Mark your calendars for the 2024 Metro Detroit Labor Day Parade: Monday, September 2, 2024.  Our section will line up at Trumbull and Michigan starting at 7:00 a.m. At 9 a.m., we will march to Roosevelt Park (Michigan Central train station) where there will be a labor program. After the parade, AFT Michigan members and families are invited to stop by our building (2661 E. Jefferson) for an informal BBQ before heading home. ​The DFT will be participating in the parade and we will be carrying our banner.  Join us in solidarity and wear your red DFT t-shirt.

At the AFT National Convention in Houston, DFT President, Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins, was elected to be one of the vice presidents to serve on the union's executive council. This will be her first term serving in this position. She joins 42 other vice presidents who sit on the executive council, including AFT Michigan president, Terrence Martin. Wilson-Lumpkins is thrilled to be elected by her fellow AFT delegates to this position. The AFT is governed by its elected officials, all of whom were reelected to their positions:  President Randi Weingarten, Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, the 43 AFT vice presidents on the Executive Council. 

Five divisions within the AFT represent the broad spectrum of AFT's membership; PK-12 teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; and federal, state and local government employees along with 80,000 early childhood educators and 250,000 retiree members. The AFT, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, was founded in 1916 and today represents 1.8 million members in more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide.

We are pleased to announce that the Detroit Public Schools Community District has accepted the tentative agreement that the members passed.  The  board vote was unanimous. This two year agreement includes pay increases; restoring what were prohibited subjects of bargaining such as seniority, layoff and recall, transfers, evaluation and discipline; respectful working conditions such as restroom access, nursing mothers, and recess; and payroll-deducted union dues. Read the entire document here: DPSCD-DFT Agreement for 2024-2026.  It is also posted under our key documents tab, under the membership dropdown menu. 

We are pleased to announce the ratification of the tentative agreement. The final results of the vote are YES   954     NO  197     total votes cast 1,151

The next step in the process is to have the DPSCD School Board agree to accept the results of the vote. This is planned for the July 9 regular school board meeting. Once the school board has agreed to this, then we will publish the tentative agreement to our website, under key documents.

On behalf of the negotiating team, thank you for your support.

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)

The Detroit Federation of Teachers is expressing condolences to the family of retired Labor Relations Administrator, Marvin Green. Brother Green served in the office as an LRA for many years, under the administrations of John Elliott, Janna Garrison and Virginia Cantrell.

Keith Johnson, former president of the Union, states that he was so saddened to learn that his former colleague passed away back in January. Marvin served more than 20 years as a Labor Relations Administrator for the DFT.

When I came to the DFT office in 1993, Marvin was an invaluable asset to me in learning how to serve our members. Marvin didn't really say much, but he was acutely aware of members rights under the CBA, and was vigilant and diligent in the enforcement of their rights. Marvin was the most organized person in the office.  You never saw his desk cluttered, and his file drawers were immaculately structured; organized either alphabetically or chronologically.  A place for everything, and everything in its place. It was always humorous to me that when I became Director of Operations, how Marvin would come to me to ask how he should proceed on an issue, not because of my knowledge but because of my.position. Marvin was a dedicated Unionist; passionate about education, passionate about the teaching profession, and passionate about his Union. DFT members past and present should be thankful for the service rendered by Marvin L. Green.

Rest in peace my friend and Union brother.

Patrick Falcusan, Retirement Counselor, had this to say about his colleague: When I was new to the Union many years ago, Marvin would offer me advice on how to accomplish some of the tasks that then President John Elliott would assign me.  Marvin would urge me not to attempt too many tasks at once and then end up not doing any of them well.  Rather, he said, I should  concentrate on the really important tasks, but do all of them very well.  Marvin was also my go-to person when there were parts of the Contract that I did not quite understand.  Marvin would take the time to explain the Contract language to me--and answer other union-related questions.  Sometimes I am able to pass along some of his answers when unit members call me with the same questions these many years later."  

Here is his obituary: Marvin L. Green Obituary.  His memorial service will be in Hastings, Michigan on Saturday, June 1, 2024.

Here is this month's solidarity calendar.  The feedback we have received from members has been encouraging and we can't wait to see the participation this month. We are only STRONGER together when we stand united. Send photos/videos to DFT Communications of May  events at your work location to VBonacci@dft231.com

May 2024 Solidarity Calendar​.

There's been so much buzz about the NFL Draft in Detroit. But, we're proud of the impact we have made, by giving our community access to over 50,000 free, high-quality books to educators and families over the past few years.  

Thank you to everyone for coming out to Temple of Faith Baptist Church and/or the Hamtramck Community Center. For the Detroit event of Reading Opens the World, we gave away 10,000+ books, had a voter registration table, Author Ellen Morgan, Ed. D read her children's book Ellie's Formal Table, Poet Jessica Care Moore recited her poem I used to be a roller coaster girl, Marktoons Caricatures (Mark Barry)  drew for students,writing journals for students to create and illustrate their own books, goodie bags, popcorn, and to top it off, a visit by AFT National Secretary-Treasurer, Fedrick Ingram.

Our success is because of our DFT members who took the time to tell families about the event and came out themselves. The members volunteered many hours opening boxes, setting up the stations and working the event. We cannot compete with professional football but that doesn't stop us!  As member after member told us, "This was awesome!"

Enjoy your books!

The following have been elected to leadership roles in the retirees chapter. Congratulations to all!

President                          Victor Gibson

Vice-President                  Cynthia Pearson Matthew

Secretary                          Gracie Wooten

Treasurer                          Mary Helen D'Angelo

Social Vice President       Lois Lofton-Doniver

We are so excited to announce that not one, but two, book giveaways from AFT National are on their way to us. One location is courtesy of the Detroit Federation of Teachers; the other is sponsored by the Hamtramck Federation of Teachers. It is going to be a morning filled with fun and festivities for everyone! Join us in Detroit on Saturday, April 27 from 9:00 a.m.--12 noon at the Temple of Faith Baptist Church (Activity Building) at 9351 Forrer Street in Detroit. Join us in Hamtramck on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. --2 p.m. at the Hamtramck Community Center, 11350 Charest Street.  It is first come, first serve. These 15,000+ books are going to go fast!

More great news: 

AFT National Secretary-Treasurer, Fedrick C. Ingram will be coming to both Detroit and Hamtramck to be a part of the day's events. What a great opportunity for our members to meet with him. We have invited members of our community to stop by so you'll never know who you will see here.

Be sure to mark Saturday, April 27 on your calendar and let's make sure our students get these high quality books that they need

Click here for the Detroit flyer in English: 

Click here for the Detroit  flyer in Spanish: 

Click here for the Hamtramck flyer in English: 

Click here for the Hamtramck flyer in Arabic: 

Click here for the Hamtramck flyer in Bengali: