Union Benefits
COVID-19 Resources
The CFT works with members and state officials to find the best path forward for educators, staff, students, and communities during the coronavirus pandemic. Find the resources you need here.
Member Benefits
You are not alone in the workplace
As a member of the CFT, you are part of a vital and active organization committed to upholding educational standards for our students and ensuring the best possible workplace for you. The power of the union stems from collective action. That begins with you, but you don’t stand alone. The CFT stands with you.
AFT+ Programs
Dozens of high-quality service and discount programs
Through the CFT, AFT and the AFL-CIO, members have access high-quality services and discounts, adding tremendous value to your union membership. As a CFT member, you are entitled to more than three dozen programs offered through AFT+ Member Benefits. You will find complete benefit information on the AFT website. Below, we’ve highlighted four of special interest to CFT members.
Raoul Teilhet Scholarships
Bringing the benefit of union membership to your family
Through this benefit of membership, the CFT has helped hundreds of students reach their higher education goals by awarding them Raoul Teilhet Scholarships.
Your Workplace Rights
From worker safety to Weingarten Rights
Know the essential workplace rights you have as an education worker in California. Below are quick links to the major topics covered here.
Training
CFT provides training for members and local unions
The CFT offers a wide range of training opportunities to help members and leaders build strong local unions through a mixed schedule of in-person trainings and webinars.
Curricula
Member-produced labor curricula FREE to educators
The Labor and Climate Justice Education Committee has produced curricula for students at all levels of education, from preschool coloring books to college and university readings, to union-based new member orientation programs. Here you will find some of our most popular and enduring lessons and materials. You may download pdfs for free and purchase print copies or dvds for a minimal fee.
Resource Library
Find what you need quickly!
If you need a union flyer or resource quickly, this is the place for you! Here you will find shortcuts to dozens of flyers, pamphlets and booklets that are posted throughout the CFT website. The first section contains items for all union members, followed by breakouts with more items for each division. At the bottom of the page, we’ve linked most of our online toolkits, which contain even more resources on specific topics.
- What You Need to Know About the Rights of Immigrants and the Threat of Deportations
- In Spanish
- Work, Money and Power: Unions in the 21st Century
- White Paper: What Makes Quality Public Education? Ask the Experts
- Teacher Evaluation Position Paper
- Student Assessment Position Paper
- Adult Education Issue Paper
- Know Your Rights: A guide to workplace laws for classified employees and paraprofessionals in California
- Part-Time Faculty Issue Paper
- Retirement Primer for Part-Timers
- Ten Things to Know About Measles Immunizations
- Unionist! poster
- Get to Know Your CCE!
- How Can You Participate?
- Community College Council Fact Sheet
- CFT Climate Justice Agenda
- Special Education in Turmoil: A Guide to Negotiating Solutions to Common Problems
- Join the Union — Statewide Membership Form
- Classified Employee Summer Assistance Program – Flyer
- Classified Employee Summer Assistance Program – FAQ
- Guidance for Paraprofessionals Regarding Distance Learning
- Questions to Ask Your LEA about Special Education & Distance Learning
- CFT Raoul Teilhet Scholarships
- All Union Scholarships for CFT Members and Dependents
- Top Ten Reasons to Belong to an AFT Retiree Chapter
- Know Your Weingarten Rights
- Workers Compensation
- When You Retire, A Practical Guide for Retiree Activists to Develop and Activate A Retiree Chapter
- CFT Fact Sheet
- AFT+ Member Benefits At-A-Glance 2022-23
- AFT+ Member Benefits 2022-23
- COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
- Full-Time Faculty Salary Comparisons 2021-22
- Part-Time Faculty Salary Comparisons 2021-22
- Read more
Your Right to Organize a Union
To form a union, bargain collectively your employer, and have a greater voice at work
If you don’t have a union, you already know the boss can do whatever he or she wants. You really don’t know from one day to the next what could happen to your pay, your job, or even your workplace.
Without a union, you leave all of your rights outside when you walk through the door to work. But you – and the people you work with – can change this. It’s your legal right.
Choose Union-Made
Your guide to union-made products and services
Americans are eager to support workers, but more than 80 percent say they don’t know which products are union-made. Finding union products can be difficult because few are labeled as such. And now that you can find anything online, it takes extra effort to support fellow workers by buying union-made items.
Find union gear in the CFT Store!
In our online store, you can purchase apparel and union swag branded with our new identity CFT – A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals. You may purchase newly designed buttons, hoodies, t-shirts, even onesies for our future union members! You will also find our CFT classics as button packs, stickers, magnets and posters. All union-made, all the time!