AFT National President Randi Weingarten joined NTU President John M. Abeigon and NPS staff as part of the National Day of Action!  We had action at schools all across the city!  More pictures to come!

Read the Summer 2016 edition of the PSRP Reporter HERE!

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Douglas Ley, AFT NH  President
Phone: (603) 831-3661

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2:00 P.M. EDT, January 18, 2017

BOW, NH -  AFT-NH President Douglas Ley released the following statement on the nomination of Representative Frank Edelblut as Commissioner of Education.

“Just as AFT on the national level has expressed strong opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, we are gravely concerned about a Commissioner of Education who, when running for governor, supported further diverting much needed funding and resources from our public schools.   Our teachers and school district employees are trained professionals who have dedicated a lifetime to serving NH students. There is no evidence based on Mr. Edelblut’s public record that he either has the experience in education or public service on the local level that demonstrates the requisite knowledge and understanding to lead NH schools and serve more than 180,000 students, our State’s most precious resource.” 

AFT-NH represents approximately 4,000 teachers, school support staff, city and town employees, police officers, library employees, and higher education faculty. AFT-NH is a member of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO and is the state affiliate for the American Federation of Teachers with more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, 43 state affiliates, and more than 1.3 million members.

#######

The constitutional change referendum passed on January 10, 2017. To view the updated constitution you need to login and go to the Membership menu and down to key documents.

Attached you will find a digital copy of the newsletter. Take time to read it over in order to see all the important union updates, including negotiations. As a reminder, this issue is the last issue that you will also be receiving a paper issue, from this point forward it will be digital only. Happy Reading!

http://unit47.ct.aft.org/files/newsletterjan-feb2017.pdf

On Tuesday, January 10, hundreds packed Reps Hall in the State House for the Senate Commerce Committee public hearing on SB 11, the proposed “right to work” legislation.  From 1 pm into the evening, a long line of witnesses, including Senators, Representatives, labor leaders, and working people (union and non-union) spoke against so-called “right to work” legislation. They pointed out that it would bring no new economic investment to NH, would inject the State into the negotiations process, and was simply an attempt to financially cripple labor unions and thereby weaken their ability to better the working conditions and the lives of those they represent.  And then, at the end of the day, without taking any time to consider evidence presented, the Committee voted 3-2, along strict party lines, to send SB 11 onto the Senate, with a recommendation of “ought to pass.”

Join AFT Healtcare Maryland and MPEC members in Annapolis to speak directly to your representatives concerning issues affecting state employees. 

Sign up for one of our Lobby Nights

January 23rd

February 27th

March 20th

RSVP Here:  https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/mpec-aft-healthcare-lobby-nights

A message from AFT President Randi Weingarten:

Dear Brothers & Sisters:

The NTU/NPS negotiations teams met yesterday. The next meeting will be scheduled soon. The NTU Negotiations Team advises the membership to continue to “support the Respect the Contract Initiatives Phases I & II, write your legislators and prepare for January 19th Day of Action.” At today’s  Bldg. Rep. Mtg. we will be providing details for the Day of Action.

A new report issued by the Economic Policy Institute, January 12, 2017 shows clearly that passing a so-called Right to Work law will only hurt the NH advantage. In 201l,  we successfully fought off attacks and were supported by Governor Hassan’s veto on RTW. In 2012,  Indiana passed a right to work bill. In a nutshell, “NH’s economy is stronger and our citizens are better off”.  The link to the article is provided below. You can link to the full report here.

“In 2011 and 2012 two states, New Hampshire and Indiana, debated the same bill: so-called “right-to-work” legislation, pushed by corporate lobbyists and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), designed to weaken unions financially and pave the way for greater corporate dominance of state politics. New Hampshire’s governor vetoed the bill in 2011. Indiana, by contrast, enacted it in 2012. It is instructive to compare the two states. By almost any measure, the economy of New Hampshire is stronger and its citizens are better off, on average, than the citizens of Indiana. Right-to-work did not improve the Indiana economy relative to New Hampshire’s, and no one should be fooled into thinking that passing right-to-work now will improve the New Hampshire economy."