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Ashland educators organize to form handbook committee

The first version of the employee handbook for the Ashland school district was created with extensive input from members of the Ashland Federation of Teachers (AFT local 1275) and the Ashland Federation of Paraprofessionals (AFT local 4232), with representatives of each union sitting on a handbook committee with the administration.  However, the following year, union members were surprised to see substantial changes made without any opportunity for employee input.  Members of both locals met to discuss the issue, and decided to organize their coworkers and take the issue to the next district school board meeting, where they would petition the board to re-form the handbook committee as a permanent working group.

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State employee coalition hosts teach-in on civil service

When Wisconsin Republicans introduced legislation to remove key components of the civil service system, members of AFT-Wisconsin state employee unions quickly mobilized alongside other supporters of clean government, forming the Wisconsin Coalition to Save Civil Service.  Alongside their AFSCME union sisters and brothers, AFT-Wisconsin activists organized building meetings to spread the word about the importance of civil service to clean government and effective state agencies.

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AFT-Wisconsin endorses Russ Feingold

AFT-Wisconsin is proud to announce that it has endorsed Russ Feingold in his campaign for the US Senate.  President Kim Kohlhaas sent the following letter to Mr. Feingold to announce the endorsement:

 

Dear Mr. Feingold,

It is with great pleasure that I, on behalf of the AFT-Wisconsin Executive Board and our thousands of members across the state of Wisconsin, offer our full support to your campaign and endorse you in your bid for the US Senate.

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2016 AFT-Wisconsin Scholarship Applications Now Being Accepted

AFT-Wisconsin has a long tradition of offering educational scholarships to support dependents of members in good standing who wish to pursue a career in labor, education, health care or government service.  Currently, AFT-Wisconsin offers one $1,000 university scholarship and one $500 technical college scholarship. The application period for 2015-2016 scholarships is now open; applications are due to AFT-Wisconsin by March 15, 2016, and winners will be notified by May 1, 2016.

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High school and college labor history contests

The Wisconsin Labor History Society sponsors two annual competitions for Wisconsin students.  Wisconsin high school students in grades 9-12 are invited to participate in an essay contest on the theme of the importance of unions to their families and communities, with cash prizes of up to $300.  College students (two- or four-year) and graduate students can participate in a research paper competition, with a $500 prize available at the college level and $1000 at the graduate level.

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TAA Release: UW-Madison to radically restructure graduate student pay

Madison, WI (November 12, 2015) : On Wednesday, November 18, at noon in front of Bascom
Hall on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, the UW-Madison Teaching Assistants’
Association (TAA) will hold a rally to demand that administration abandon a proposal to radically
restructure graduate employee pay and instead raise wages for all graduate students on campus. The rally will call on administrators to honor their promises to graduate student workers and ensure that graduate students have a representative voice during the discussion of future graduate employee policy.
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Release: The Wisconsin Idea in Crisis

Madison, WI: With Wisconsin at the center of a national debate over tenure, academic freedom, and funding for public higher education, members of the AFT-Wisconsin Higher Education Council announced a series of events to be held across the UW System in November examining the theme of “The Wisconsin Idea in Crisis.” “The Wisconsin Idea is a simple one,” said Richard Leson, a UW-Milwaukee associate professor of art history and the president of AFT local 3535, The Association of UW Professionals. “It’s the idea that the University of Wisconsin System should improve the lives of all Wisconsinites—through high quality education, research for the public good, and constant community outreach. As members of the AFT-Wisconsin Higher Education Council, my colleagues and I—academic and university staff, faculty, and graduate employees—are deeply troubled by efforts of radical politicians to weaken one of the preeminent public university systems in the world. That’s why we will be holding events on UW System campuses across the state—at Eau Claire, Stout, Madison, Green Bay, Stevens Point, and Milwaukee—to draw attention to the existential crisis that we in the UW System are confronting.”

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Release: AFT-Wisconsin delegates demand UW System President Ray Cross resign

Madison, WI: Delegates to AFT-Wisconsin’s recent state convention voted to demand UW System President Ray Cross resign, AFT-Wisconsin President Kim Kohlhaas announced today. “Faculty, staff, and graduate employee members of AFT-Wisconsin have been fighting tirelessly to protect the quality of education and research in the UW System in the face of the Republican assault on higher education,” said Kohlhaas, a teacher in the Superior School District. “But when it comes to crucial issues like academic freedom, due process, shared governance, and state funding, President Cross hasn’t been the advocate that the UW System’s students need. The Wisconsin Idea is under attack, and the head of the UW System is standing by and letting it happen. That’s why our members are calling on President Cross to step down.”

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