Welcome Message from J. Redding, Interim President, AFT Local 1828
I want to personally welcome you to the Union, AFT Local 1828!
This is the only organization dedicated to protecting your working conditions, dedicated to ensuring you’re paid a fair wage (whether full- or part-time), dedicated to ensuring you have access to good healthcare benefits, dedicated to your receiving a fair evaluation, dedicated to protecting your academic freedom as an instructor, dedicated to defending you when a dean or other administrator breaches your contract rights under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and also dedicated to raising the status of teaching professionals in our society-at-large, among many other things.
No other organization is focused on your rights in this way, so it only makes sense to support our Union. It’s simply enlightened self-interest to do so. However, the Union is more than this. It’s a place where you can meet with a stronghold representing a diversity of opinions to discuss and debate topics near and dear to your heart, where you can make lifelong friends, where you can get guidance when you find yourself in a complicated or delicate situation while employed with the VCCCD.
The Union houses a wealth of experience in dealing with these kinds of situations. It’s been dealing with countless scenarios for decades, and people on our Executive Council are more than equipped to defend and guide you. We may not be perfect, as we, too, are always learning new things, but for the most part, we can assist you based on our extensive experience gained over time working with District administrators, and it is our pleasure to do so.
We hope that you find the Union a welcoming place and that you choose to get involved. We are, after all, our Union. It is OUR voices, each and every one of us, who guides the Union leadership, and we are here . . . listening to what you have to say. It is my pleasure and privilege to be your current Interim Union President. It’s a position I cherish and dedicate myself to on a daily basis. I look forward to meeting you at one of our campus gatherings. This is one of the nicest things about this job—as we are such a wonderful faculty!
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