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Key Information: AFT
Full Name: The American Federation of Teachers.
Formation: Founded on May 1, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois.
Type of Organization: A national labor union affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
Representation: The AFT represents a diverse group of professionals, including PreK-12 teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel (PSRP), higher education faculty and staff, nurses and health professionals, and local, state, and federal government employees.
Membership: It has approximately 1.7 million members across its five divisions.
Core Mission: To improve the lives of its members and their families; to give voice to their legitimate professional, economic, and social aspirations; and to strengthen the institutions in which they work.
Founding History: Formed by several local teachers’ unions in Chicago who sought a charter from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) to gain more power and solidarity with the broader labor movement.
First President: Charles Stillman.
Current Leadership:
President: Randi Weingarten
Secretary-Treasurer: Fedrick C. Ingram
Executive Vice President: Evelyn DeJesus
Primary Activities: The union engages in collective bargaining, political and legislative advocacy, and providing high-quality professional development for its members.
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
An Introduction to the AFT
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is a union of professionals championing fairness, democracy, economic opportunity, and quality public education, health care, and public services for students, their families, and our communities. With 1.7 million members, the AFT is something more than a teachers’ union; it is a living organization that represents a wide variety of public servants across five distinct divisions: PreK-12 school employees, college and university staff, public sector employees, nurses and health care professionals, and paraprofessionals and school-related personnel.
Fundamentally, the AFT is based on the conviction that the well-being of its members is inextricably linked to the well-being of the communities they serve. This “solution-driven unionism” revolves around collective bargaining, political advocacy, and community action to solve issues and make life better for all. This article examines the AFT’s historic legacy, its greatest achievements, its central values, and its essential role in constructing America’s public institutions.
The AFT's Impact on Education and Public Service
Encouraging Professionalism
Since its founding, the AFT has been working to establish and increase professional standards in education. The union has long been an outspoken supporter of teacher tenure, insisting it is an essential protection of academic freedom and a buffer against politically motivated dismissal. The AFT has helped to develop peer review systems, including the Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) model, in which model teachers mentor and evaluate other teachers to encourage professional growth.
Struggling for a Balanced Curriculum
The AFT has been struggling to prevent curriculum narrowing to just tested topics like math and reading. The union is a vehement supporter of arts-rich, rounded education that includes the arts, music, civics, and physical education as these are key to the development of active and creative citizens.
Diversification into Healthcare and Public Service
Noting the common plight of public servants, the AFT has grown to encompass health professionals, nurses, and government worker units. The nation’s second-largest nurses’ union, AFT Nurses and Health Professionals speaks for a broad segment of public employees. Having a clear, collective voice when arguing on behalf of public service funding, hospital safe staffing ratios, and protecting public property from privatization, the AFT represents a broad segment of public employees.
Key Achievements and Case Studies of the AFT
The Fight for Collective Bargaining in New York City
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the New York City affiliate of the AFT, led one of the most historic labor fights of the 20th century. After a series of colossal teacher strikes in the 1960s, the UFT triumphed to win collective bargaining rights for teachers in the city, a heroic victory that ignited a national movement of teacher unionization. The agreements they negotiated created new standards for teacher pay, benefits, and working conditions.
A Pioneering Model of Community Schools
AFT has been a national leader of the “community school” model. The model transforms schools into community hubs providing comprehensive academic, health, and social services to students and their families. Community schools, in partnership with community agencies, offer such services as medical and dental care, mental health services, and nutrition services on school campuses. The combined model has proven to improve student attendance, achievement, and health.
Development of “Share My Lesson”
Seizing technology to support its members, the AFT created Share My Lesson, a vast free online resource library of lesson materials. Designed by teachers for teachers, the site allows teachers across the country to share lesson plans, classroom activities, and professional development resources. One of the largest and most trafficked online teachers’ communities, it reflects the AFT’s commitment to professional practice.
How to Join or Support the AFT
Membership Through Local Affiliates
As with the majority of national unions, AFT membership is obtained by being a member of a local affiliate. The AFT includes more than 3,000 local affiliates across the country, organized by state and by professional division. Whether you are a teacher in Chicago, a nurse in Oregon, a college professor in Florida, or a state employee in Connecticut, there is a local chapter representing your specific profession and workplace.
