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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.

This is a confusing and scary time for many of us.

Since January, in response to the coronavirus, the AFT-AZ’s attention has been focused on how to ensure the health and safety of our families and communities, particularly those on the frontline of this crisis. Now, since the World Health Organization has labeled the coronavirus a global pandemic, our attention must be on everything: prevention and precaution, treatment, and the short and long-term economic impact of COVID-19 on families and communities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that the spread of the new

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Statement by Ed Allen, president of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers which represents 2,600 Oklahoma City public school teachers, on the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ bill to raise teacher salaries by an average of $6,000, which would be paid by, among other sources, raising the gross production tax on oil and gas to 5 percent, a 3 cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline purchases, and a $5-per-night tax on hotel and motel stays. 

“We’re gratified that legislators listened to teachers’ voices and their stories about how their salaries were not a livable wage and

Teachers say low pay ends careers in Arizona, leaves some at crossroads

By: Katie Campbell December 4, 2017, 4:10 am

Arizona teachers have not been quiet about their reasons for abandoning the profession and even the state: high stress, low morale and low pay. Yet the state’s response has not been enough to end the ongoing crisis, a new report from a Washington D.C.-based think tank concludes.

According to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state funding for K-12 education is nearly 14 percent below what is was before the Great Recession. And while Gov. Doug Ducey is pushing