American Federation of Teachers New Mexico
Celebrates Certification of Union at New Mexico School for the Deaf
New Mexico School for the Deaf Faculty and Staff Association is Newest AFT NM Local
July 30, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: John Dyrcz
July 30, 2024 505-554-8679
Santa Fe –American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Whitney Holland, New Mexico School for the Deaf Residential Lead Night Attendant Jesse Crespin, and New Mexico School for the Deaf Teacher Jesse Woosley released the following statements:
“The certification of a union for the faculty and staff at New Mexico School for the Deaf is welcome news for these 100+ hardworking educators. After eleven months of internal organizing and five months after submitting union authorization cards to the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board, these educators never gave up their fight for a union. Every member of the new union who helped to organize their colleagues believed that a better educational experience was possible for the students at the New Mexico School for the Deaf and a better partnership could be forged with the administration of the School. Welcome to the AFT New Mexico family!” said Holland.
"We started the long process of unionizing because we felt like our voices weren't being heard or taken seriously. Our union will give us a seat at the table to make the changes we want to see in our workplace. It's all very exciting, " said Crespin.
“One of the main reasons to set up a union at our school was to be able to have more leverage in decision making with workplace policies that impact employees. I believe this can increase our quality of services and education with Deaf/Hard of Hearing students in New Mexico. I hope our union can increase communication and transparency between administrators and employees. I believe our union will allow employees to have a "seat at the table" which can bring more input from a larger and more diverse group of staff to steer decision making,” said Woosley.
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The New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board issued certification for this unit on July 23, 2024 with over 66% support. The 105 faculty and staff members at New Mexico School for the Deaf are organized
with the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico.