By Jennifer Proffitt, UFF President

Each spring, the many chapters of the UFF elect members to serve as senators. Every February and September, these leaders attend a statewide UFF meeting to determine the direction of our union and its finances as well as meet together in bargaining councils—university, college, graduate assistants and independent colleges—to discuss bargaining and other issues our constituencies face.

This year, we had three very special guest speakers in February—State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, FEA Vice President Fedrick Ingram and Dr. Ibram Kendi, UFF-UF member and winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for his book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.

Other actions of the Senate include:

• A resolution opposing guns on campus.
• A resolution opposing the restructuring of the Florida College System and performance funding metrics (as proposed in Senate Bills 002 & 374).
• A statement in support of immigration and diversity in light of the recent executive order on immigration and travel restrictions.
• A report from the Adjunct Task Force that included a resolution supporting SEIU’s efforts to organize adjuncts.
• A report from the ad-hoc Incarceration Task Force that included a resolution that encourages UFF members to raise public awareness about the damaging effects of the prison industrial complex and encourages members to take action.

I would like to thank all of the members of the standing committees (Membership, Contract and Enforcement, Government Relations, and Diversity and Leadership) and the Adjunct Task Force, the Incarceration Task Force, and the subcommittee that is reviewing the UFF constitution and bylaws for their hard work and dedication to our union and the issues that affect all of us. I would also like to thank all of the senators who attended the meeting and took their role as representatives of their chapters very seriously by carefully considering the issues before them.