Beloit Education Association adds AFL-CIO affiliation
Representatives of several unions display their solidarity after announcing that the Beloit Education Association - which continues to be affiliated with WEAC and the NEA - has added an affiliation with the AFL-CIO. Among those celebrating are (left to right) Sue Ledbetter, a staff representative from the national AFL-CIO; BEA President Tim Vedra; WEAC President Stan Johnson; Wisconsin AFL-CIO President David Newby; national AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka; and AFT-Wisconsin President Andy Gussert. Photo gallery
The Beloit Education Association and the AFL-CIO announced a landmark affiliation Monday (April 16, 2007) that will encourage closer cooperation to meet the needs of Beloit’s working families. The agreement brings together Beloit’s largest independent union, representing more than 500 teachers and education support professionals, with the AFL-CIO’s Rock County Central Labor Council, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO and the national AFL-CIO, a federation of unions representing 10 million workers.
“BEA members and members of AFL-CIO unions share common challenges including good collective bargaining agreements and retirement and job security,” said BEA President Tim Vedra. “As teachers, we’re also concerned about quality education and issues such as class size and school financing. Together, we’ll be stronger and better able to attain individual union goals and the collective goals of the labor movement.”
Last year, the national AFL-CIO and National Education Association approved a groundbreaking deal allowing for local arms of the NEA to affiliate directly with the AFL-CIO. BEA is the second in the nation to receive such a certificate of AFL-CIO affiliation. Two weeks earlier, the Seattle Education Association affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The University of the District of Columbia's faculty also joined the AFL-CIO on Tuesday.
"Together we are stronger," said AFT-Wisconsin President Andy Gussert in welcoming the affiliation of the BEA. "There are too many people against us for us not to be fighting together."
“By uniting BEA members with AFL-CIO union members, we’ll be able to wage stronger campaigns on behalf of workers and fend off assaults on family incomes, education, health care, pensions, and public services,” said Geoff Upperton, president of the Rock County Central Labor Council. “And we’ll be stronger in the fight for quality, affordable health care for all, retirement security, and a great education for our children.”
The BEA and the Rock County Central Labor Council will collaborate on common local goals, including improving our public education system and member mobilization around issues affecting working people.
“We have worked closely with the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) on mutual legislative priorities and we have cooperated on election activity. This new partnership strengthens those bonds and provides greater unity for the benefit of all of Wisconsin’s working families,” said David Newby, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO.
"This agreement makes us all stronger by joining our forces on behalf of our members and the work that they do," said WEAC President Stan Johnson. "That's what unions are for, and it's exciting to see this coalition take shape."
In a show of solidarity, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Wisconsin AFL-CIO union leaders joined members of the Beloit Education Association and leaders of the Wisconsin Education Association Council for a rally to kick off contract negotiations.
In his remarks at the rally, Trumka noted that “the certificate of affiliation is a historic document, but that the real significance lies in the fact that BEA and AFL-CIO members will be standing together, fighting together and winning together in the ongoing struggle for a quality education for Beloit’s children and for economic and social justice for all of Beloit’s working families.”
Posted April 17, 2007