In addition to the Citizen-News article, News 12 Connecticut covered our efforts, leading with a news segment that evening and throughout the following day that focused on the rally we staged outside the district's central office before the meeting. Unfortunately, the video is not available at the station's website...

Their reporter interviewed Chapter I19 member Jan Carruthers in front of the cheering, chanting crowd, which they put at approximately 250-strong. In the 10:00PM news broadcast aired that evening, the anchor actually read from the regional wage comparison leaflet our Bargaining Team members had prepared for current contract talks!

More than a dozen of our member paras spoke out during the public comment portion of the meeting, beginning with Chapter President Julie Cinnamon. Despite limited time to organize Wednesday's action, Julie and her fellow leaders also recruited a former Board of Ed member, and the President of the Fairfield Education Association to speak out on behalf of the district's paraeducators.

The community support leaflet we passed out to parents, teachers, and Board members during the rally clearly helped deliver our message. Members of several of the district schools' PTAs and the Fairfield Special Education Parent-Teacher Association also spoke out, calling on the Board to raise standards for our paras who play a critical role in the community's 16 public schools.

Organizers with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 371, who have been working to unite the district's cafeteria workers, were also on hand to stand with our paras. Not only did they join us for the pre-meeting rally, they devoted nearly as much time to their public comments urging the Board to invest in the district's paras as protesting anti-union tactics against the workers they are helping to organize.

We are immensely gratified by the overwhelming support of parents, education advocates, teachers, and labor allies who made Wednesday's effort so effective.

Take a moment to share your thoughts and best wishes for our Fairfield Paraprofessionals Chapter members by posting a "Comment" below. Despite the long road ahead, our members built power on Wednesday night, which can be leveraged into a long-term victory for their families as well as the families they serve!