NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | November 6, 2015 | PAGE 11
AFT president visits MHCC Head Start Don’t let sleep deprivation
take a toll on your health
Weingarten stops at Kaiser Sun-
nyside Medical Center and Port-
land Community College
By Michael Plett
OSEA Communications Specialist
The students in Kelly Harring-
ton’s Mt. Hood Community
College Head Start classroom
had a guest “teacher” on Oct.
15 —American Federation of
Teachers (AFT) President
Randi Weingarten.
Mt. Hood Community Col-
lege Head Start Chapter 603 is
one of the newest chapters of
the Oregon School Employees
Association (OSEA), which is
an affiliate of AFT.
Weingarten was in the Port-
land area to address the Na-
tional Indian Education Associ-
ation convention. As is typical
with such trips, her schedule
was filled with additional stops
to meet with members of other
AFT affiliates, such as the Ore-
gon Federation of Nurses and
Health Professionals Local
5017 at Kaiser Sunnyside Med-
ical Center, and Portland Com-
munity College Faculty Feder-
ation Local 2277 members at
PCC’s Sylvania Campus.
Nevertheless, for about 20
minutes on Oct. 15, Weingarten
was able to step outside of her
Union members won the eight-
hour day. Now it may be time to
fight for the eight-hour night.
American Federation of Teachers International President Randi Wein-
garten reads to students at a Mt. Hood Community College Head Start
classroom, where teachers are members of AFT Chapter 603.
role as national union leader
and spend time reading “If You
Give a Mouse a Cookie” to a
class of precocious 3- and 4-
year-olds.
In turn, the children taught
“Teacher Randi” the words and
gestures to the song “Open
Shut Them,” before launching
into a chaotic game of “Fishing
for Letters.”
“It was an honor to have
Randi visit our classroom,”
said teacher Harrington, who is
also the chapter president. “The
kids enjoyed having her.”
Weingarten showed her ap-
preciation to her little hosts by
distributing free copies of “A
Chair for My Mother.” The
book, made available through
AFT’s partnership with First
Book, was likely the first book
many of the children had ever
received.
In preparation for Wein-
garten’s visit, the children had
created a banner that read
“Welcome Randi” and was
decorated with the students’
handprints. Just before leaving
for another event, Teacher
Randi rolled up her sleeves and
dipped a hand in gooey blue
paint, so she could leave her
handprint, too.
At an Oct. 15 class for Plumbers
and Fitters Local 290 retirees,
wellness trainer Judy Zehr lays
it on the line: It’s time to wake
up to the importance of sleep. A
generation ago, Americans slept
eight to nine hours a night on
average. Now we average seven
hours. That’s a problem, be-
cause sleep deprivation con-
tributes to diabetes, obesity,
heart disease, and depression.
It’s serious enough that in 2013
the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control declared sleeplessness
to be a public health epidemic.
■ Turn. It. Off: Try not to have ANY
screen time two hours before you go to
bed. If there’s a TV in your bedroom,
take it out. Stay away especially from
news or exciting TV shows near
bedtime; they cause release of cortisol, a
stress hormone that keeps you awake.
■ Get regular exercise: At least 20
minutes a day, even something as light-
duty as gardening … and try to do it
before 5 p.m.
■ Watch out for caffeine and alcohol:
Try not to consume caffeine after
noon – including sodas. And don’t drink
too much alcohol. It puts you to sleep,
but also wakes you up, and causes sleep
to be less restorative.
■ Relax before bed: Take a bath, get in
a hot tub, or just splash hot water on
your face. It elicits seratonin, which helps
you relax. In place of screen time, read a
book, particularly a boring book.
■ Pay attention to comfort: It’s okay
to be like Goldilocks: Make sure your
mattress has the right firmness for your
body – not too soft, not too hard. And
you don’t want to be too cold or too
warm either; cold air and warm blankets
One of the chief culprits is
screen time. All artificial light
interferes with sleep, but blue
light in particular—emitted by
televisions, computer screens,
and smart phones—prevents the
release of melatonin, a hormone
that helps the body get to sleep.
Fortunately, there’s a lot you
can do to get more and better
sleep. Read on.
may be the best combination.
■ Watch out for pills: Don’t be too
quick to rely on sleeping pills. Drugs like
Ambien and Lunesta can help some
people with acute insomnia, but they
can also have side effects, and some
studies have shown that results are
minimal - patients fall asleep on average
13 minutes sooner, and wake up just 11
minutes later.
■ ‘Fast’ before you ‘break-fast’: Don’t
eat in the middle of night. You’re training
your brain to be hungry then, which can
make it more likely you’ll wake at night.
■ Count sheep; it’s not just for
shepherds: Focus your thoughts on
something repetitive and relaxing
maybe a mantra. Or try progressive
muscle relaxation – tensing and
relaxing the muscles starting with your
toes and working your way up to your
neck and head. You may be asleep
before you know it.
■ Snoring may be a symptom: If you
regularly snore, you might want to get
checked for sleep apnea, which can
disrupt your sleep.
AFL-CIO to survey working women
The AFL-CIO is conducting a
national survey of working
women to get a multifaceted
picture of the lives of working
women across the country, both
union and nonunion.
The survey, developed under
the guidance of the AFL-CIO
Executive Council Committee
on Working Women, will ask
women about their economic in-
terests, family and work life,
along with their experiences bal-
ancing their responsibilities.
“Our survey will reach out to
working women from all differ-
ent walks of life — both inside
and outside the labor movement
— and will provide a much
needed look into the daily lives
of working women and how
they struggle to achieve the
ever-elusive work-life balance,”
said Diann Woodard, president
of the American Federation of
School Administrators and vice-
chair of the AFL-CIO Women’s
Committee.
The survey will be open until
Dec. 4, 2015, and results will be
available in March 2016 during
Women’s History Month.
The survey can be accessed at
go.aflcio.org/WomensSurvey.