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Early Childhood Federation, Local 1475 in Los Angeles County is reactivating its membership and increasing its numbers. An affiliate of the CFT, 1475 consists of teachers, associate teachers and support staff who provide early childhood education (ECE) through Head Start, a federally funded program born out of the war on poverty and advanced by Sergeant Shriver in the 1960s.
Over the years Local 1475 has seen many changes, from the lean years of the Bush administration to the current distribution of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act dollars. Throughout it all, one thing has remained the same - the need for constant organizing of our members.
During the recent restructuring of Head Start in LA County we lost two of the agencies we represented, LACA and Federation Head Start. This was a major blow to our membership numbers which were decreased significantly due to the restructuring.
Last summer, we regrouped and put together an organizing blitz with the AFT, the CFT, and ECE rank and file leaders and organizers from across the country. We knocked on over 600 doors over the HOT Summer and recruited 34 new members to the union. But more importantly, we created a buzz in the early childhood profession throughout LA County. The message was clear that the union wanted to give the power back to the professionals who do the real work in developing young minds.
After analyzing the summer's organizing we decided to step up our effort and continue organizing into the next year. Thanks to the AFT we have a full time National Representative working with us to help build our union.
There's a long road ahead including bargaining several contracts and planning future organizing blitzes. However, this partnership for growth has proven to be a huge success with an increase of active members on several committees and an increase of over 175 new members who are taking back their profession and gaining a voice on the job.
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