Government Employees

Meet the Press

jruss — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:21:21 -0500

Al Shanker fields questions from a panel of interviewers on a wide range of topics including the purpose of the teacher union movement; teacher salaries; student achievement; the rise of public employee unionism; Shanker's role at local and national levels of teachers' unions and the labor movement; school integration and busing; how to measure productivity in education; how to merge the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFT; the effects of teacher strikes; and school vouchers.

Statement before the Democratic Platform Committee

jruss — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:07:00 -0500

Al Shanker advocates that the democratic presidential candidate adopt the AFT''s program on a number of issues. The AFT''s ideas include: expanding the federal government''s role in funding education; increasing access to post-secondary education through tuition assistance; creating a system of federal daycare centers run through the public schools; providing federal financial assistance to state and local governments, especially for welfare and medical costs; and extending federal collective bargaining laws and pension protections to public employees. read more »

Statement before the Sub-Committee on Labor

jruss — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:17:35 -0500

Al Shanker testifies here before a sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on Federal Regulation of State and Local Public Employee Labor Relations. He comments on two proposed bills, S. 3294 and S. 3295, that would, as he says, “provide for Federal regulation of labor relations in the public sector at the state and local level.” Shanker, speaking for the AFT, strongly endorses S. 3294 and condemns S. 3295. S. read more »