SB161 was passed in October 2011. Starting January 1, classifieds may be receiving electronic notices, specifically emails, asking them to voluntarily participate. If you choose not to participate, please let BCCE know if the school or parents pressure you, hassle you about it, threaten to change your work shift, or retaliate in any other way. If you do choose to participate, make sure you verfiy that:

• You will be protected against legal claims.
• You completely understand what parents and administrators expect.
• You get things written down on paper.
• You have the union go over with you what's written on paper.
• You make sure you are trained, then receive updated trainings.
• You learn to diagnose seizures.
• You learn how to store Diastat, while logging its storage, usage, etc...

JSD & JESS Begin Collective Bargaining Process

To submit a photo of a JESS member working or socializing, please email it to Jennifer_Knaggs@jsd.k12.ak.us

Bullying is a serious problem that affects kids and teens throughout the nation. It can happen anywhere: face-to-face, on the web or over the phone. As serious as this problem is, the good news is that we can join together to stop it.

Bullying awareness is an issue that AFT and our members feel strongly about. To show our commitment to anti-bullying, we are providing list of resources, including this Power Point presentation, that offers tools and information regarding bullying. The Alabama Federation of Teachers also has materials to help you spread the word that bullying is not ok.
If you have questions or would like to schedule a workshop on bullying through AFT, please contact our offices:

Jefferson County AFT at 205-933-1124, visit our website at jcaft.com or email us at jcaft2143@aol.com.

Birmingham Federation of Teachers at 205-933-3333, visit our website at http://al.aft.org/bft/, or email us at birminghamaft2115@gmail.com

Article about Juneau's Rally Program posted on the APEA website.

We periodically ask for a list of the vacant positions from DOA. The lists we get do NOT include the University of Wisconsin, the State Legislature or the Wisconsin Court System.   The list from June 2011 showed 4,890 vacant agency positions. 

According to the Wisconsin Budget Report, April 2011, "Wisconsin continues its trend of having fewer state and local employees per capita than the national average, according to numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of state and local employees per capita in Wisconsin stayed about the same from 2008 to 2009, and remained well below the national average.   Click Here for more details.    

The AFT and West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced on Dec. 16 that they are leading an unprecedented public-private partnership with more than 40 partners to enhance educational opportunity for children in the McDowell County public schools in Central Appalachia, while addressing the underlying problems caused by severe and chronic poverty and economic decline.

The initiative, "Reconnecting McDowell," is a comprehensive, long-term effort to make educational improvement in McDowell County the route to a brighter economic future. Partners from business, foundations, government, nonprofit agencies and labor have committed, in a signed covenant, to seeking solutions to McDowell's complex problems—poverty, underperforming schools, drug and alcohol abuse, housing shortages, limited medical services, and inadequate access to technology and transportation. Each partner has agreed to provide services, money, products and/or expertise to lift McDowell County's schools, students and their families.

Watch AFT's video about McDowell County, WV and learn more.

A message from United Professions AFT Vermont President Ben Johnson about the accomplishments of our Union in 2011 and our goals in 2012.

In the summer of 2010, WPEC members at the Department of Health Services (DHS) reported concerns about the growing number of vendor employees working at DHS.  They were concerned that these vendor employees were being hired through the Medicaid Fiscal Agent contract with EDS-HP to perform duties that were not directly part of that contract. In response, WPEC requested a number of Medicaid contract documents.   A WPEC employee also filed a complaint with the LAB Fraud and Abuse Hotline that many of these hires seemed inappropriate because they were outside the scope of the contract and also noted that the  HP Account Executive overseeing these hires was a former DHS employee. 

LAB has not yet formally responded to the Hotline Complaint, but an LAB audit of the Medicaid program released in December of 2011 addressed some of the concerns.   They reported on the high number of vendor employees, the lack of involvement of purchasing professionals in these contract decisions, and the lack of oversight of this large new vendor workforce.  

To see copies of some of the documents, Click Here. 

Please click on the Title above to download the Calendar.