News | AFT-Maryland

AFT members speak out to reverse climate change

AFT-Maryland staffer, Janell Edmonds (below, center), joined hundreds of other AFT members and thousands of trade unionists at the People's Climate March in New York City on Sunday, September 21st. The AFT members wore blue shirts that said, "Climate Justice", and held signs and distributed materials that read "Climate change is real. TEACH SCIENCE."

Brian Bisson, vice president of the State Vocational Federation of Teachers in Connecticut, and his 19-year-old daughter, Lexy (pictured above, back right), brought hundreds of t-shirts she designed to inspire teachers and students. This summer

AFTMD joins rally for Social Security and Medicare

AFT Maryland affiliates including members of the Baltimore Teachers Union and the City Union of Baltimore joined with AFT National and other labor unions and progressive organizations at a Sept. 18 rally on Capitol Hill to protect seniors' hard earned benefits. Speakers included Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Keith Ellison (D-MN).

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What we're reading: Thurs. 9/18/14

Here's some of what we're reading this week. More below the jump...

For more news clips, visit md.aft.org/news.

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Farewell to Betty Pitt

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to a long time friend and colleague. AFT-Maryland retiree, Betty Pitt, passed away on September 6, 2014. She will be greatly missed.

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Senate votes 79-18 in favor of Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United

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Maryland State AFL-CIO announces endorsements for statewide office

At its executive board meeting on August 28th, the Maryland State AFL-CIO announced its endorsed candidates for statewide office for the 2014 general election. The announcement of these endorsements follows a relatively successful primary election season for labor in the state, in which nearly 90% of the AFL-CIO’s endorsed candidates won their party’s primary.

AFT-Maryland Political Coordinator Todd Reynolds praised the hard work of the unions in making its decisions. “The union movement in Maryland has done a very good job in analyzing the candidates, and then mobilizing its members to support

Labor Day 2014

Welcome to the Labor Day weekend!

All of us at AFT-Maryland and our Local affiliates wish you a happy and healthy holiday. We hope you'll join us in taking the day to recognize the hard work and dedication of Maryland's workers.

We also hope you'll take a moment to visit the AFL-CIO's Labor Day 2014 web page. They remind us that "despite our sweat, sacrifice and innovations, too many families are struggling to make ends meet.

This is not an accident. The rise in political and corporate attacks on working people has meant that wages have declined or remained stagnant. Good jobs are scarce, unemployment still is unacceptably high and the greedy few have rigged the game to reap the gains in productivity at the expense of the working people who made those gains possible."

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MCEA attends MACo 2014 Summer Conference

The 2014 Conference of the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) was held this year at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City Maryland. MCEA was well represented at this annual event with President Linda Day, Executive Director Jack Nelson, and Salisbury staff liaison Karen Coulbourne.

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Steward Training at Springfield Hospital

AFT-Maryland staff representative, Michael Spiller, conducted a steward training held on Tuesday, August 26, 2014 for AFT Healthcare-Maryland. Click here to visit AFT Healthcare-Maryland's site.

The training took place on Springfield Hospital grounds and was attended by five new stewards. President Debra Perry spent the afternoon portion of the training talking with the new group.

The five new stewards are: Pam Neuberth, Christina Cappelletti, James O'Reilly, Yvonne Dowell, and Shirley Robinson-Keene.

For more photos, visit AFT-Maryland's Facebook page.

AFT-Maryland Distributes 1,200 books to Baltimore Students

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On Thursday, August 21, 2014, AFT-Maryland partnered with the Family League of Baltimore and the Y of Central Maryland to put 1,200 books in the hands of students at Moravia Park Elementary School, through AFT-Maryland's partnership with First Book.