AFT Amesbury Local #1033

AFT Amesbury Union Leader Statewide Award Winner

If you see Jim Queenan, please take a moment to congratulate him. Among numerous nominations from across the state, AFT Amesbury will once again be recognized at the AFT Massachusetts Convention this April, as Jim has been selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award.

Below is the official announcement regarding Jim’s award:

“The AFT Massachusetts Distinguished Service Awards are presented annually to AFT Massachusetts members who have demonstrated an outstanding level of service and dedication to their local union. The 2026 Distinguished Service Award winners will be honored at the AFT Massachusetts Convention Awards Dinner on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. We’re excited to celebrate the 2026 award winners at the Kennedy Institute. Senator Kennedy was a champion for working people who always fought for good jobs, full employment, and safe working conditions. Unions are the backbone of our public institutions, and it’s important to celebrate the members who keep our schools, libraries, and colleges running every day.

On behalf of AFT Massachusetts, I want to extend our sincere congratulations to you on your accomplishments. The reason we are successful is because of the efforts of people like you.

— Brant Duncan, Secretary-Treasurer, AFT Massachusetts”

Jim, we are so proud of you and of the decades of dedicated service you have given to our district and our union. Your leadership and steady commitment exemplify the very best of our organization.

AFT Amesbury continues to shine statewide, and this recognition is well deserved. Jim will be honored at the Convention Awards Dinner in April. Please join us in celebrating this tremendous achievement.

Tips from public employees on mobilizing members

When the president of Colorado WINS learned that the president of the United States might be targeting Denver next in his anti-immigration campaign of terror, she knew how she’d begin to mobilize. One simple thing Diane Byrne does is deck out her activists in matching T-shirts. Wearing union colors promotes team spirit and builds confidence, she says. The AFT Public Employees program and policy council, meeting in New York City Feb. 5-6, abounded with tips to help locals mobilize. PPC chair Gary Feist, president of North Dakota Public Employees, recommended finding members who can tell a personal story to draw media attention. With more media on the issue, he said, legislators will become more motivated to fix the problem.

All the resources you need on immigration and ICE

Federal immigration actions are rapidly expanding, with deadly consequences. The killings of poet Renee Nicole Good and nurse Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis have brought intense focus on the use of excessive force. An AFT webinar, co-hosted by AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang on Jan. 28, featured experts on immigration and the law. It highlighted AFT resources and showcased how our locals are showing up to minimize fear and trauma.

From Chalkboards to AI: A Teacher’s 65-Year Journey

On her very first day of student teaching at Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, N.Y., Martha Strever pushed, pulled and pounded on the school’s door, which was locked. No one came. Where was everybody? It was, after all, the first day of school.

It turned out everybody was exactly where they were supposed to be: inside, having entered through the school’s front entrance. Strever had been knocking on a side door. Flustered but undeterred, she not only found her way inside, she also found her life’s calling.

Photo credit: SDI Productions / E+ / Getty Images

Kids and PSRPs take the brunt of Trump’s halt to school funding

Paraprofessionals and school-related personnel are often overlooked because of their support roles. They are the last ones hired and often the first ones fired when budgets get tight. This certainly seems true right now as the Trump administration withholds nearly $7 billion in education funds, effective July 1, which has hamstrung summer school programs, hindered English language support, halted professional development this summer, and left before- and after-school programs in limbo for the coming school year.

AFT Amesbury Leadership Attends AFT Mass Leadership Conference

AFT Amesbury leadership took time out of their busy weekend to attend the AFT Mass Leadership Conference in Walpole Mass at the Norfolk Agriculture Technical High School. Vice Presidents Mark Rinaldi and Courtney Connell Lovett attended with President Yetman. We participated in panel discussions and workshops that inform our leadership for our union. President Yetman delivered a workshop on controlling health care premium increases by embracing health and wellness programming for our members and our city. We appreciate our leaders taking their personal time to attend and participate in leadership activities for the good of the membership!