LAMPHERE FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
MFT & SRP #1614
Newsletter
October 2004
LFT Executive Board 2004-05 with Lois Lofton Doniver, Secretary-Treasurer of the MFT&SRP
Vote, Vote, Vote--Volunteers from the LFT will be calling members to remind them to vote November 2nd. If you would like to help contact Judy Schram. Visit the MFT&SRP http://election04.mftsrp.org website to check for the endorsements. Please consider a vote for those candidates.
Labor Walk--A coalition of unions in the state of Michigan are sponsoring Labor Walks the two weekends before the November 2nd election. If you would like to help contact Judy Schram.
LFT Social-- Mark your calendar for October 29th. The LFT will host a social outing at Bob and Rob's on John R. between 12 mile and Gardenia. The cost is $10 which includes pizza, salad and soft drinks. Please RSVP to your building rep. Hope to see everyone there! A second social is planned on January 14th and will be at the UFCW Hall across from Lamphere High School. Thanks to Jolyn Hindelang and Janet Kenyon for their work on making the arrangements.
AFT PRAISES NEW BILL TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS WITH NCLB
The AFT has praised a new bill introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and other
Democrats in the Senate. The legislation will serve as an important first step in
correcting some of the main problems that have plagued the No Child Left Behind Act.
Although the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act of 2004 deals primarily with
implementation, it also provides some of the flexibility needed to meet the goals of the
law. The bill, introduced Sept. 13,
offers "commonsense relief" to many states, school districts and teachers
working to raise student achievement. Under the bill, for example, teachers and
paraprofessionals will better be able to demonstrate their qualifications. In addition,
numerous schools and districts unfairly penalized before corrections were made to the
law's regulations will have a chance to recalculate their progress.
FIND THE UNION LABEL IN CYBERSPACE-- The AFL-CIO Union Label and Service Trades Department has launched a new Web site offering shoppers an array of union-made gifts, from clothing and chocolates to computers and greeting cards. The site,http://www.shopunionmade.org, is up and running in time for the fall and winter holidays. The AFL-CIO will target the peak of the holiday shopping season by promoting "Buy Union Week" Nov. 26-Dec. 5 with the new shopping site as the cornerstone of its campaign.
MULLANY HOUSE ONE STEP CLOSER TO NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE--The
U.S. Senate earlier this month passed legislation to designate the Kate Mullany House in
Troy, N.Y., as a National Historic Site. In 1864, Kate Mullany, an Irish immigrant laundry
worker, organized and led Troy's all-female Collar Laundry Union, recognized as the first
women's labor union in the United States. The house was designated as a National Historic
Landmark in 1998, and in 2003 the house was purchased by the New York AFL-CIO's nonprofit
foundation, the American Labor Studies Center, with plans to set up a Center of American
Labor Studies on part of the site. Designating the house as a National Historic Site would
authorize the National Park Service to provide important planning, interpretive and
preservation assistance. The Senate bill was sponsored by New York Sens. Hillary Clinton
and
Charles Schumer. Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.) has introduced a companion bill in the
House of Representatives. For more information, go to http://www.labor-studies.org.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Schram
LFT Secretary