On Saturday, December 9th, the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA) board of directors voted unanimously to affiliate with the largest higher education union—and one of the most influential unions—in the nation, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT executive council voted on Monday, December 11th, to unanimously accept the 2,700-member UHPA as an affiliate, with an effective date sometime in Spring 2024.  AFT Almost 2 Million Strong The AFT currently has 1.7 million members. In June 2022, with the affiliation [...]

This Q&A is part of a continuing series that we introduced with the “Taking a Hard Look at Our Future Starts with Asking the Hard Questions” article. In addition to the monthly UHPA dues, how much would the AFT dues be per month? The cost to affiliate with AFT would be $20.18 per member per month (or $10.09 per paycheck).   This amount would go directly to AFT.  UHPA would keep nothing and continue to operate on the 1% of your gross [...]

This Q&A is part of a continuing series that we introduced with the “Taking a Hard Look at Our Future Starts with Asking the Hard Questions” article Would there be a probationary period for AFT in which UHPA members can determine if this association is beneficial to us or not? Or is this a long term commitment? Should the UHPA Board of Directors decide to affiliate with AFT, we anticipate the affiliation will be a lasting partnership.  However, affiliation with AFT does [...]

This Q&A is part of a continuing series that we introduced with the “Taking a Hard Look at Our Future Starts with Asking the Hard Questions” article Why is the decision regarding affiliation with AFT a decision of the UHPA board, and not its members?   Section 3 of UHPA’s By-laws require that affiliation decisions be made by the Board of Directors.  This language has remained unchanged since at least 2007 and was most recently approved by the membership in April 2023.  It [...]

This Q&A is part of a continuing series that we introduced with the “Taking a Hard Look at Our Future Starts with Asking the Hard Questions” article Isn’t it true that the political arm of AFT is the most committed supporter of Democrats (>99% of candidates) of any similar union?   A recent concern that was expressed by a UHPA member was that a UHPA-AFT affiliation would NOT be a good idea because the AFT is the most committed supporter of Democrats (>99% [...]

This Q&A is part of a continuing series that we introduced with the “Taking a Hard Look at Our Future Starts with Asking the Hard Questions” article Do the AFT member benefits extend to lifetime members - i.e., UH retirees who are UHPA members?  Yes, AFT does offer member benefits through its retiree chapter.   Feedback is Always Welcomed As always, we’re open to feedback from our members, so please don’t hesitate to email those suggestions to feedback@uhpa.org.