Professionals Launch New Org To Defend Integrity At Work

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

A coalition of unions and professional associations came together Wednesday at the National Press Club to announce the start of Professionals for the Public Interest (PftPI). The new organization intends to help nurses, teachers, librarians, scientists and a range of other professionals respond to outside pressures and challenges to the integrity of their work. "What we're doing today is reframing this issue," said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, noting that when individual professionals try to defend themselves against budget-cutting or other measures that would harm their ability to work, "it gets framed as that individual has an axe to grind." PftPI, said Weingarten, would say that person "is fighting the fight for quality or for professional integrity." The newly formed PftPI has built a website where professionals can submit stories about defending their professional integrity against external pressures. The best stories will be featured on the website's home page after Labor Day. Participating unions include Actors' Equity Association (AEA), American Federation of Musicians (AFM), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers(AFT), Department for Professional Employees of the AFL-CIO, IATSE, IFPTE, OPEIU, RWDSU, UAN, and USW. Other organizations include the American Library Association (ALA), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
- report by Mariya Strauss; photo: Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO President Paul Almeida (r) and United American Nurses President Ann Converso (l); photo by Chris McManes, IEEE-USA.