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The Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFTHP) is a statewide federation labor unions in the state of Rhode Island in the United States. The federation's local unions represent teachers and other educational workers, state and municipal employees, health care workers in the public and private sector, and higher education faculty and workers. It is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the AFL-CIO. In 2013, the federation's president was Francis J. Flynn. ==History== The Rhode Island Federation of Teachers was originally founded as the Rhode Island Branch, American Federation of Teachers, on March 27, 1947.〔(''Rhode Island Federation of Teachers Collection Papers, 1946-1982.'' Accession number 1349, L. C. Number MS. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs. Wayne State University. )〕 The original unions making up the federation were the Warwick Teachers' Union, the North Providence Federation of Teachers, the Pawtucket Teachers' Alliance, the Woonsocket Teachers' Guild, and the Providence Teachers' Alliance.〔 Four years after its formation, the Pawtucket Teachers' Alliance went out on strike—one of a handful of local unions to disobey a national AFT policy banning strikes by teachers.〔Eaton, William Edward. ''The American Federation of Teachers, 1916-1961: A History of the Movement.'' Urbana, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1975. ISBN 0-8093-0708-1; Braun, Robert J. ''Teachers and Power: The Story of the American Federation of Teachers.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972. ISBN 0-671-21167-6〕 The federation changed its name to the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers in 1958.〔 The Pawtucket strike ended in a settlement favorable to the union, and a rudimentary contract—one of the first teacher contracts in the United States.〔Selden, David. Teacher Rebellion. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-88258-099-X〕 Another strike in Pawtucket in 1964 also ended in a contract, this one personally negotiated by Governor John Chafee.〔 This collective bargaining experience helped pave the way for legalization of teacher unionism in Rhode Island two years later.〔〔Stinnett, T.M. ''Turmoil in Teaching: A History of the Organizational Struggle for America's Teachers.'' New York: Macmillan, 1968.〕 Public school teachers in Rhode Island were given the legal right to bargain collectively over "...hours, salary, working conditions, and other terms of professional employment" in May 1966 (P.L. 1966, Chapter 146).〔(''Cost/Benefit Analysis of a Statewide Teacher Contract.'' Report Submitted to the General Assembly. Rhode Island Department of Administration. May 12, 2004. )〕 Rhode Island law also allows payment of unemployment benefits to public school workers if they struck for more than eight weeks.〔Carelli, Richard. "Washington Dateline." ''Associated Press.'' March 21, 1979.〕 Edward J. McElroy〔''Who's Who in America.'' 59th ed. New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who, 2004. ISBN 0-8379-6982-4〕 was president of RIFTHP from 1969 to 1992.〔 He was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the AFT in 1992,〔"AFT President Edward J. McElroy," no date. (American Federation of Teachers ). Link accessed 9 June 2006.〕 and President in 2004 (he retired in 2008).〔(Greenhouse, Steven. "Teachers’ Union President to Step Down; New Yorker Is Seen as Successor." ''New York Times.'' February 13, 2008. )〕 In 1971, David Selden, then a national representative with the AFT, attempted to convince the leaders of RIFTHP to join with the state federations in Connecticut and New York to fund and operate an organizing project, but the RIFTHP leaders rejected the idea.〔 In the early 1970s, RIFTHP and the NEA statewide affiliate in Rhode Island considered merging,〔Gaffney, Dennis. ''Teachers United: The Rise of New York State United Teachers.'' Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 2007. ISBN 0-7914-7191-8〕 but did not do so. During the same years, RIFTHP was active in organizing higher education faculty as well.〔DeCew, Judith Wagner. ''Unionization in the Academy: Visions and Realities.'' New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. ISBN 0-8476-9671-5〕 When the AFT and the National Education Association signed a tentative merger agreement in 1998, RIFTHP leaders refused to immediately commit to a state-level merger (but supported the national effort).〔McVicar, D. Morgan. "Merger of National Unions May Not Affect R.I. Teachers." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' January 28, 1998.〕 RIFTHP began organizing nurses in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Its most significant effort in this area came when it organized more than 1,000 registered nurses at Rhode Island Hospital in August 1993.〔Broberg, Leslie. "What Will Unionization Mean for RI Hospital?" ''Providence Business News.'' August 23, 1993; Clawson, Dan. ''The Next Upsurge: Labor and the New Social Movements.'' Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8014-8870-2〕 But in 1998, more than 3,500 health care workers belonging to RIFTHP disaffiliated in a dispute over how much money should be spent on organizing new members.〔Jones, Brian C. "Health Workers Split With Teachers." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' November 24, 1999; Jones, Brian C. "Unions Learn to Use Power to Endorse Candidates." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' September 25, 1998.〕 Although RIFTHP and the AFT disputed the election results and sued former staff who went to work for the new union (the United Nurses and Allied Professionals), the AFT lost these challenges.〔Jones, Brian C. "Rhode Island Teachers Union Tries to Stop Nurses' Departure." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' July 29, 1998; Barmann, Timothy C. "Nurse, Teacher Rift Deepens." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' August 4, 1998; Jones, Brian C. "Labor Group Loses Bid to Prevent Nurses' Breakaway Union." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' March 28, 1999; Wyss, Bob. "Rhode Island Union Tries to Halt Nurses' Vote to Revolt." ''Providence Journal-Bulletin.'' July 30, 1998; Tolme, Paul. "National Union Sues Rival Group Organizer." ''Associated Press.'' December 28, 1998.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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