I am here today in support of our own members in our private sector local and of my Union Brothers, Sisters, and Family of the Labor Movement and against SB 516.

Right-to-Work continues to be, and will always be, Wrong for New Hampshire! It is no surprise that once again out of state corporate interests are supporting Right-to-Work here in New Hampshire as they are always trying to limit the power workers have in any workplace. What is surprising is that any New Hampshire lawmakers support this! Simply put, Right-to-Work is government interference in the workplace by putting the state in the middle of the relationship between the private employer and the employees of a private business.

Help us Stop the Subpoena and Part-Time Teacher Bills

Town Meeting Results.  This week the growing disconnect between the slim majority controlling the State House in Concord and the wants and needs of Granite State voters in many of our communities was on full display. On town meeting day voters showed they valued and support our public school students, the hard-working professionals who work every day in our schools supporting students, and the valuable town employees who keep our towns running by approving contracts in towns across the state.  Thanks to the hard work of our local leaders and members reaching out to friends and neighbors in their communities, AFT-NH locals in Campton, Fremont, Henniker, Hudson, and Timberlane school districts as well as our town employees in Hillsborough and Pittsfield earned support from voters for fair contracts for the valuable services they provide to their communities.

Attacks continue. Meanwhile, at the State House, the attacks on public schools and the professionals that work in them continued. While we have a good number of legislators who support our public school students, teachers, and school staff and we are truly thankful for their staunch support, they cannot prevail if a handful of legislators are missing when key votes come up.

Support the Freedom to Read (HB 1311)

More voucher expansion. The legislature was back in the swing of things this week after the winter break.  The House and Senate both met this week. The Senate acted on SB 522 this week passing a yet another voucher expansion bill out of the Senate Education Committee. This voucher expansion bill creates a voucher system for Pre-K even though the State of New Hampshire does not even mandate kindergarten and has no public Pre-K’s available for Granite State families. Families who are most in need and already qualify for the high-quality early child care scholarship could also see less money due to this voucher expansion. As a workforce issue, this could mean less childcare is available if this measure is approved, since the bill would mean less reliable funding for existing high quality childcare programs in favor of parceling out smaller amounts of money to greater number of families through a newly created school voucher program. Childcare programs may have to cut back on overhead and staff, which translates into fewer placements available for actual students, less daycare available for parents who need it and fewer working parents available to work. It will quite likely endanger the current federal funding underpinning of workforce childcare. SB 522 has enormous downsides.    

Urgent Red Alert

Respect the Teaching Profession

On Tuesday, March 6^th, the House Education Committee will be taking action on two bills which are blatant attacks on the teaching profession. We are asking you to take these two one-click actions to let the House Education Committee know that you respect New Hampshire educators and these attacks must stop.

AFT-NH local leaders and negotiating teams have spent countless hours preparing tentative agreements to be presented to the voters in March. All of that hard work comes down to one day of voting or one meeting. Please help AFT-NH members bring these contracts over the finish line. Please share this list with friends and allies so they know how they can make a difference and support our AFT-NH locals. We know that every single vote counts. Together we win. You can download the guide here.