Join our Union in Building a Better Future

Throughout the last two years and especially this quarter, we have been dealing with an always shifting teaching environment which caused a great deal of strain and stress on us and our students. More than ever, we realize that work, life, and politics are intertwined. This is why winning SB 5194 was important. Because we organized support for this legislation, we gained significant funding for 200 new tenured faculty position across the state, a pilot program for student counseling, and more accountability on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at our colleges.

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Free COVID Test Kits

January 18, 2022

The US government is now offering 4 free at-home COVID-19 test kits per residential address.  You can find more information about these free test kits at COVIDtests.gov.  You can order test kits through the USPS at the link provided.  The tests will be shipped in late January.  Be sure to order your test kits now so that you have them when you need them.

Stay safe!

 

Welcome our new interim president, Scott Haddock!

January 17, 2022

Please join us in welcoming our new interim Federation President of AFT Local 4254, Scott Haddock.  Scott is the director of the Paralegal program at Edmonds College and has a background in contract and labor law.  He has previously served as VP of Grievance and on our contract negotiations team.  More recently, Scott has served on the Contract Administration Committee which meets monthly to negotiate issues with our collective bargaining agreement.

Please also join us in congratulating Kay Latimer, our previous Federation President, on her retirement.  In her 40 years with Edmonds College, she has helped thousands of students reach their educational goals in addition to being relentless in her advocacy for faculty. Kay's leadership was instrumental in getting the win in the ULP decision for Corrections in addition to some of the significant wins in the last contract, such as reducing the length of time to the top step from 33 years to 22 years and tying associate faculty pay to full-time faculty pay.  On behalf of our local, thank you Kay and welcome Scott!

If you would like to contact the president of our union, please send an email to aftedmonds@gmail.com.
 

Finally—it’s President-elect Biden

Patience—counseled by former Vice President Joe Biden all election week as Americans waited for votes to be counted—finally paid off Nov. 7, four days after Election Day, when Biden won in Pennsylvania and gained enough Electoral College votes to acquire a new title: president-elect. AFT President Randi Weingarten says the union’s leaders and members “can’t wait to get started” on the work ahead “with an administration that will embrace and fight for the values we hold dear.”

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Your vote is your voice

AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest column outlines the urgency of using our voices—our votes—in this life-changing election, when we will make a choice “between President Donald Trump, who has trafficked in chaos, fear, lies and division, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who seeks to reverse Trump’s failures on COVID-19 and the economy, and to unite and uplift the American people.” Besides the four crises we face—a pandemic, an economic crisis, racism and a climate emergency—democracy itself is on the ballot, as Trump continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election.

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‘Back to school’ like never before

In her September New York Times column, AFT President Randi Weingarten says that going back to school has never looked like it does now. Weingarten explains that because of President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which has been chaotic, contradictory and inept, and the lack of federal guidance and funding, we’re seeing a patchwork of school reopening plans across the country.

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