AFT Maryland is happy to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The term encapsulates a wide array of different cultures, ethnicities, and regional dialects. Each bubbling with unique customs and traditions that offer valuable ways of knowing that contribute to the larger American community. The Asian/Pacific diaspora stretches across vast territories giving us Americans with ancestral roots from Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands, to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines just to name a few.
 

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The labor movement uses April 28th as a day for annual reflection in honor of workers who have been hurt or fatally injured on the job. This year, the annual commemoration held a particularly bitter sting as the labor movement mourned six workers killed when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore in March.

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First contracts are often the most difficult to negotiate; however for bargaining team members they are also very exciting. United Academics of Maryland - Prince George’s rallied on Thursday April 18, 2024 ahead of their first bargaining session. Faculty gathered at the Center for Performing Arts building, dressed in red to support those who would go in to negotiate with the College. The excitement was palpable as faculty greeted each other who arrived with smiles and salutations. 

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Faculty at Hagerstown Community College have declared their intention to unionize and affiliate with American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Maryland. Earlier today, faculty members and AFT Maryland officials filed unionization cards with the Maryland Public Employees Labor Relations Board. Once certified, the faculty will be a part of the United Academics of Maryland - Hagerstown, affiliated with the AFT Maryland, AFT, AAUP, and AFL-CIO. This effort continues AFT’s engagement with organizing higher education workers. The organizing has taken off since AFT and AAUP affiliated in 2022. Unionization provides faculty with an organized body to participate in the decision making process of the college. Many longtime faculty members are excited about a chance to collaborate with administrators to demonstrate their knowledge and move Hagerstown Community College forward. 

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We pause today to reflect on those workers who have lost their lives on the job.

Workers Memorial Day is sacred to our labor family because we are all in proximity to someone who has been made ill, hurt, or lost their lives on the job. This is a day where workers across a range of industries and professions have been affected. Worker harm does not discriminate nor is it discerning of class and title. 

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Resident physicians and fellows at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) delivered a petition to the President and CEO of the institution declaring their intention to form a union and expressing their desire to begin collective bargaining. This action follows years of organizing efforts. The residents and fellows will unionize with AFT Maryland who currently represents a number of health care professionals throughout the state.

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