News from AFT Massachusetts and President Jessica Tang

The North Reading Federation of Paraprofessionals just inked a new three year contract that includes an 11% wage increase, new step movements, and family sick bank language. Congratulations to the bargaining team for all of their hard work and effort in securing a new deal in a reasonably short amount of time!

Both units of our UMass Faculty Federation are also seeing their agreed-upon contracts move through the necessary process to receive state funding. The most recent supplemental budget passed by the House fully funded these contracts, and the bill now goes to the Senate for action. Both the Faculty Federation and Employee Staff Unit (ESU) will finally receive their negotiated wage increases from this winter's contract settlements this spring.

As you all know, this year’s budget season is a difficult one at the local and state levels, exacerbated by loss of federal funding. On Monday, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means hosted a FY27 budget hearing as it relates to education and local aid at Lawrence High School, where I joined Lawrence Teachers Union President Kimberly Barry to deliver testimony on what we’re seeing at the local level and the extensive needs of our communities.

It’s been a blizzard this past week in Massachusetts–literally and figuratively! We hope you all have safely weathered the storm and the extended clean up efforts underway.

The first two months of 2026 have a whirlwind as well, particularly for our locals in active negotiations. Leaders in Pittsfield, Essex Tech, our MLSA chapter at the Waltham Public Library, and others across the state are working hard to secure contracts that are fair for their members and good for the students and communities they serve.

After two dozen negotiation sessions, the educators and support staff at Neighborhood House Charter School in Boston have reached a tentative agreement with administrators on their very first contract. If ratified next month, the three-year contract will provide guaranteed annual wage increases, a defined process for employees to address issues within the workplace, and strong job protections, while clearly laying out expectations, rights, and responsibilities for over 140 educators who will become members of the Boston Teachers Union. Congratulations to the BTU and all involved in securing a contract that is good for everyone!

January is always a busy month, and this January has been no exception!

At the AFT MA Town Hall this past Wednesday, we shared highlights from recent contract wins and heard from local leaders about new strategies and lessons learned in their recent campaigns. We reviewed state legislation, gave updates on health care changes, and heard from Senator Ed Markey about the federal landscape. We also shared out highlights and learnings from a recent visit to Minneapolis with President Weingarten.  If you missed it, you can still view it and find resources from this town hall here.  

Earlier this month, we had the usual kick-off to the budget season–including advocacy to the Governor about key areas we need addressed this fiscal year, responding to the State of the Commonwealth, and combing through the Governor’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget suggestions. This is the very first step in the process of what will be a very difficult budget season. Together, we will need to spend the next five months advocating for our schools, working families, and students across the Commonwealth. The Governor’s draft was a baseline, and will be imperative for us to continue to advocate through our allies in the House and then with those in the Senate to build upon it. 

2025 has been a whirlwind. We have faced unprecedented challenges, but also saw historic wins for our schools, working families, and communities. We proudly championed many of these accomplishments and, together, will continue to meet challenges head on.

Our work to ensure working families have the support and resources they need to thrive continues in 2026. For now, we’d like to take the opportunity to highlight some of our favorite parts of 2025!

• 34 Contracts Ratified!! Bringing higher pay and stronger benefits to over 18,000 members across the state.
• Joined President Joseph Biden at the signing of the Social Security Fairness Act after spending decades fighting for these important reforms with labor allies.
• AFT MA leaders and members stood up and spoke out about 65+ pieces of state legislation – everything from ensuring necessary resources for our students to education funding reform, to stronger workplace benefits and protections, to building a more equitable Commonwealth! Out of these bills: 

As we head into the holiday season, we want to take a moment to share our gratitude to all members of the AFT MA community—we are so proud to represent our members across the Commonwealth! We hope your Thanksgiving week is full of rejuvenation, reflection, appreciation, and joy! We also know the holiday season can be difficult for many, and hold each of you in our hearts and minds as you navigate the holidays.

At AFT MA we have much to be grateful for. Throughout 2025, many of our locals have successfully achieved three year agreements, with wage increases and improved language for parental leave, longevity, preparation time, and better working conditions. We are happy to share that the Berklee Faculty Union, Lawrence Teachers Union, and North Attleboro Federation of Teachers all now have new contracts on the books! We're grateful to the members of each bargaining team and all members who were a part of the bargaining process. And we know there's always more to do and more to be won—including in several locals that continue to negotiate successor agreements from 2024 and 2025. That's why several of our workshops at this year's Fall Conference focused on building union density and engaging members. Our fights don't stop when we ratify a contract: we keep organizing and growing our power so we can win bigger next time!

