There's been talk among the laboratory technologists at Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories in Milwaukee about creating a career ladder for years, but it never came to fruition until recently.

The medical technologists entered into negotiations at the end of 2016, and they took the time to turn a management proposal into a career ladder program that would lead to what they called a Tech II position that would have more responsibilities and more pay.

"There are people who always do extra, but they don't get any benefit for it," says John Epple, a cytotechnologist and chief steward at WFNHP's Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories Chapter. "Maybe they're just overachievers or just hard workers, but now they can get recognized" for doing more.

AFT-Wisconsin members are celebrating after labor-endorsed candidates won elections across the state.  Most notably, labor-endorsed WI Supreme Court Candidate, Judge Rebecca Dallet, won a ten-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court by double digits, and voters rejected a ballot initiative that could have put funding for public school libraries at risk by eliminating the Office of the State Treasurer.

Pendergast Federation of School Employees (AFT) members have been rallying the teachers, staff, community, and district for a Day of Action at the Arizoan State Capitol. They have begun a district-wide petition with their local PTAs to petition the district's school board for support in closing the entire district down for one day.

Hundreds of union members took to Lawyer’s Mall in front of the Maryland State Capitol to show the power and strength of labor. The Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO convened the sea of solidarity. The locals of AFT-Maryland were in attendance and their voices were heard and their presence felt. The federation was acknowledged and received shout outs from a number of elected officials.

Among the politicians who addressed the crowd were... Click to read 

AFT-Maryland President Marietta English on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

On this solemn day, we remember a man who was not only a leader for racial but also economic equality; a man who in his last days walked with and campaigned for the dignity of public employees; a man of the cloth who committed himself to the labor movement.

As the president of a state federation that represents more than 20,000 public employees, the sacrifices of this great man are not lost on me or any of the members of our federation.  Though we'll always be sad that Dr. King did not get to live a long life, see his children grow up, and play with his grandchildren, we will forever be indebted to him for being the vocal conscious of this nation, calling on it to live up to every promise of equality.

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Every day, you and your coworkers work to protect OFNHP's patients. We would like to hear about the reasons you are standing with your coworkers and your union to defend and improve your contracts! Submit your stories and your photos here!

Here is the link to the April/May/June 2018 Newsletter. Just click on the link ending in .pdf to view.

http://unit47.ct.aft.org/sites/default/files/article_pdf_files/2018-03/aprilmayjune18.pdf

The Alliance of Health Care Unions (AHCU) announced its name today and its first hire: Executive Director Peter diCicco, founder and longtime Executive Director of the original Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, from which the alliance unions withdrew last week.

March 28, 2016 - Our agreement is the culmination of many months’ (nearly a year!) worth of work from a team of physical therapists and occupational therapists. It includes some major victories for providing better patient care through maintaining the number of appointments available throughout each week, while allowing for some increased opportunities to incorporate video and telephone appointment types into our practice, all while increasing the average “Call Back Time” (aka CBT or “charting time”) from 200 minutes per week up to 300 minutes per week!

In honor of Women's History Month, AFT-Maryland has been acknowledging women in the federation who are leaders in their local unions and in the labor movement.

This month, we've honored