that disagree with the administration’s policies from a program intended to support borrowers working in public service jobs.

How AFT fights for affordable lives for our members

Working people join our union for a simple, powerful reason: We deserve to thrive. We need to be able to care for our families without high prices bleeding us dry. We deserve access to good, affordable healthcare. And we deserve to retire with dignity. Yet, the AFT’s Fight for Affordability campaign grew out of a harsh reality: In a survey taken earlier this year, thousands of AFT members—educators, healthcare workers and public service employees—said they’re resorting to debt to cover the skyrocketing costs of everyday life. Read about how your union stepped in to help.

No ICE in the Cup

No ICE in the Cup is a national call to action to keep the World Cup safe, joyful and free from fear—especially for immigrant families. As we host the tournament, we must live up to our country’s ideals and recognize that any Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence at World Cup festivities is the antithesis of being welcoming and inclusive to all people, visitors and neighbors alike. We’re calling for ICE to stay out of stadiums, off the streets and out of the spaces where people gather to celebrate the game.

We aren’t safe yet from the SAVE Act

President Donald Trump hasn’t given up on his hopes for voter suppression in the midterm elections. Despite resistance from members of the Senate, he is still needling them to pass 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. 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. Remind your senators that they must stand strong against any reappearance of SAVE 2.0.

Librarians win back jobs after illegal layoffs

In a major win, five faculty librarians and two university professionals at Western Illinois University, a four-year regional university in rural Illinois, will be offered the jobs they lost last year with back pay after being laid off, an arbitrator has ruled. The victory for the University of Illinois Professionals underscores not only the importance of university librarians but also the need for a greater investment in public higher education.

Prepare for wildfires, storms and natural disasters

Wildfires can be hazardous, especially for people with respiratory conditions. And they can be deadly; three wildland firefighters in Colorado recently lost their lives. The AFT has assembled a collection of resources that can help you and your local union prepare for fire, including the AFT’s Wildfire Smoke Factsheet. Know how to get emergency alerts and where you should go if you need to evacuate. We’ve also included information from the federal government, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Labor champion Beatrice ‘Bea’ Lumpkin dies at 107

Beatrice “Bea” Lumpkin, a lifelong champion of workers’ rights whose activism spanned nearly nine decades, died in Chicago on June 14 at the age of 107. Her fight for workers’ rights began as a teenager in a New York City laundry. At just 19, she was hired by the newly formed CIO to organize her fellow workers—a role that launched an extraordinary 88-year career in the labor movement.

A Russian phrasebook for surviving authoritarianism

The Russian language has a rich vocabulary for describing life under tyranny. Plainclothes ICE officers snatching people off the streets? In Russian, they would be called “siloviki.” Government workers being required to perform a military parade for the president’s birthday? They would be called “budget people” in Russian. In this podcast by NPR’s “On the Media,” the host speaks with Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev, authors of the upcoming book How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America, about how Russian words can help Americans understand what’s happening in our country today.