Happy New Year to all—I hope you were able to spend time with family and friends over the holidays!
AFT Michigan Collective Bargaining Conference – Jan 24
Join us for AFT Michigan’s Collective Bargaining Conference on January 24th at Fairlane Center South from 9:00-3:30! We’ll be honoring AFT Michigan’s immediate past General Counsel, Mark Cousens, with an opening conversation “ Collective Bargaining in Michigan: Looking Back, Looking Forward”. The day will then split into two tracks: an introductory course to collective bargaining and workshops focused on bargaining issues and strategies. We encourage bargaining team members and those involved with collective bargaining and contract campaigns at their locals to attend. Learn more about the sessions and register here today!
In the News: UM Childcare Workers Receive Poverty Wages
On Nov. 6, the Department of Education proposed a new framework of professional degree programs—one that strips advanced degrees for nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, audiologists, architects, accountants, educators and social workers of their “professional” status within the department. This change could sharply limit access to available public, federal student loans.
Recently, U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy introduced the Loan Equity for Advanced Professionals Act, a bill that would help students access the loans they need to go to college and study for jobs in healthcare, education and public employment. If passed, the LEAP Act would help address the affordability crisis we’ve seen for decades in higher education and give students the resources they need to pursue their careers.
Tell your members of Congress to pass the Loan Equity for Advanced Professionals Act to help address the affordability crisis we’ve seen for decades in higher education and give students the resources they need to pursue careers in fields like nursing and teaching.
Read about the LEAP Act—including remarks from AFT member and surgical and trauma critical care nurse Amy Pacholk at the Washington, D.C., press conference introducing the legislation.
Is Your T-shirt Union Made? Some Tricks of the Trade and a Great New Opportunity- January 29 @ 6:30 PM
Unions have long encouraged their members to buy union-made goods when possible. And every year unions themselves buy millions of dollars of printed material as well as t-shirts and other apparel merch. Finding union printers has been relatively easy: unions know which local printers have the “union bug.” But when it comes to apparel, there is a lot of confusion over what is and is not union-made. This workshop will focus on apparel, explaining why there is so much confusion today, and discussing what we can do to ensure that our unions purchase apparel that really is union-made.
In this workshop, Ian will report on what he learned at the 2025 Detroit Labor Day parade about what share of the union t shirts folks were wearing that day were actually union made. He’ll also discuss an important new anti-sweatshop movement initiative – the Alliance for Responsible Apparel Manufacturing and Purchasing (ARAMP) – that aims to build a sweatshop-free apparel sector in the United States, beginning with Los Angeles, the city with the largest number of garment workers in this country.
Register at https://aftmichigan.org/events/ to receive the Zoom information for this session.
Union Plus Scholarships
Need help with the cost of college? You can’t afford not to apply for the 2026 Union Plus Scholarship! These awards are for any year of college studies and reserved exclusively for you: union members, their spouses and dependents. Union Plus Scholarships help union families with the cost of college, with scholarship awards ranging from $500 to $4000.
Apply HERE today! Application deadline is January 31, 2026.
Black Men in Unions Conference
This year’s Black Men In Unions Conference theme is Hands That Build, Voice That Lead, Actions that Define.The conference will be held at Somerset Inn (Troy, MI) on February 19-22, 2026.
Registration is now open! Visit the BMIU26 page to register online or download a printable registration form.
If you have questions or need assistance with registration, please email clcs.info@umich.edu.
AFT Healthcare Professional Issues Conference – April 13-15 in Detroit!
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!
In solidarity,
Terrence Martin
President
