AFT Convention Site: Seattle
AFT CONVENTION
July 6-11, 2010
Written by Viola Champion and Ruth Skow
Cool, clean, crisp air surrounded by magnificent mountains, busy harbors, and historical buildings was the setting for the 81st AFT Convention in Seattle, Washington July 7-11, 2010. The theme of the convention this year was "Building Futures Together", hosted by AFT state and local affiliates in Washington and Oregon, attended by more than 3,200 delegates from across the country in the bustling Emerald City.
AFT also welcomed trade union leaders, and special guests from around the world. Places such as Canada, Columbia, Finland, Georgia, Haiti, Ireland, Israel, Liberia, Netherlands, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe were represented by the international guests.
The 81st AFT Convention was a fun filled and knowledge filled experience for all. Throughout the convention, delegates were not only debating resolutions and amendments, presenting the committee reports and constitutional amendments and taking action on critical resolutions on the floor, they were also busy volunteering at the Tiny Tots Center in the community, attending special presentations, collecting information from the various vendor booths, taking action at the Take Action Center--emailing congress and their representatives in their areas, as well as building communities together. Examples of collaboration that inspired and empowered delegates were: supporting residents of the Gulf Coast oil spill, supporting Special Olympics, forming alliances with the NFL players association, volunteering to work in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, parents and schools working together, PSRP's voiced their concerns, putting an end to childhood hunger campaign, just to name a few.
During any free time, delegates were able to choose from a wide variety of sight-seeing activities such as; Pike's Place Market (Seattle's best-known tourist attraction which includes local produce, flowers, flying fish, specialized boutiques, ethnic restaurants, various street musicians, as well as the very first Starbucks Coffee Store); Argosy Cruises--offering harbor cruises, lunch, dinner, and locks cruises, ferry rides; The world famous Needle--just a monorail ride away from downtown; Seattle Aquarium; The Underground Tour; Museum of Flight; Ride the Ducks tour; lots of restaurants, shopping galore, tons of coffee places (especially Starbucks- over 108 in the downtown radius; the Waterfront- bakeries, carousel, arcades; parks; baseball at Safeco Field; just to mention a few. Did you know that Seattle only receives an average of 37.1 inches of rain per year, which is actually less precipitation than Atlanta, Houston, and New York City! What's the difference between a local and a tourist? Only tourists carry umbrellas! After all the convention events, and tourist destinations, we were truly Sleepless in Seattle!
For more on the convention check the AFT.org website.
Here's an outline of the daily happenings of the AFT 81st Convention:
The McAllen delegation, headed by Ruth Skow, and Torchie Champion arrived a day early to attend the AFT Communicators Network 2010 Conference - "Communicating Effectively- Today and Tomorrow", held at the Washington State Convention Center.
Kris Havens, AFT Director of Communications, Office of the President, kicked off the AFTCN opening session. Jeff Kallay, Vice President, Consulting, TargetX presented "Boomers, Xers, Millenials: Who's Next?" presentation. The rest of the day was broken up into various communication sessions followed by the AFTCN Communications Contest Awards reception and banquet held at the Westin Seattle Hotel. AFT President Randi Weingarten gave a brief speech at the awards banquet. McAllen AFT received awards in the following categories: Best Website, Class 3-Third Place and Best Single Publication or Nonperiodical Award, Class 3- third place. The banquet also honored the retiring of long time Illinois Federation of Teachers Communications Director, Gail Purkey.
After a fully packed schedule on Tuesday, the McAllen AFT delegation began the next day with registration, exhibits, orientations,the take action center, special events, and the Pride of the Union Reception, (a special invitation only reception for locals that experienced outstanding membership growth), which McAllen AFT received an award. Delegates stayed informed with updated information via Twitter, Facebook, and the AFT Convention special website. Special exhibits and promotions were tweeted throughout the convention that included schedule information, news, photos, tweets, and Twitter-only giveaways! In the evening, the Texas delegation was invited to a dinner reception hosted by Linda Bridges, Texas AFT president. AFT Secretary-Treasurer, Antonia Cortese gave a brief speech at the dinner.
Thursday began with a performance of the Seattle Kokon Taiko drummers, at the opening of the General Session: Building Futures Together. Guest speakers greeted the delegates and special quests to the convention. The governor of Washington, Chris Gregorire, Mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn, and Alan Link, secretary-treasurer, Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO welcomed everyone to Seattle. Morning speakers were Lorretta Johnson, AFT executive vice president, Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO, NAACP, and Antonia Cortese, AFT secretary-treasurer. The State of the Union speech was delivered by Randi Weingarten, AFT president. The afternoon was filled with Divisional Meetings, followed by Convention Committee Meetings.
Friday began with a general session: Building Our Union Together. Speakers were U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash), followed by Randi Weingarten, AFT president who spoke about Our Fights, Our Victories and Our Growth. The rest of the morning included the Credentials report and Adoption of Rules, and the Constitutional Amendments Report. The afternoon General Session: Building Communities Together included speakers: Antonia Cortese, Lorretta Johnson, and a special presentation of the President's International Democracy Award given to the Filipino educators Federation of Louisiana, who successfully fought back against a company that broke its promises after recruiting them to teach in Louisiana. Ingrid Cruz, founding president accepted the award on behalf of the Filipino teachers. A delegate reception was held in the Grand Ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel in the evening for all the delegates.
Saturday started off with a Nominating Session, followed by the General Session: Building Action Together. Greeting speaker was U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash). Speakers for "A Call to Arms", were Juan Andrade,Jr. president, United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. The Honorable Joyce Elliott, candidate for congress, Arkansas, and AFT member Richard Trumka, president, AFL-CIO. The afternoon General Session: Building Ideas Together with quest speaker Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft; co-chair and trustee, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The AFT Innovation Fund speech was given by Randi Weingarten, AFT president.
The general elections were from 4:30- 7:30 p.m. for all delegates. Election results were: Randi Weingarten, President; Antonia Cortese, Secretary; Lorretta Johnson, Executive Vice President.
Sunday was the last day of the convention which started with the General Session: Building Our Future Together. AFT's Everyday Heroes were given awards. The delegates worked on the committee reports and constitutional amendments and resolutions until 2:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon, when the AFT 81st Convention finally came to an end of business.