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AFT convention generates political heat
September 7, 2006 Iris DeLutro, right, with Barbara Bowen. Both are officers of the Professional Staff Congress and political activists. Middle school teacher Lee Cutler was out of the gate well before American Federation of Teachers convention speakers urged delegates to get active in this year's elections. But rallying cries for political action revved him up. "Two Congressional seats are up in the 19th and 20th districts," said Cutler, a member of the NYSUT Board of Directors and an AFT vice president. "The people we need to reach are the people who don't think it's their issue," Cutler said. He spent a good part of the summer knocking around the state by foot and on the telephone, talking to people and working with other unionists. "To hear the congressional speakers is very inspiring to get our two races turned over," said Cutler after hearing speakers from Connecticut and Colorado at the Boston convention. "You can't let what's happening in this country keep happening," said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, urging delegates to avoid splintering and agree on: "Education is the most important thing." AFT President Ed McElroy urged delegates to pay attention to lawmakers who were "one-time allies," but then voted for vouchers, "despite evidence they don't work." Federal education statistics are often selectively released to push the debate toward the administration's bias toward privatization. The AFT president urged delegates to meet with politicians and make phone calls. Workers need to pay attention to those in power who are undermining the role of the government, taking away retirement and health benefits, warping the health care industry and failing to help schools that "no adult would tolerate." The national agenda can be moved by working together, believes Iris DeLutro, a Board member for NYSUT and its affiliate at CUNY, the Professional Staff Congress. "I believe in strength in numbers," she said. "It's important to participate in activities of national importance. You can't make change if you're not there." "The union is the only way we have in certain circumstances to make sure people are treated fairly and equitably," said delegate Ed Drummond, president of the SUNY Stony Brook Health Science Center chapter of United University Professions. Most days, Drummond works with an electron microscope, peering at internal structures of cells; on other days, he attends union workshops and visits lawmakers. "I think it's a necessary thing we do here as unionists. You have one theme of helping each other and that's what I really like about the union movement," he said. - Liza Frenette |
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