Locals Gather at Northern Leadership Summit
Leaders from our Northern Locals including AMA ISD Teachers (Local 4693), Crawford AuSable Fed of Teachers (Local 3425), Crawford AuSable Support Staff (Local 4612) Iosco ISD Fed of Teachers (Local 3531), Lake City Fed of Teachers (Local 3239), NMU-AAUP/AFT (Local 6761) Wexford-Missaukee ISD Alliance of Educational Support Staff (Local 6634), and Saginaw ISD Fed of Teachers (Local 4283) spent two days in Gaylord last week deepening their leadership skills, learning from one another, and planning for the year ahead at our first Northern Leadership Summit in many years.
Locals walked away energized with priorities and goals for the year focused on core aspects of building strong unions. We heard from our community partner, Up North Advocacy, who joined us to discuss the importance of community and labor working together to fight for our communities and we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Crawford Teachers being a chartered union!
We’re excited to see all that our locals in the Northern Lower and Upper Peninsula will accomplish this year and look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s Northern Leadership Summit!
Strategic Planning at Washtenaw ISD
Jacqui Coluccy, the newly elected President of the Federation of Washtenaw Intermediate School Employees, and her leadership team recently dedicated a day to developing a strategic plan. This plan focuses on goals aimed at improving the local’s membership experience. The local hopes to initiate a year that emphasizes accountability for leaders and builds trust among members by increasing transparency in the executive council’s decision-making process.
Workers’ Labor Day
The AFL-CIO announced Workers Deserve, a Workers’ Labor Day week of action.
In communities large and small in every state, workers will celebrate our power and the freedom, fairness and security we all deserve. At hundreds of events across the country, working people will send a clear message to greedy CEOs, billionaires and anti-worker politicians: We built this country, and we’re taking it back.
The Workers Deserve Labor Day week of action will be a culmination of the AFL-CIO’s “It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness and Security” bus tour, which will wrap up after two months of crisscrossing the country with two buses to highlight workers’ fights to organize, win fair contracts and counteract the impact that reckless policies are having on our lives.
New Teachers Need Support—Here’s How You Can Help
Starting a teaching career is exciting—but it can also feel overwhelming. Whether you’re a new teacher or working alongside one, having the right support makes all the difference.
That’s why we created the Welcome to Teaching Conversation Series, an on-demand podcast from Share My Lesson and the AFT. In each short, practical episode, early career educators talk with AFT professional development leaders about what it really takes to succeed in the classroom—and how to build lasting support systems.
Explore the free, for-credit episodes:
- Classroom Management: Set clear expectations and handle behavior challenges with confidence.
- Children’s Well-Being: Create safe spaces where students can thrive emotionally and academically.
- Family Engagement with a Focus on Literacy: Build strong, consistent connections with families to support student success.
- Teacher Well-Being: Learn practical tips for managing stress and staying grounded.
- Civics Instruction: Teach civil dialogue and real-world engagement with confidence.
- Union Partnership and the Path to Thriving in Teaching: Teaching can feel like an island. Find out how to feel more connected, supported and empowered.
Each episode includes companion blogs and teaching resources you can use right away.
Read the full article to access the full podcast series, bonus content, and ideas to support educators at every stage.
Order AFT New Member Organizing Materials
AFT members unite to fight for real solutions because we understand that when we band together at work and in our communities, we can create a better life for all. Together, we’re fighting the extremists who want to destroy public education, dismantle our democracy, defund public services, decimate healthcare and demonize the vulnerable—and we’re standing up to the privatizers who are more concerned about profits than people.
To help you continue growing and gaining power, we’ve refreshed our organizing materials. Order today at go.aft.org/AFTmaterials.
Materials are available year-round. Whenever you are planning an organizing push, union event or other mobilizing opportunity, you can select the resources you need, including organizing brochures that show prospective members how to amplify their voice, a Value of Belonging poster that highlights our accomplishments, pocket calendars, and professional learning options and benefits brochures that reinforce our day-to-day support for our members.
Place your order and spread the word: We’re creating a better life for all!
Contribute to the AFT Michigan PAC Today
AFT Michigan fights for our members, students, patients and communities all year round and we need your help. Can you donate $1 a week to aid us in this fight? Please visit the AFT Michigan website to contribute and make a big difference in protecting public education and building a better Michigan future!
AFT Disaster Relief Fund for Gaza Humanitarian Aid
Nearly every person in Gaza needs urgent humanitarian assistance. Two million Palestinians have been displaced, and the entire population is facing dire food insecurity. According to UNICEF, 80 percent of those who have died from malnutrition during this war were children. This is an immediate crisis that requires our intervention. You can donate to the AFT Disaster Relief Fund for Gaza humanitarian aid.
In solidarity,
Terrence Martin
President
