Powerful Locals 2026 Leadership Conference Registration

Questions regarding the registration process or the event?

Please contact AFT Washington at (206) 242-4777 or aftwashington@aftwa.org.

2026 Powerful Locals Leadership Conference

Thursday, August 13, 2026 – Saturday, August 15, 2026

AFT Washington is excited to present the 2026 Powerful Locals Conference!

This is a program that we offer in alternating years, designed to develop your local's activists and leadership skills. It is a great opportunity to grow your local's power and network. Powerful Locals will take place at The Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia, WA 98505.

Our two core tracks are:

Contract Stages: From Idea To Enforcement

Your contract is the formal documentation of your local’s power. That means it should be the best contract you can build! This training covers contract bargaining topics, including communicating with the field, strategy at the table, and working with your local membership to have real power. It also covers contract management, when you’ve got that contract signed and now you need to make sure that the employer is following it.

Strength In Numbers: Growing and Engaging Your Membership

In the union, as in life, many hands make light work. The more your members engage – and the more consistent you are about recruiting new members – the stronger the local and the lighter the work of leadership. This training focuses on increasing member engagement and getting those new cards with tools from the organizing conversation all the way to leader identification.

Please indicate your first choice of core track to attend:

We also have workshops on Friday, following lunch: (See below for descriptions)

Supporting Union Members Including Black, Indigenous, Latin, Asian/Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ Communities In Utilizing Our Contracts

Supporting POC and LGBTQ+ Union members in filing grievances and being supported in our Union. This workshop will provide ways to build our power through supporting all of our AFT members and acknowledging that discrimination and ableism are issues our members face. We need to build unity, membership, and active members of our Union. This will include assessing whether we have included all our Union constituencies and help train our representatives to better support.

Writing Bylaws That Work

Effective bylaws provide structure for our locals by balancing legal and administrative compliance with the flexibility to respond to new situations. It can be difficult to get that balance right, especially as a local’s needs change. But making hasty changes can cause more problems than they solve. We’ll look at writing bylaws (and updating existing ones!) that support the local, not confine it.

New Employee Orientation

Reaching new employees at orientation is critical. It builds trust and visibility for the union by introducing ourselves and our work, so that new members can sign up right away and the union culture can thrive in our workplaces. For established employees, running an effective membership drive is a crucial way to reach them and ask that one crucial question – “will you join the union?”

The Job Security Task Force Report: Turning Ideas Into Reality

Following a resolution at the 2025 Convention, AFT Washington convened a Job Security Task Force to examine ways to improve job security for contingent faculty, and to make contingent work better paid and more visible. This workshop will examine how we can do that and grow and strengthen our locals at the same time by improving job security and working conditions for contingent faculty.

Please select your first choice of workshop

Please select your second choice of workshop

Required Registration Information – Please complete:

First Name:

Last Name:

Personal, Non-Work Email Address:

We will not send communications to work emails.

Phone Number:

Mailing Address

City

State

Zip Code

Select your Local:

Please list any accommodation needs and dietary requirements:

Registration fee to be paid by:

Registration Fee: $200.00 (includes: individual room accommodations on campus, daily parking, dinner Thursday and Friday evening, meal card for 2 breakfasts and 3 lunches) **REGISTRATION FEE IS ALL INCLUSIVE AND CANNOT BE ADJUSTED OR PRORATED**

Registration is based upon a first come, first served basis.

After completing this registration page, please visit this link to remit payment for the event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-powerful-locals-leadership-conference-tickets-1990038831716

*Please coordinate with your local leadership regarding the registration fee if you have questions or need assistance.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT POWERFUL LOCALS 2026!

*This platform sends automatic registration confirmations but does not send calendar holds. Please make sure to save the dates of the event on your own calendar. Please keep an eye out for updates and information regarding the event from aftwashington@aftwa.org.*

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