In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.

Kudos to Vice President, Robin Jennings, for speaking on behalf of our union for repealing Right to Work in Michigan. Please share this video with your family and friends. Michigan wouldl be the first state in the country to repeal Right to Work. 

MIchigan Teachers Support Repeal of Right to Work

On Thursday, October 17, 2024 the DFT hosted AFT National President, Randi Weingarten, and Executive Vice President, Evelyn DeJesus, to create a historic partnership and grant between the Biden-Harris administration and Micron to bring Microprocessing Pathways to DPSCD's Career and Technical Education. Several people, including Detroit Deputy Mayor, Todd Bettison, Deputy Superintendent, Alycia Meriweather, White House Domestic Policy Council, Neera Tanden, along with Weingarten and DeJesus, toured Southeastern High School as part of their visit to Detroit. After the tour of the high school, about 30 individuals were invited to the DFT offices for a roundtable discussion. More information can be found here: https://www.aft.org/microtechnology-education-and-aft. This grant, which has been piloted in New York, is now coming to southeast Michigan and Minnesota. Stay tuned for more information.

The DFT held a candidate screening for those who are running for office.  We recorded the conversations and have posted them here. There are six separate videos. Our members are encouraged to watch the videos so they can make informed decisions about the election process.

• Saturday Candidate Screening on Zoom (passcode is XDXeF6=k) candidates are Hill Harper at 00:00:50, Elissa Slotkin at 00:30:00, Rashida Tlaib at 01:03:00.
• Raphael Washington Candidate Screening (runs 14 minutes)
• Shri Thanedar Candidate Screening (runs 14 minutes)
• Thursday Candidate Screening candidates are 00:00:50 Macie Gaines, 19:00 Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, 45:00 Sherisse Butler, 1:10:00 Boyd White III, 1:33:00 Stephanie Young
• Mary Waters Candidate Screening (runs 20 minutes)
• Adrienne Scruggs Candidate Screening (runs 16 minutes)

Join President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins as part of a Women's HERstory program!