Tag Archives: aft

Labor and Community Job Opportunities, Opportunities

AFT Hiring Senior Associate

Job Title:
Senior Associate

Unit:
AFTSU

Job Number:
AOF-58-31-1015-V

Supervisor:
Assistant to the President for Research and Strategic Initiatives

Department:
Research and Strategic Initiatives

Annual Salary:
$82,463.54

Special Note:
The purpose of the position is to conduct research in close coordination with AFT staff and affiliates, with a particular focus on AFT’s Nurses and Health Professionals division.

Position Summary:
Under the direction of the research and strategic initiatives manager, the senior associate will conduct research, develop resources and materials and work with affiliate leaders and staff to support and advance organizing, contract campaigns and other initiatives of AFT’s healthcare affiliates.

Position Responsibilities:
· Conduct research and financial analyses of healthcare employers and healthcare networks in support of organizing, issue and collective bargaining campaigns of affiliates.
· Analyze and interpret trends in the healthcare industry at the state and national level that will affect AFT’s affiliates and members.
· Assist in the preparation and presentation of findings, reports and information to AFT leadership, affiliates and staff.
· Provide assistance to leaders and staff of AFT affiliates and develop and implement research-based organizing and contract campaigns.
· Coordinate with other AFT departments as needed to assist and support AFT affiliates.
· Assist in the organization, development, facilitation and delivery of training for AFT affiliate leaders and staff.
· Coordinate and monitor work assignments of interns.
· Extensive travel and some weekend and evening work required.
· Other duties as assigned.

Primary Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
· Qualified candidates must have demonstrated technical research skills including experience with quantitative analysis using programs such as Excel and Access.
· Knowledge of healthcare industry and issues affecting nurses and health professionals.
· Successful track record assisting in the preparation and delivery of presentations and trainings on complex material.
· Strong written and verbal communication skills, including preparation of easily understandable materials for affiliate leaders and staff; patient advocates; community and labor allies; and the general public.
· An advanced degree in healthcare policy, law, labor studies, sociology or related field is required.

Secondary Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
· Two years or more experience working in a union environment is preferred.
· Strong commitment and dedication to work in the labor movement.
· Familiarity with AFT and/or its affiliates.

Application requirements:
Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample to the director of human resources or via email to adminjobs@aft.org. Please reference posting #AOF-58-31-1015-V

 

Home, Labor Studies, Urban Studies

The growing disjunction in education policy

This article originally appeared on The Hill.

By Basil Smikle Jr.

A flurry of activity among education reformers across the country exposes a growing bifurcation within its ranks, uncovered by recent challenges to teacher tenure in New York. Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown’s Partnership for Educational Justice, which recently recruited renowned attorneys David Boies and Laurence Tribe, seeks to reform teacher tenure laws, mirroring activities that led to California’s controversial Vergara ruling. But earlier this month, the New York City Parents Union filed suit separately alleging that Brown’s group failed to include scores of minority parents in their complaint. This troubling yet pervasive tableau has bedeviled modern reform movements since their inception: Leadership has remained predominantly white, even though the target populations are overwhelmingly black and Latino. And these battles are contributing to a growing disjunction in education policy and among stakeholders within communities and across cities.  Continue reading The growing disjunction in education policy →

Home, Urban Studies

Politics, Progressivism and the Future of the Democratic Party

By Basil Anthony Smikle Jr. 

Earlier this year, Gallup reported that a record number of Americans identify as Independents. Forty-two percent of the country shed traditional political party labels: Republican Party identification fell to 25% while 31% identified with Democrats – down from 36% in 2008 when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battled for the nomination. Attempts to recalibrate each national party’s internal political compass before 2016 will likely prove more vexing for Republicans, but recent activity among major Democratic figures signals a far more aggressive push for realignment than previously thought. A high-profile campaign 10 years ago and recent developments among education policy-leaders may foreshadow a dramatic shift in the Party’s forthcoming platform.

Howard Dean’s rapid ascension among Democratic presidential contenders in 2004 was fueled in part by an strong anti-war stance, a unabashed liberal ideology during the neo-conservative Bush-Cheney years, and a pre-Facebook internet strategy that was groundbreaking for its fundraising and community-building activities. Dean famously lost in Iowa and New Hampshire as voters chose John Kerry, who was presumed to be a better general election candidate. While Dean’s loss was not wholly unwelcomed by certain corners of the Democratic Party, his most ardent supporters were without a champion until early 2007, when President Obama kicked off his seemingly quixotic campaign for the White House.   Continue reading Politics, Progressivism and the Future of the Democratic Party →