around the uft
Helping others benefit
May 8, 2008 2:07 PM
Longtime UFT member Josie Levine (right) uses much of her free time helping to organize teachers in Texas and New Mexico as part of an AFT program. “The reason I help organize is that it is my way of giving back for all the benefits I have received as a UFT member,” Levine said. “In New York City, I know how lucky I am to receive the benefits I do. While organizing in the field, I see how fortunate I am every moment of every single day.” She has been to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and the town of McAllen is like a second home to her. Levine was stranded there after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, while she was doing education workshops. “I have become very attached to the citizens of that area,” Levine said, adding that “I feel as though I have a personal stake in their acquiring more AFT representation in the schools.” Levine chairs both the union’s English as a Second Language/Bilingual Committee and the Media Committee.
