About AFT Public Employees

AFT Public Employees is the division of the AFT that represents federal, state and local government employees. As the oldest and largest public employee union in the AFL-CIO, the AFT has been a pioneer in the effort to bring meaningful collective bargaining rights to public employees at all levels of government.

AFT public employees are proud of the contributions they make to our communities. Public workers provide the services Americans need, services that both strengthen our communities and increase faith in our democratic institutions. They ensure the laws that guide us and regulate our society function. Public workers often deliver these services while dealing with fewer staff, lower pay, lacking benefits and a challenging outlook for the future. Our members help negotiate real solutions to these problems, solutions that will make the public sector a destination employer that attracts a new generation of workers.

Collective bargaining is the vehicle that delivers high-quality public services and builds strong communities. Whether employees have collective bargaining rights or are working to gain these rights, the AFT works to mobilize members and focus resources to gain higher salaries and better benefits for the public employees we represent. With 1.8 million members across the country, the AFT has demonstrated that organizing and mobilization can bring about changes and improvements for professionals in public employment. As we build a strong legislative/political action capacity at every level of the union and involve members in the activities of their union, we can secure better contracts and legislation that recognize the contributions public employees make each and every day.

While the AFT started as a union of teachers, today the AFT has six separate divisions representing nurses and health professionals, higher education faculty and staff, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, retirees, preK-12 teachers and government employees. Together we are one union committed to effective representation of professionals in education, healthcare and public services.