Public Employees | April 2026

Public safety requires rigorous training. So why is ICE cutting back?

Wayne Spence, president of the New York State Public Employees Federation, is a proud graduate of his state’s parole training academy, where he received 10 weeks of rigorous training. He learned about parole supervision, the use of force, de-escalation and how to handle firearms. Spence embraced the training so much that he went on to become certified as a police firearms instructor and an evaluator of other instructors. Writing in AFT Voices, he asks: If he and other parole officers undergo so much training to save lives, why has U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement slashed the number of exams ICE agents must complete from 25 to nine? Demand accountability here.

AFT-Maryland wins landmark expansion of bargaining

In a historic win, the Maryland General Assembly has passed legislation, now headed to the governor’s desk, extending collective bargaining rights to the vast majority of nontenure-track faculty—including full-time, part-time and adjunct faculty—at Maryland’s four-year public universities. This victory results from years of organizing on campuses, in communities and at the state capital by AFT-Maryland. In 2021, the Legislature expanded collective bargaining to community college faculty. Since then, AFT-Maryland, which represents over 18,000 people, has worked hard to extend the same rights to faculty at Maryland’s four-year public universities. Read more.

Take action this May Day

May Day is the world’s Labor Day—a day rooted in worker solidarity and collective action. It has its foundations in the fight for the eight-hour workday, when workers, many of them immigrants, united to demand fair treatment and dignity on the job. It’s about working people standing together to demand a voice in the decisions that shape their lives. That’s why this May 1 isn’t just about showing up, it’s about standing together and speaking out in the places where decisions are made. Our May Day toolkit includes resources and materials to encourage members to take action.

Americans need relief, not war

Working-class Americans need a tax cut now, AFT President Randi Weingarten writes in her latest column. Americans are paying at least 60 cents a gallon more to fill up their gas tanks following President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a war seemingly of choice, not necessity. What is of necessity is addressing the economic stress already reverberating across America. The AFT recently surveyed our members—including public employees and healthcare professionals—about how they are coping with these rising costs. Read about what we found and how we’re proposing to deal with the affordability crisis.

Webinar on medical debt and affordable healthcare

Rising healthcare costs are affecting families and communities—and many are delaying or forgoing care as a result. Join AFT President Randi Weingarten, public health expert Dr. Vin Gupta, and Covered California’s chief medical officer, Dr. Monica Soni, on April 30 at 7 p.m. EDT, for a timely Vital Lessons webinar on medical debt and healthcare affordability. Hear key findings from the AFT’s latest survey and explore practical resources and solutions you can use now to navigate costs and support your community.

There’s still time to stop the anti-voting SAVE Act

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 would silence people’s voices at the polls through excessive paperwork, prohibitions and purges. 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 to intimidate voters in every state. We can’t let our vote be taken away. Tell your senators NO on SAVE 2.0.

What we mean when we say ‘affordability’

Everyone in America deserves the freedom to thrive. Join AFT President Randi Weingarten in a “Union Talk” podcast, recorded last month, as she interviews a counselor from New Mexico and a speech pathologist from Illinois who are confronting issues like skyrocketing gas and insurance prices. They unpack the results of a survey of more than 7,500 AFT members, in which three-quarters reported living paycheck to paycheck. And they discuss the tools our union is providing members to help them navigate debt. If you care about great public services and a thriving democracy, “Union Talk” dives into these issues, showing that together we can accomplish what is impossible to do alone.