AFT Local 2221

Boosting Wages to "Raise Our Standard of Living"

Local affiliates have for the past three months continued to transform the future of work for themselves and the next generation at the negotiating table. Historic wage gains aimed at improving recruitment and retention are the highlight of a recent contract showcased in our latest collective bargaining wins report. The victory is a prime example of members - both today and tomorrow - benefitting by choosing "Union YES" and accomplishing more together than alone.
 

Lifting Up Labor Leaders and Helping Students Soar

More than 100 delegates representing members of AFT Connecticut's affiliated local unions came together in-person for the first time since 2019 for our state federation’s convention. Capping the June 4 event was a luncheon where labor activists who over the previous 12 months lived up to the event's theme of "better days ahead" were recognized. Annual scholarships aimed at helping members and their families beat the rising cost of higher education were also announced.
 

Urging Action for a "Safe, Healthy Return to the Classroom"

Leaders representing over 60,000 public education employees across Connecticut are urging immediate implementation of new, strict, consistent protocols and safety standards in our schools. Our Board of Education (BOE) Union Coalition is calling on state and district officials to take specific additional steps ahead of students’ return from winter break. Action is needed now as the COVID-19 omicron variant continues transmitting at the highest levels since the start of the pandemic.
 
Click here for the coalition's updated core principles.
 

Awarding Activism and Aiding Academics

Like every other aspect of our lives, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis impacted the presentation of annual awards and scholarships at our state federation's 2021 convention. Members were last month recognized virtually for their "above-and-beyond" activism, and several weeks later educational grant winners received notice of their selection. The unorthodox celebrations were indicative of the challenges our labor family has faced and overcome this past year.
 

Securing a Vaccination Plan to Benefit Our Schools

Unions representing teachers and support personnel, superintendents and parents today are thanking state officials for adopting their proposed parallel vaccination plan presented last week for Connecticut’s school communities. The Board of Education (BOE) Union Coalition's recommendations were included in directives announced this afternoon by Governor Ned Lamont. 
 
Click here for the coalition's letter to the governor.
 

Presenting Petitions Urging the "Safe and Successful Schools Now" Recommendations

As COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) cases continue to rise in Connecticut, leaders of the Board of Education (BOE) Union Coalition today presented a petition signed by nearly 14,000 education and community members. Signers urged the state to take immediate steps to protect the health of students, staff and communities.
 
Click here to sign and share the petition.
 

Demanding a Voice in Reopening Safely

Members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions have for the past four weeks taken center stage in the debate over fall "back to school" plans. Teachers and education personnel have repeatedly called for prioritizing students and staff health in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. Efforts culminated this week in public actions organized with labor allies demanding state officials put safety first. 
 
Click here to sign and share our board of education (BOE) union coalition's petition.
 

Educators Take to the Streets in Coordinated "Safety First" Car Caravan Rallies

From Stamford to Stonington, Hamden to Hartford, and more than two dozen towns in between, teachers, education personnel, students, parents and advocates today joined school "Safety First" car caravans. The purpose was to demand safety and health precautions — and much-needed funding — in Connecticut public school building reopening plans. 
 
Click here for video coverage of several actions.
 

Building the Foundation for a Better Future

The polls are closed, the votes are in and Connecticut’s political landscape through 2020 is clear. Thanks to the collective efforts of the labor movement, candidates won on Tuesday who ran as problem solvers and champions for working people. Members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated unions played a decisive role in the outcome, helping propel 73 percent of those we backed in the General Election ballot to victory.
 
Click here for the results of our endorsed candidates' races.
 

Promoting Professional Learning that Empowers Growth

The strength of our unions comes not from contracts or bylaws, but from the diversity and collective capacity of the nearly 30,000 women and men we represent. Our state federation's professional development (PD) program relies on both in order to offer a wide-ranging series of career advancement and labor leadership opportunities. Members of three divisions recently were asked to provide input and feedback for future course offerings as both new and previously presented workshops are scheduled in the coming weeks.
 
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