ELECTION
AFT Washington files complaint against ‘Stand for Children’
The following was distributed by AFT Washington:
(Oct. 29) — The American Federation of Teachers in Washington State (AFT Washington) filed a complaint last week against the Stand for Children Washington’s Political Action Committee with the state Public Disclosure Commission. The PAC improperly used AFT Washington’s logo as an endorsement on their candidate mailing for Sylvester Cann who is running for the House of Representatives in the 46th Legislative District.
“While we have dual endorsed in this legislative race and thereby gave both campaigns the right to use our name, we never gave Stand for Children or any other independent group permission to use our logo in their PAC mailings,” said AFT Washington President Sandra Schroeder. “We are not affiliated with Stand for Children because we disagree with their positions on our issues, and have never contributed money to their state PAC. Their placement of our logo was particularly deceptive so that anyone seeing it could believe that we participated in the mailing. ”
Stand for Children, which uses money from ultraconservative donors across the country to enact legislation to fund vouchers, defund public schools, and expand charter schools, is running an independent campaign in support of Sylvester Cann under the guise of “education reform.” In state after state, Stand for Children’s agenda has been school privatization, government austerity measures, and deunionization.
“We understand that the Cann campaign is not responsible for independent campaigns done by groups such as Stand for Children,” Schroeder said. “When he participated in our endorsement process, Mr. Cann indicated that he supported public schools and teachers. We have no idea why they are engaged in this campaign, but their tactics in at least one other state legislative race have also been deceptive so we felt it was important for us to make our opposition to them public.”
For more information about AFT Washington, visit the union’s website.
CHECK OUT THE UNION DIFFERENCE in Washington: higher wages, affordable health and dental care, job and retirement security.
FIND OUT HOW TO JOIN TOGETHER with your co-workers to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and a voice at work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!
