AFT Responds to Trump’s Plan to Roll Back LGBTQ Protections

For Immediate Release
Feb. 22, 2017
Contact: Michael Heenan
202-585-4371
mheenan@aft.org
www.aft.org

AFT Responds to Trump’s Plan to Roll Back LGBTQ Protections

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ plan to rescind Title IX guidance for transgender students:   “By rescinding these protections, the Trump administration is compromising the safety and security of some of our most vulnerable children. Children, not ideology, should be the priority. “LGBTQ kids face a disproportionate amount of bullying and violence at school, leading to increased levels of fear, anxiety or worse. Transgender students, like their peers, want to live and learn, laugh and love. They deserve the opportunity to do that without worrying whether the attorney general, secretary of education or president of the United States will protect them.                              “Reversing this guidance tells trans kids that it’s OK with the Trump administration and the Department of Education for them to be abused and harassed at school for being trans. We want to be clear to those kids: It is not OK with your teachers or with us at the AFT, and we will continue fighting to protect you.” Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http//twitter.com/rweingarten ###

Resist and Persist

It’s been just one month since President Trump was sworn in, and already we have seen attacks on working people, women, Muslims, the press, immigrants… and the list goes on and on. But Americans are standing up to fight back in a way I’ve never seen. The day after the inauguration, we marched with millions of women and men in Washington, D.C., and around the world to stand up against Trump’s agenda—and we’ve stood again and again to oppose Trump’s outrageous policies. People are standing up—and resisting and persisting is working. But with the GOP leadership bent on giving the wealthy steep tax cuts while cutting funding from vital programs like public education and stripping Americans of their rights and their healthcare, the pressure on Congress is absolutely imperative if we hope to stop the worst of Trump’s plans. This week, members of Congress will be in their home districts. It’s up to us to make sure they hear our voices. Whether you want to protect healthcare for millions of Americans, stop a massive tax giveaway to Trump’s wealthy friends, protect immigrants and refugees from Trump’s racist policies, push Congress to invest in infrastructure and projects that create well-paying jobs, or hold the Trump administration accountable for its many conflicts of interest, we need to show up while our representatives are home. Be a part of #ResistanceRecess. Find an event or a town hall near you and make your voice heard. We’ve never seen anything like the Trump presidency. The administration’s tactic to flood the zone with Twitter attacks, alternative facts, executive orders and provocations of both allies and adversaries is dizzying—and that’s the point. Trump wants us off balance. He wants to do what he wants, without checks and balances. Congress and the courts must do their job, and all of us must do our job as citizens—paying attention, calling foul when necessary, voting our values and blowing the whistle when officials trample on democratic rights and protect the wealthy and corporations at ordinary Americans’ expense. Every day this week, we will be pushing back against policies that hurt our communities, and we need your help. Write your members of Congress, keep calling their offices and show up to events or town halls in your area. Trump isn’t “draining the swamp” as he promised during his campaign—he has appointed Goldman Sachs executives to rig our economy for the one percent, he appointed a billionaire with no experience in public education to run the Department of Education, his attorney general has a long history of racism and disenfranchisement, and his secretary of Health and Human Services wants to deny 20 million Americans quality, affordable healthcare with no alternative. Your calls, letters and presence are making a difference. Make sure your members of Congress know that you expect them to be a check on the Trump presidency, regardless of party affiliation. Make your voices heard this week during Resistance Recess. We will continue to fight for all this country stands for, and I thank you for fighting with us. In unity, Randi Weingarten AFT President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Chris Shields
Minnesota AFL-CIO
Phone: (612) 839-9359
E-Mail: cshields@mnaflcio.org

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

2017-2018 Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship Accepting Applications

Celebrating 30 years of helping to reach students’ dreams

Saint Paul, MN – Applications for the 2017-2018 academic year are now being accepted. The Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship is available to minority students from union families attending or planning to attend one of the 31 technical colleges, community colleges and/or state universities in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. At least 30 scholarships will be given to qualifying applicants to celebrate 30 years of the Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship’s existence.

To be eligible, a scholarship applicant must be a racial minority and a union member or be the child, grandchild, or spouse of a union member. Scholarships are awarded to both full-time and part-time students who will be attending a MnSCU tech or community college or state university in the fall of 2017.

Scholarship amounts are:  

Up to $1,200 for full-time students (12 or more credits undergraduate or 6 credits or more graduate)

Up to $500.00 for part-time students (6-11 credits undergraduate work)

Scholarships are given each year to students who enroll in two/four year, undergraduate or graduate program. Scholarships may be renewed for up to two years for community or technical college programs, up to four years for students working toward a bachelor's degree, and two years for those enrolled in a master's program.

