Join us for a Seminar on Social Security

Take your choice of two dates this summer to learn from a representative from the Social Security Administration. It's free to members! Identical presentations will happen on June 8th from 10 am-noon, and July 13 from 1-3 pm. Both sessions will be held virtually, so you can stay in the comfort of your home. To RSVP for the June 9th session, let Patty Clancy know by June 7th at 630-468-4083 or pclancy@ift-aft.org; if you want to attend July 12th, let her know by July 10th at 630-468-4083 or pclancy@ift-aft.org

WSTU is looking for a new Vice-President!

You are hereby notified that there is a vacancy of the West Suburban Teachers Union, Local 571 Officer, Vice President. The term of office for this vacancy will expire June 30, 2025. 

If you are interested in the position of Local 571 Vice President to fill an unexpired term, please place your name in nomination by requesting and completing the nomination form. You must be a member in good standing.  

Send an e-mail or Fax to: 

Kyle Stern, President 

What unions do

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.

A torrent of censorship

Nearly 250 years since our country’s founding, some Americans are still attempting to restrict others’ basic freedoms. In Florida and elsewhere, censoring books is part of larger efforts to exert greater control over and undermine education.

Voting for democracy and a better life

In the leadup to the midterm elections, pundits predicted a red wave, even a tsunami, based on polls, historical precedent, and steep gas and grocery prices. But I had my doubts. I spent the weeks before the elections talking to voters and traveling on the AFT Votes bus, rolling through a dozen states with more than 50 stops. In a year when kitchen table issues, democracy and our freedoms were on the ballot, many people told me that the elections came down to a choice between, on the one side, election deniers and extremists stoking fear, and on the other, problem-solvers working to help the country move forward. Many races were close, but Americans turned the tide from a red wave to a swell of support for progress and problem-solvers. Read the full column here.

Sharing more pathways to student debt relief

As the landscape of student debt shifts, and more and more opportunities allow borrowers to have their debt relieved, the AFT is using every avenue to ensure that the word is out. In affiliate meetings, telephone town halls, media coverage and social media, the union is spreading the news, and at a student debt clinic at AFT headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 31, AFT President Randi Weingarten vowed to reach as many people as possible with information that could save them tens—and sometimes hundreds—of thousands of dollars.