Organizing for the 2024 Elections

WHEREAS, AFT members every day make a difference in the lives of others, be it our students, our patients or our communities, and we want a country of hope and opportunity, not fear and division, where we have our freedom and a voice at work and in our democracy; and

WHEREAS, the AFT fights for that better quality life, and for the real solutions that get us there—at the bargaining table or ballot box, in our schools and healthcare facilities, and on our streets; and

WHEREAS, AFT members have long taken an active role in shaping their future—in their workplaces, their communities and the halls of power; and

WHEREAS, elections, like collective bargaining, provide a means by which we secure a better life for the members we represent and the children, patients and communities we serve; and

WHEREAS, the stakes in this election are great, and the standard-bearers of the two parties, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, couldn’t be more different; and

WHEREAS, the Biden-Harris administration inherited a country in strife and has spent the last three years fighting for policies and laws that prioritize helping working people and their families, including by:

• Securing and stabilizing public education, higher education and public services while states were decimating budgets;
• Capping the price of insulin and ensuring Medicare could negotiate the cost of prescription drugs and bring down inflation and other costs;
• Delivering more than $130 billion in student debt relief to nearly 4 million people;
• Spearheading historic investment to combat climate change;
• Securing at-risk pensions of more than 350,000 retired union workers;
• Signing the most significant gun safety legislation in decades, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act;
• Appointing judges who protect our democracy and our freedoms, including reproductive rights, union rights, civil rights, LGBTQIA+ rights and the right to vote; and
• Investing in “making it in America again” with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and the CHIPS and Science Act, and steering the economy to record growth; and

WHEREAS, this is the first president in our history to have walked a picket line while president, who speaks with such compassion about nurses and never misses the opportunity to remind the world that the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, is a teacher at a community college; and

WHEREAS, in contrast, Trump seems to revel in division, having appointed judges who rolled back basic labor freedoms for workers and basic healthcare choices, including reproductive freedoms for women; prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy over fair wages and jobs for working families; threatened to terminate healthcare for millions of people; rolled back environmental protections; and turned his back on democracy, civil rights, gun safety and public education; and

WHEREAS, increasingly, people are exhausted by all the division, fear and disinformation; and

WHEREAS, there is immense power in the simple act of talking to our family, friends and co-workers about their vision for a better life and how we can build it together; and

WHEREAS, face-to-face organizing reconnects and educates, inspires and mobilizes, and the future of our nation is built through connection, community and conversation:

RESOLVED, that, in this moment of division and chaos versus hope and opportunity, given that the 2024 elections will determine the path charted for our future, the AFT and its affiliates must educate, organize and mobilize members and allies to get out the vote in a manner that meets this time of peril and elects leaders who will represent everyone and seek solutions to our shared challenges; and

RESOLVED, that, while Americans may be weary of our toxic political culture, we will not be worn down or intimidated into surrendering our vote; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will do what it does best by organizing our members, working with labor and community partners, and building union power to create a stronger labor movement, to maintain a democratic society, and to build a better life for all; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT and its affiliates will provide the necessary resources and undertake the necessary programs, including voter registration, to comprehensively educate, organize and mobilize members, allies and the general public about the issues and the candidates in the 2024 election and beyond.

Adopted February 22, 2024