Six NEA Local Associations Affiliate with AFL-CIO

by James Parks, Mar 5, 2008

From left: AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka; Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker; President John Sweeney; Jon Sherr, president, San Leandro Teachers’ Association; Sharon Cornu, executive secretary-treasurer, Alameda County Central Labor Council; and Dan Vaughn, secretary-treasurer, California Teachers Association.

The movement to provide quality education for our children grew stronger today when the AFL-CIO and the National Education Association (NEA) announced that six chapters of the California Teachers Association (CTA), the NEA’s state association, affiliated with the AFL-CIO.  

The affiliation comes as part of a groundbreaking agreement between the AFL-CIO and NEA allowing for NEA local associations to affiliate directly with the AFL-CIO. The partnership is supported by the AFT, a longtime AFL-CIO affiliate. With the affiliations, there are now seven CTA associations affiliated with the AFL-CIO, more than in any other state. 

At the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in San Diego today, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney presented certificates of affiliation to representatives of the affiliating associations. Says Sweeney:  

Today’s affiliations will mean stronger schools and a greater voice for working people. As education cuts continue in Congress and across the country, working families are coming together to fight for quality public education for our children. 

CTA President David Sanchez says the affiliations will help teachers fight for quality education:  

CTA members have successfully worked with local AFL-CIO unions for many years in advancing quality public schools, affordable health care and a better California for all working families. The recent affiliation of these six local chapters will further strengthen our commitment to build a better California for all families—particularly as we work together to keep drastic state budget cuts away from our schools and communities. 

The associations affiliating include Hartnell College Faculty Association in Salinas, the Hayward Education Association, the Oakland Education Association, the San Leandro Teachers Association, the Fremont Unified District Teachers Association and East Side Teachers Association in Los Angeles. 

AFT President Edward J. McElroy praised the affiliations, saying:  

The American Federation of Teachers has always believed that teachers and other school employees belong in the larger labor movement. Working people are stronger together, and people who work in our public schools, which are so critical to the well-being of our children and the functioning of our democracy, gain much from being part of America’s labor movement. We welcome these new affiliations, and we hope there will be many more to come. 

The California members join teachers from Washington, D.C., to Wisconsin to Washington State in joining forces with the AFL-CIO. To date, more than 10,000 NEA members across the country have joined the AFL-CIO through the partnership.   

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (0)