AFL-CIO Announces Landmark Affiliation with the Professional Staff Union,
Local Arm of Massachusetts Teachers Association

Affiliation Represents the First of Its Kind in Massachusetts

 (Chicago, Aug. 6) - - Today the Professional Staff Union (PSU), a local arm of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, announced its affiliation with the AFL-CIO.  The affiliation will encourage greater cooperation to meet the needs of university professionals, students and their families, according to the participants.  The agreement brings together the PSU, representing over 300 higher education professionals, with three central labor councils (Boston, Springfield and Hampshire/Franklin Counties), the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the national AFL-CIO, a federation of unions representing 10.5 million workers.

At a meeting of the AFL-CIO Executive Council in Chicago, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney presented a certificate of affiliation to the president of the association. Sweeney was joined by National Education Association (NEA) president-elect Dennis Van Roekel.

"Teachers and education professionals are being assaulted by the lack of funding for public education," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.  "Today's affiliation means greater collaboration in the fight to save public schools and protect higher education."

"We're pleased that working families are coming together to advance the right of every student to attend a quality public school. Opponents of public education are not letting up in their attacks, with school vouchers schemes and resource cuts. We need to work together, building coalitions and fighting back with a unified voice," noted NEA President-elect Dennis Van Roekel.

The affiliation will facilitate greater cooperation among Massachusetts union members in the fight for health care, retirement security and good jobs. It will also further unify teachers in the fight for quality public education and student and teachers' needs in the classroom.

"PSU is delighted to have the opportunity to join the central labor councils to further build community and create alliances in the greater labor movement in Massachusetts and beyond," said JoAnne Martone, president of PSU. "We are a member-driven, member-run organization and have been working on this for several months. It is rewarding to see it come to fruition."

"This is an exciting moment," said MTA President Anne Wass. "It is the first step in an affiliation that we expect to accomplish great things for members of the PSU and the labor councils."

"The new relationship between the PSU and the labor councils adds to the longstanding friendship between the MTA and the state AFL-CIO," Wass continued. "We are certain that it will strengthen this bond and help advance the interests of both our members and the students who attend public higher education institutions across the Commonwealth."

"With Question 1 seeking to devastate public education in the Commonwealth by eliminating our income tax, this historic affiliation couldn't come at a more pivotal time for working families," said Robert Haynes, Massachusetts AFL-CIO President. "We've always been a state with strong education unions, and we're excited to have another important local on our team to work together with us to take public education to even higher levels."

"We welcome these new members to the AFL-CIO," said American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten. "When working people come together through the labor movement, we can make much more of an impact where we work and live. Our education members, in particular, look forward to working with these NEA members to help improve the institutions where they work and the people they serve."

The affiliations of NEA's Santa Maria Elementary Education Association of California and the Kenosha (Wisc.) Education Association were also announced today in Chicago.

The affiliation comes as part of a groundbreaking agreement between the national AFL-CIO and the National Education Association allowing for local associations of the NEA to affiliate directly with the AFL-CIO.  The Labor Solidarity Partnership is supported by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a long-time AFL-CIO affiliate.  To date, over 12,000 NEA members across the country have joined the AFL-CIO through the partnership.

 

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employees organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

 

The AFL-CIO is the country's largest labor federation and represents 10.5 million union members.