AFT Associate Membership
For others who do not have an AFT chapter at the workplace or are no longer working in a represented job, there is an associate membership program through the AFT. This offers community members, students, and other supporters the opportunity to stay involved with the union activity and with its campaigns.
Community Engagement and Solidarity
The AFT openly invites the participation of parents and community groups. Joining AFT-sponsored causes, such as drives for more school dollars, hospital safe staffing lobbying, or attending local school board meetings, are effective ways for the public to stand for the union’s cause.
The AFT's Founding and Reasons for Establishment
A Need for a True Union Voice
The AFT was established in Chicago on May 1, 1916. The inspiration for the formation came from dissatisfied teachers who were resentful of the then-existing National Education Association (NEA), which they believed was under the influence of school officials and ineffective in the cause to protect teachers’ rights. These visionary teachers wished to form an organization “of, by, and for” classroom teachers.
Affiliation with the Labor Movement
Above all, the AFT founders chose to affiliate with the broad mainstream American labor movement by requesting a charter from the American Federation of Labor (AFL). They believed that struggles of teachers for fair compensation, job security, and professional respect were not different from the struggles of all workers. Through this affiliation, the new union took advantage of the strength, solidarity, and resources of the broad labor movement, a distinction that separated it from the independent NEA for decades.
Core Activities and Main Goals of the AFT
Collective Bargaining and Contract Enforcement
Contract negotiation and enforcement are the core activity of the AFT. Collective bargaining, employed by the local affiliates, is used to secure bargained agreements on pay, benefits, work schedules, class sizes, and grievance and firing procedures. This provides the members with a legally enforceable voice in the workplace.
Political and Legislative Action
The AFT is a political force to be reckoned with in America. The union endorses and recommends pro-labor and pro-public education candidates, lobbies the legislatures and Congress, and mobilizes members to vote. Some of its legislative agendas include giving additional public school and college funding, defending healthcare workers, and maintaining the right to organize.
Professional Development
In addition to being a union, the AFT is a professional association dedicated to improving the practice of its members. Through its Educational Research and Dissemination program, online resources like Share My Lesson, and publications and conferences, the AFT provides members with high-quality, research-based professional development.
| Core Objective / Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Collective Bargaining | Negotiates contracts at the local level to determine wages, benefits, and working conditions for its members. |
| Political and Legislative Action | Lobbies all levels of government, endorses candidates, and mobilizes members to advance a pro-public service, pro-labor agenda. |
| Professional Development | Provides high-quality resources, training, and online platforms (like Share My Lesson) to support the professional growth of its members. |
| Community Engagement | Builds partnerships with parents and community organizations to advocate for strong public institutions, such as with its community schools initiative. |
| Legal Defense | Provides legal support to members and affiliates to defend contracts and protect professional rights, such as academic freedom. |
| Research and Policy | Conducts and publishes research on key issues in education, healthcare, and public service to inform policy and public debate. |
Why the AFT is Beneficial for Students and the Community
Teachers’ Working Conditions are Students’ Learning Conditions
This is a guiding mantra of the AFT. The union argues that if teachers are compensated professional salaries, their class sizes are manageable, they have the right resources, and they have voice in school policy, then they are able to give good instruction. The fight for better working conditions for educators is thereby a fight for better conditions for learning among students.
A Commitment to Equity and Social Justice
The AFT has a long history of resisting social and racial justice. The union was among the earliest to battle segregation in the schools and has long been a strong champion of equitable school funding in low-income neighborhoods. Its advocacy for community schools is rooted in the belief that public schools have an obligation to address the structural inequities that affect student learning.
Defending Public Services
By having a vast range of public employees represented, the AFT is an effective bastion against the privatization of public services. The union fights to preserve essential services like education, health care, and public safety as public services under community control and not corporate shareholders.
Conclusion: The Future of the AFT
The American Federation of Teachers has evolved from a tiny group of insurgent Chicago teachers to a living, vital union of 1.7 million professionals. Its membership, uniting educators, nurses, and government employees, gives it a broad and effective voice in the critical arguments that are shaping America’s future.
Today, the AFT grapples with a complex array of challenges, ranging from contentious battles over education reform and school funding to ongoing battles to protect public health care and services. Guided by its vision of solution-oriented unionism and activism, the AFT is a progressive force to be reckoned with, striving towards a future where all public schools are schools where parents would like to send their children, teachers would like to teach, and students can thrive.