Applications and additional information about the scholarship are available online at http://www.nelliestone.org or by calling: Local: 651-738-1404 or Toll free: 866-738-5238.

Applications must be POSTMARKED no later than June 1, 2017 to be considered.

VIDEO: MSCF and the changing landscape with Kevin Lindstrom

Credential Fields Review and Comment - Feb. 3

Date:  February 3, 2017

Subject:  Review and Comment under Policy 3.32 College Faculty Credentialing for Proposed Development and/or Revision of Credential Fields and Minimum Qualifications

Please review the attached proposed revisions (available via college administration or MSCF chapter president) to credential fields and associated minimum qualifications in the following areas:

CPR

First Aid

Massage Therapy

Orthotics Practitioner

Prosthetics Practitioner

Physical Therapy Assistant

Surgical Technology

Nursing, AD

Nursing, Practical

Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aide

Emergency Medical Technician (for EMT and Emergency First Responder)

Paramedic (for Paramedic and Advanced EMT)

I request that you share this correspondence with faculty, administrators, student association leadership and other appropriate staff for review and comment.  All comments and suggestions are welcome from all constituent groups.

Additionally, so that we might review the feedback in a coordinated manner, I request that each chief academic officer submit a single summary response to this review and comment document representing the position of the college administration.  If we do not receive a response providing suggested changes or concerns for consideration, we will assume that the college is in agreement with the development of these credential fields and the associated minimum qualifications.

Please refer questions and submit responses by March 3, 2017 to:

Wendy McCance, Program Director

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

30 7th St. E., Suite 350

Saint Paul, MN 55101-7804

Phone:  651-201-1768, Fax:  651-632-5018

wendy.mccance@so.mnscu.edu

AFT’s Weingarten on National ‘Right-to-Work’ Proposal

For Immediate Release February 1, 2017

Contact:     Andrew Crook 607-280-6603 acrook@aft.org www.aft.org

AFT’s Weingarten on National ‘Right-to-Work’ Proposal

WASHINGTON— American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on national “right-to-work” legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives: “So-called right-to-work legislation should really be called ‘right to work for less.’ It needs to be recognized for what it is—a full-frontal assault by corporate America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to strip working people of any voice at work, resulting in CEOs having more power and the working class having reduced wages. “The evidence is clear: Right-to-work laws trigger a race to the bottom that shifts full-time jobs to part time, encourages offshoring, and guts health and safety laws. The average worker makes $6,000 less in right-to-work states. Workplace deaths are 44 percent higher in those states. And of the 20 states with the lowest education spending per student, 19 are right-to-work. Unions help all workers get ahead, not just their members. They protect workers’ safety and give them a voice in politics. “If President Trump is serious about his promises to help those hurt by deindustrialization, globalization and automation—if he actually wants to honor his rhetoric to raise wages and create jobs—then he needs to reject this poisonous bill and immediately commit to veto it if it ever reaches his desk. You can be on the side of working people or on the side of ‘right to work for less,’ but you can’t be both.”  ###

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

AFT’s Weingarten on Neil Gorsuch's Nomination

For Immediate Release January 31, 2017

Contact: Michael Heenan 202-577-3941 mheenan@aft.org   www.aft.org

AFT’s Weingarten on Neil Gorsuch's Nomination

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States:   “President Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch this evening to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. It should not go unnoticed that he called on the Senate to give Judge Gorsuch a fair hearing, conveniently and dishonestly ignoring the disgraceful way he and the Republicans handled Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination.  “The true test for any nominee should be: Will he or she uphold precedent and honor American values, and does his or her philosophy fall within the mainstream of jurisprudential thought? That is the standard used by both Democratic and Republican presidents. It’s the standard used by President Obama when he nominated Judge Garland, a highly qualified and widely respected jurist who is well-known for carefully deciding cases based upon the Constitution and existing law, respect for precedent, and the facts presented. President Trump, who claims to represent all Americans, has an obligation to use the same standard.  “As any social studies teacher will tell you, the judiciary has always been an equal branch of government tasked with interpreting our Constitution, protecting our values and serving as a check against any abuse of power by the other branches of our government. A president’s job is not to pick someone who will rewrite the Constitution, but rather for him to act in a way that is consistent with the Constitution and nominate someone who honors that fundamental American value.  “In Neil Gorsuch, Trump has nominated an extremist judge intent on overturning basic, well-established Supreme Court precedents. Gorsuch’s record raises significant concerns about his ability to be fair and to respect and follow the law rather than his own ideology, including repeatedly taking the side of corporations over consumers and workers.”  ###

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

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