Welcome Message by AFT Local 212 President Lisa Conley

Happy New Year and welcome to the Spring 2026 term!
I hope that all were able to find some much needed and well-deserved restorative time for self and with friends and family over the winter break.

Since members will be receiving an issues update communication in the near future, I decided to focus here on the most common question that I received these past few weeks.
Whether in the hallway, offices, a coffee shop or grocery store; whether on the phone, by text or in-person, it was the same refrain no matter if discussing concerns about world-wide, national, state or regional events, or conditions and issues within our worksites: “Things are so crazy and dysfunctional. What do you think is going on and what can we do?”

History shows us that no matter the level one wants to focus upon – world, nation, state or in some instances the workplace – a common theme is great imbalance of power created using strategies that concentrate it in the hands of a few at the expense of the rights and freedoms of others and the effectiveness of the whole.

Luckily, history provides the antidotes for these strategies if we are aware and have the courage to apply them to the extent that we are able. For example:
We must not be blinded by chaos but seek and sow order and predictability.
We must not ignore secrecy and fall for subterfuge but seek transparency and value honesty.
We must not be swayed by narrative and assumptions but be guided by truth and evidence.
We must not accept promises and delays but demand accountability and timeliness.
We must not ignore and allow revision of history but acknowledge and learn from the past.
We must not settle for monoculturalism but seek and celebrate diversity and support plurality.
We must not diminish and scapegoat but build-up and empower others.
We must not amplify hate and division but foster love and unity.
We must not favor a select few but invite all to the table.
We must not think only of self but of the common good.
We must not cower and accept injustice but boldly identify, reject, and correct it.
We must not fall prey to division and isolation but build and grow community.
We must not be silenced or silence others but empower and raise our collective voices.
We must not be driven by fear but model and lead with caring, compassion and hope.
We must not give up and give in but believe that we have power and that we are the solution.

Above all, remember that compassion and caring are not weaknesses. They are, in fact, our superpowers, the fuel that keeps us going and coming back day after day and semester after
semester, and that allows us to build safe and effective learning spaces for our students and supportive working environments for each other. Key to that is hope, a valuable tool in our toolbox that keeps all involved on-track in both smooth and choppy waters. And the strategy to maintain all of this is community – built inside the classroom and out – because in community we are “more” - more safe, more creative, more supported, more effective. In total, these characteristics taken with our individual and collective intellectual capital and professional expertise makes each of you – makes all of us together – a force of nature, a force for good both within the classroom or office, the college, and beyond. May that force be with you today and throughout your spring 2026 journey. Together we are stronger.

Together we are better. Together we are Local 212!