Women's Rights

Spotlight: Serving Her Community as Nurse and Councilor

Thu, 03/30/2017 - 4:00pm
Despite providing the majority of direct and supportive patient care in the field, women historically have not held an equivalent share of leadership positions in hospitals or healthcare organizations. A similar imbalance exists in American politics and is evident in elected offices ranging from local school boards to Congress. During the month in which women's history month is celebrated, we're spotlighting a union member bucking these trends and "trailblazing" within the labor movement, in her industry and her community.
 

Demanding Answers from Judge Gorsuch

Fri, 03/17/2017 - 5:30pm
The Senate's Judiciary Committee on Monday will convene confirmation hearings in Washington, D.C. for President Trump's nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). The impact of the eventual vote on Judge Neil Gorsuch's bid cannot be overstated. That's why union members are joining with consumer, social justice and women's rights advocates to ensure federal lawmakers fulfill their constitutional "advice and consent" duties.
 
Click here to urge Connecticut's U.S. Senators demand Judge Gorsuch reveal where he stands on the issues.
 

Labor Day 2016: Why America Needs a Strong Movement for Working People

Mon, 09/05/2016 - 12:30pm
Our national union president in her annual Labor Day message reminds us how a strong labor movement has helped workers, our communities, the economy and our democracy grow and thrive. Randi Weingarten additionally uses the occasion to call on all our members to join her in taking action to support policies that make it easier, not harder, to join a union:
 

Labor History Lesson: The Fight for Free Speech

Fri, 01/29/2016 - 4:30pm
AFT Connecticut Secretary-Treasurer Ed Leavy opened a recent column in his local union's "Vocational Instructor" newsletter saying, "the study of labor history is an exercise in finding hope." He found some much-needed hope in the story of the Spokane "Free Speech" movement, an "example of how people refused to let a corrupt system beat them:"
 

Labor History Lesson: No Mercy for Injured Workers

Wed, 12/30/2015 - 1:00pm
Laws to compensate working people hurt while on the job have existed since 1908 when first passed in Wisconsin, where today anti-worker politicians are aggressively rolling them back. AFT Connecticut Secretary-Treasurer Ed Leavy shared some little known labor history that illustrates the limits of an employer's mercy for injured workers in a recent "Vocational Instructor" column:
 

Labor History Lesson: The Alberta Nurses' Strike

Fri, 11/27/2015 - 4:30am
Dr. Martin Luther King famously said in 1965 during the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Time and again working people have demonstrated this to be true by engaging in struggle today for progress won tomorrow. AFT Connecticut Secretary-Treasurer Ed Leavy shared the story of a victory by Canadian health professionals 27 years in the making in his October "Vocational Instructor" labor history column:
 

I Am My Union

Fri, 09/04/2015 - 5:10pm
In her annual Labor Day message, AFT President Randi Weingarten asks us all to consider the attacks unions face today and what they mean for all American working families. And she calls 1.5 million teachers, paraprofessionals and schools personnel, higher education faculty and staff, public employees, nurses and healthcare professionals to stand up and declare "I Am My Union:"
 

Report: 'The Union Advantage for Women'

Thu, 08/27/2015 - 3:30pm
AFT has joined a coalition to raise public awareness of union-led reforms that are particularly important in the lives of working women. Many, such as paid sick leave and paid family leave policies, are highlighted in a report, The Union Advantage for Women, released yesterday by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR).
 
Click here for the full report.
 

Labor History Lesson: The Women's Strike

Thu, 07/09/2015 - 2:00pm
The struggle by women to close the gender wage gap and achieve pay equity has been a global one. But the specific methods and efforts of equal rights activists has varied greatly among the countries of the world. In his latest "Vocational Instructor" labor history column, AFT Connecticut Secretary-Treasurer Ed Leavy shares how the women in one Nordic nation took the path of direct action:
 

Honoring Our Past, Inspiring Our Future

Sat, 05/09/2015 - 12:00pm
Ninety-nine years ago today, on May 9, 1916, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was founded in Chicago, when eight local unions were granted a charter signed by American Federation of Labor (AFL) President Samuel Gompers. Leading up to AFT's national convention in 2016, we will spend the next year looking back on our rich history -- our struggles, our accomplishments, our proudest moments -- and celebrating how far we have come and what lies ahead.
 
Click here to watch a brief promo of AFT's 100th anniversary celebration.
 
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