The leaves may be falling, but we’re moving full speed ahead into the new school year! For those of you who were not able to attend, please check out the video from our Fall Town Hall earlier this month. It's a great way to get caught up on things important topics including:

• Recent contract wins in our locals - including in Peabody, Billerica, Lawrence, New Bedford, Fall River, and the Northshore Education Consortium - and how we continue to set higher standards through collective bargaining;
• State House advocacy, including testifying in support of legislation to mandate a minimum wage for educators and PSRPs, COLA reform, advocating for budget overrides to protect public education funding, and more;
• Updated resources available from AFT MA, including immigration resource trainings, MOVE/mass mobilization workshops, details about our Fall Conference on Nov. 22 (register today!), and more; and
• How national events are impacting our locals and working families, including the impact of the federal shut down, loss of SNAP benefits, and what may lie ahead.

Congratulations to all of our AFT MA locals who recently won and ratified new agreements, setting new standards for everything from cost of living adjustments to parental leave! It has been wonderful to see parents, community partners, and even students come out in support as we bargain for the common good. We continue to support member-engaged contract campaigns across our locals, seeing increases in union power and contract wins as a result. READ MORE!

September is always a busy month. This year was no exception.

We got things started by joining our union siblings to host the first Boston Labor Day Parade in decades. Thousands of people joined us in the streets, following a route of historic sites, where we were able to honor these victories as we build upon the movement of today. We were proud to anchor with the BTU and MTA the first stop on School Street at the site of the nation’s first public school.

It is hard to top the high note of Labor Day and the feeling of strength in our collective action. The success we saw on Labor Day built on the momentum from the millions of people from across the country who took part in the “No Kings,” “Protect Our Kids,” “Hands Off,” and “Good Trouble” protests and rallies. To continue that momentum, we are showing for the next No Kings Day on Saturday, October 18 on the Boston Common and throughout Massachusetts. This will be another nationwide day of solidarity for democracy, and we look forward to seeing you there! Details are forthcoming. Please make sure to RSVP to receive updates!  READ MORE!

Labor Day is just around the corner and the 2025-2026 school year is here. While summer always feels too short, we look forward to what is coming our way this fall, particularly Boston’s very first Labor Day Parade. We hope to see many of you there! For those returning to schools, everyone here at AFT Massachusetts hopes you have a productive year with the supportive work environments you deserve.

Our summer here at AFTMA we have been on the MOVE!  Mobilizing our members, organizing for strong contracts, getting ready to vote and empowering our communities to fight for the changes they would like to see.  We have also been all over the state, sharing out the new AFT M.O.V.E. curriculum.  

As the summer days began to dwindle, many of our locals spent these last weeks in celebration – with a number of tentative agreements and ratifications! We are always proud to partner with our AFT MA locals to provide additional support as they fight to get the strongest contract for our union members. Congratulations to our locals who have recently secured contract wins in negotiations, READ MORE!

July has been a month full of advocacy – from our  local school committees to the worker solidarity actions in LA , and from the Massachusetts State House to the halls of Congress in DC.

Leading into July, AFT MA was a strong presence at the 18th annual biennial convention of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance in Los Angeles. I co-led two workshops and introduced two special guests: former Secretaries of Labor Marty Walsh and Julie Su. It is also with great pride that we announce that our very own Mikayla Vu was elected President! Learn more about APALA and join here.

Throughout this busy month, AFT Massachusetts leaders, members, and allies showed up at the Massachusetts State House to testify on behalf of important legislative priorities this session including: our Retirement Plus bill, the Attorney General’s STUDY Act, legislation to extend PFML to educators and municipal employees, the Protect LABOR Act, legislation to restore collective bargaining rights to teachers in Level 4 and 5 schools/districts, expanding access to tuition free education opportunities to educators and paraprofessionals, the Freedom to Read bill, and more.

Here at the AFT Massachusetts, we’ve officially transitioned from school year mode to summer mode.

While many have a different definition of summer mode—and we certainly do believe summer is an important time, particularly for educators in our union, to rest and refuel—at the AFT Massachusetts “summer mode” is also “activist mode!

Activism can also help us to get re-energized, especially when we have more time and schedule flexibility to focus on our work advocating for our students, schools, and members while increasing engagement, collaboration, and solidarity across the labor movement.

Summer mode at AFT MA kicked-off with a Summer Town Hall to brief members on local bargaining wins, discuss key priorities at the state and federal level (legislative and electoral), and outline upcoming actions and resources for engagement this summer.

June closed out with our First Statewide Lobby Day on Beacon Hill – bringing together over 150 members, representing over 15 locals for an important day connecting with elected leaders and advocating for key priorities. You can read more ab