AFT celebrates historic organizing wins

During Tuesday afternoon’s general session, AFT President Randi Weingarten celebrated the union’s historic successes in organizing over the past several years. The path to success has been full of obstacles, including the Supreme Court’s Janus ruling, the Trump administration, nonstop anti-union campaigns and a global pandemic. But the AFT’s belief that organizing is the way to gain upward economic mobility and make a better life for working people, families and communities has led to the union’s unprecedented growth from 1.4 million members when Weingarten became AFT president in 2008 to 1.8 million today.

“That is a growth that no one else in the labor movement has had,” Weingarten said. “We can accomplish things that are impossible to accomplish alone because we have each other’s back and we fight for each other and for our communities. That is who we are.”

Anne Tan Piazza, executive director of the Oregon Nurses Association, highlighted the AFT’s healthcare organizing wins over the last two years—making the AFT the largest healthcare union in the AFL-CIO—including adding 5,000 healthcare members in Michigan, 4,000 in Vermont and 4,000 in Oregon. She also noted major victories on safe staffing legislation in Connecticut, Oregon and Washington and celebrated Union Physicians of AFT, our new initiative to organize doctors. Piazza also reminded us why these organizing wins are so important: They create “a powerful network of advocates who are committed to improving patient care conditions across the board.”

Next up, Christian Fern, executive director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, shared his local’s 18-month journey of joining the AFT. Fern said they are “proud to be part of the … largest union representing higher education, with more than 400,000 higher education members.” He also thanked the AFT for supporting UHPA’s members by sending $10,000 after fires destroyed Lahaina and helping 36 members (so far) qualify for about $1 million in student debt relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Inspiring delegates to keep fighting and keep organizing, he shared the war cry of King Kamehameha I, the first Hawaiian king to unite the Hawaiian Islands:

Imua e nā poki'i a inu i ka wai 'awa'awa, 'a'ohe hope e ho'i mai ai

Forward my young brothers [and sisters] and drink of the bitter waters of battle for there is no turning back until we are victorious.

Many other union leaders also shared specific wins from locals across the country. Laquetta Mackey, president of the Norfolk Federation of Teachers in Virginia, said that as a new president, her local has made history—adding more than 300 new members to total 36 percent growth in less than a year. Texas AFT President Zeph Capo congratulated two of the newest local leaders in Texas AFT who worked “tenaciously” for three years to build a local that added 1,500 members. Sarina Roher, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, highlighted a “monumental victory” at PeaceHealth Southwest in Vancouver, Wash.: After almost decade of fighting, the addition of a bargaining unit of social workers, pharmacists, physical therapists and other professionals has created a “nearly wall-to-wall AFT-represented hospital.”

After hearing about these and many more local victories, AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus thanked the delegates for their work. “We are the mighty, mighty AFT, and we are growing,” she said. “We wouldn’t be 1.8 million members without you.”

[Lesley Gonzalez/photo by Pam Wolfe ]