News

One of the best practices any of us can embody is one of honesty and truth-telling. However, to be honest about our history does not mean we have to feel ashamed about said history. Instead, we can accept the ideas of great leaders like Malcolm X when he says “of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research.” An honest accounting of United States history means we reflect on and acknowledge the Indigenous peoples who occupied the land where we now live and work. This is the meaning behind Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

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For the first time in four years, Baltimore welcomed back Artscape, but Mother Nature had other plans for the weekend. What was planned as a weekend full of art and culture that welcomed many from across the Baltimore area, became a one-day cultural event with a largely washed-out weekend due to heavy rains and threatening winds from Tropical Storm Ophelia. Despite not being able to enjoy the entire weekend of celebrating the arts, AFT-Maryland was present on day one of the cultural festival and distributed hundreds of books as a part of our ongoing partnership with Reading Opens the World. 

Read on for photos and 

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! This diverse celebration brings in a large cross-section of people to celebrate the unique cultures that we call Hispanic Heritage. Over the next thirty days, we acknowledge and celebrate Americans who have lineage across South America, Mexico, Central America, and even Spain. 

AFT-Maryland welcomes full-time faculty from Frederick and Howard Community Colleges into the state federation. Following legislation in 2021 granting collective bargaining rights to full-time community college faculty, AFT-Maryland is proud to be the exclusive bargaining agent for higher education full-time faculty at the community colleges in Frederick and Howard counties respectively.

Read on for more about the unionization efforts.

AFT-Maryland continued our practice of school tours during the first week of the new school year. The purpose of the tour is to welcome students and staff back to school, and to remind education professionals that their union is here to support them during the school year.

Read on to take a look at a recap of our visits, including photos & a video.

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.