News

Smears vs. solutions

Randi Weingarten at a Massachusetts high school

Summer is upon us, and parents, children and teachers are winding down from what has been an exhausting and fully operational school year—the first since the devastating pandemic. The long-lasting impact of COVID-19 has affected our students’ and families’ well-being and ignited the politics surrounding public schools. All signs point to the coming school year unfolding with the same sound and fury, and if extremist culture warriors have their way, being even more divisive and stressful.

[10-24-07]

On October 24, 2007, professional staff at Yakima Valley Community College became the first group of professional employees to vote to unionize under a new state collective bargaining law.

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.

EC Minutes Oct. 23rd, 2019

TCCFT 2196 Executive Meeting, October 23rd, 2019

Members Attending: Dave Howard, John Sandin, Michael Mixdorf, Deanna Cole, Jennifer Snoek-Brown, Valerie Morgan-Krick, and Ken Pimpleton

Item 1: Approval of Agenda (Dave Howard): Michael made a motion to approve the Agenda and it was seconded by Deanna. The Agenda was approved.

Item 2: Approval of Previous Minutes (Dave Howard): Michael made a motion to approve the Previous Minutes and it was seconded by Valerie. The Previous Minutes were approved.

Item 3: TCCFT 2019-2020 Proposed Budget (Jim Reisdorf): Jim will present the budget to the

EC Minutes Nov. 13, 2019

TCCFT 2196 Executive Meeting, November 13th, 2019

Members Attending: Dave Howard, Michael Mixdorf, Katrina Taylor, Jennifer Snoek-Brown, Deanna Cole, and Ken Pimpleton

Item 1: Approval of Agenda (Dave Howard): Michael made a motion to approve the Agenda and it was seconded Katrina. The Agenda was approved.

Item 2: Approval of Previous Minutes (Dave Howard): Michael made a motion to approve the Previous Minutes and it was seconded by Jennifer. The Previous Minutes were approved.

Item 3: 2019 Tenure Committees (All): The E-Council discussed the Tenure Committee process. All the committees were

Executive Council Meeting Minutes Sept. 25th, 2019

TCCFT 2196 Executive Meeting, Sept. 25^th, 2019

Members Attending: Dave Howard, John Sandin, Valerie Morgan-Krick, Jim Reisdorf, Jennifer Snoek-Brown, Katrina Taylor, and Ken Pimpleton

Item 1: Approval of Agenda (Dave Howard): Jennifer made a motion to approve the Agenda and it was seconded by Valerie. The Agenda was approved.

Item 2: Approval of Previous Minutes (Dave Howard): Jennifer made a motion to approve the Previous Minutes and it was seconded by Valerie. The Previous Minutes were approved.

Item 3: AFT Connect Presentation (Jennifer Snoek-Brown): Jennifer introduced the AFT Connect

All Membership Meeting Minutes Sept. 19th, 2019

TCCFT 2196 All Membership Meeting, September 19th, 2019

Item 1: Approval of Agenda (Dave Howard): Jim Reisdorf made a motion to approve the Agenda and it was seconded by Sherry Cmiel. The Agenda was approved by the Membership.

Item 2: Approval of Previous Minutes (Dave Howard): Kim Harrington made a motion to approve the Previous Minutes and it was seconded by Josh Wright. The Previous Minutes were approved by the Membership.

Item 3: AFTWA Powerful Locals – Collective Bargaining & Contract Action Team (John Sandin): John and Jeffrey Engle shared what they learned at this workshop in relation

Randi Weingarten and NYC teacher Tamara Simpson

Attacks on public education in America by extremists and culture-war peddling politicians have reached new heights (“lows” may be more apt), but they are not new. The difference today is that the attacks are intended not just to undermine public education but to destroy it.

EC Minutes June 5th, 2019

TCCFT 2196 Executive Meeting, June 5th, 2019

Members Attending: Dave Howard, Valerie Morgan-Krick, John Sandin, Jennifer Snoek-Brown, Jim Reisdorf, Michael Mixdorf, and Ken Pimpleton

Item 1: Approval of Agenda (Dave Howard): Jim made a motion to approve the Agenda and it was seconded by Michael. The Agenda was approved.

Item 2: Approval of Previous Minutes (Dave Howard): Michael made a motion to approve the Previous Minutes with the changes to the elections report and it was seconded by Valerie. The Previous Minutes were approved with the changes.

Item 3: Revision of TCCFT Payroll Deduction

All Membership Meeting Minutes May 15th, 2019

TCCFT 2196 All Membership Meeting, May 15th, 2019

Item 1: Approval of Agenda (Dave Howard): Barbara Peterson made a motion to approve the Agenda and it was seconded by Michael Mixdorf. The Agenda was approved.

Item 2: Approval of Previous Minutes (Dave Howard): Barbara Peterson made a motion to approve the Previous Minutes and it was seconded by Michael Mixdorf. The Previous Minutes was approved.

Item 3: Union Member Rights (Attorney Laura Ewan): Dave introduced Laura Ewan of Barnard Iglitin & Lavitt LLP the Law Firm that represents our Local. Laura presented information on Our Rights under the