Labor Day tells us that school has started, the summer is winding down, and the seasons will soon be changing. For us in the labor movement, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the only federal holiday to recognize workers and their efforts. As exciting as it is to celebrate labor and our accomplishments of the past year, we must also recognize the herculean efforts adversaries go through to stop us.

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AFT-Maryland had the pleasure of being at Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Back to School Event on Saturday August 19, 2023. The event gave us an opportunity to engage with members from unions across the federation including City Union of Baltimore (CUB Local 800) and the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU Local 340) as well as help start libraries for Baltimore students by distributing hundreds of books. Great day for the union and the community!!

Click through for photos, video, and to read more about the event!

Welcome Back to a New School Year!

I can only imagine how excited everyone is for the start of the new school year. Although we enjoy our summer break there is no greater feeling than returning to our students and setting them on the path to success. I hope your summer break gave you the time to rest, reflect, and recharge. We are best able to pour into our scholars when we have taken the time to tend to ourselves. The time away from our students, while re-energizing, has also made us excited for their return to the classroom. Vacation was fun, but that does not mean that we also did not miss the joy that our students bring to our lives. 

As we embark on the 2023-24 school year, we do so knowing...

Read on for the rest of President Campbell's Back to School 2023 message > > >

“I’m going to tell you a story about the oldest profession… storytelling. What else could you have thought?” said Elliot Bales, a member of SAG-AFTRA as he opened his remarks. One would think a rally in support of striking workers might start with a sad or more militant tone, but not when the striking workers are also some of the most creative and expressive workers in our society. The SAG-AFTRA Washington Mid-Atlantic local hosted a rally at the office of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) local 487 in Baltimore. Local labor leaders and supporters from across the city came out to stand in solidarity and show their support. 

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AFT-Maryland and the Baltimore Teachers Union participated in Baltimore City Public Schools' 2023 New Teacher Summer Institute. Take a look at Baltimore city's newest teachers, new members to the AFT-Maryland labor family, and how the union makes the transition to the district a little easier.

Click through to see photos and video from the event, and to read more about it.

Have you heard of Maryland's FAMLI act? The Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program is a new program created by the state legislature in 2022 and updated in the 2023 legislative session that grants eligible employees in Maryland the right to 12 weeks paid leave to care for a family member, or for that employee to take leave for their own serious medical condition. Maryland joins 10 other states—California, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia—that offer some sort of paid, long-term family leave to workers to help care for a worker’s family member. 

Read on to learn more about Maryland's FAMLI Act and for answers to some frequently asked questions.