Santa Maria Sun / School Scene

They've gone union

On Aug. 13, at a conference in the Windy City, the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association announced its affiliation with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations President John Sweeney said that a new affiliation with the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association “means greater collaboration in the fight to save our schools and protect our PHOTO COURTESY WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

The affiliation, organization members said, will encourage greater cooperation to meet the needs of working teachers, students, and their families. The agreement brings together the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association with the AFL-CIO’s Tri-Counties Central Labor Council, the California AFL-CIO, and the national AFL-CIO, a federation of unions representing 10.5 million workers. The Santa Maria Elementary Education association represents 850 teachers.

“Teachers and education professionals are being assaulted by the lack of funding for public education,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a press release. “Today’s affiliation means greater collaboration in the fight to save our schools and protect our children’s education.”

The addition of 850 local teachers will hopefully further unify teachers in the fight for quality public education and student and teachers’ needs in the classroom, Sweeney continued.

The affiliation comes as part of a far-reaching agreement between the national AFL-CIO and the National Education Association that allows local associations of the NEA to affiliate directly with the AFL-CIO. To date, more than 12,000 NEA members across the country have joined the AFL-CIO through the partnership.