In 2024, UFT sent an incredible 734 delegates to the national convention in Houston, even though its voting strength is not dependent on how many delegates it sends. UFT delegates to the convention had a voting strength of 16% of all delegates, but sent 27% of all convention delegates. This was an overwhelming show of force. No other AFT local even sent 70 delegates. Meanwhile, the bottom 90% of union locals and state federations represented at the 2024 convention sent less than 10 delegates each.
How much did UFT spend to send 734 delegates from New York City to Houston for 5 days and 5 nights in 2024? A probably too modest $2,000 per delegate would come out to at least $1.5 million. And the bill was likely much higher than that.
Needless to say, most union locals don’t have that kind of money. And even if they did, their leaders would have to justify to their members why they would spend their dues for this kind of expense. If the national AFT election is already locked up, why bother? And so the de-mobilizing, demoralizing cycle of rule by political machine repeats itself every two years.[i]... The Future of Our Schools Collective
This is Not What Democracy Looks Like: The AFT Convention and the Future of the US Labor Movement: Trevor Griffey, a lecturer in Labor Studies at UCLA and US History at UC Irvine who serves as Vice President of Legislation for UC AFT, comments in our newest post about the upcoming AFT convention.
......leaders of AFT locals, including mine, would be more open to subsidizing convention delegate travel if they thought convention business was directly tied their union members’ needs, and if they thought their delegates’ participation would make any difference whatsoever on decisions made at the convention.
The fact is, once delegates elected by their locals arrive at an AFT convention, they find themselves operating within a one-party state run by the Progressive Caucus, which in turn is run by the Unity Caucus of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)— the largest AFT local in the US.
UFT delegates have dominated AFT conventions through slate elections at the local and national level for over half a century. Every AFT President for the last 62 years emerged out of UFT leadership, except for four years from 2004-8 when Edward McElroy served two terms as a “transitional president” following Sandra Feldman’s diagnosis with breast cancer..
The Unbeatable Slate: Progressive Caucus Dominates AFT for More than 50 Years
The issue that shapes union leaders’ decisions to effectively boycott the convention is the perception of a lack of democracy within AFT.
Financial barriers to sending delegates thousands of miles away for five days of convention deliberations are significant, and union leaders who express concerns about the costs of convention attendance shouldn’t be dismissed as simply lacking solidarity.
But leaders of AFT locals, including mine, would be more open to subsidizing convention delegate travel if they thought convention business was directly tied their union members’ needs, and if they thought their delegates’ participation would make any difference whatsoever on decisions made at the convention.
The fact is, once delegates elected by their locals arrive at an AFT convention, they find themselves operating within a one-party state run by the Progressive Caucus, which in turn is run by the Unity Caucus of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)— the largest AFT local in the US.
UFT delegates have dominated AFT conventions through slate elections at the local and national level for over half a century. Every AFT President for the last 62 years emerged out of UFT leadership, except for four years from 2004-8 when Edward McElroy served two terms as a “transitional president” following Sandra Feldman’s diagnosis with breast cancer.
Today, the three top officers of AFT and every one of the 43 national Vice Presidents are all members of the Progressive Caucus. They run as a single slate that depends upon bloc voting. The leader of the caucus is the President of the union, who is also at the top of the slate. A recent google form to join the Progressive Caucus even called its slate “Randi Weingarten’s slate.”
One can’t simply declare one’s intention to join the caucus as a candidate for elected office, as candidates for elected office do in the US. You have to be invited. And most of the people invited are representatives of the largest labor unions in the federation. Inclusion on the slate provides direct personal access to the President, who can provide favors in the form of spending and staff support for causes that officers care about. But inclusion also requires supporting every candidate on the slate. Failure to do so will get you kicked off the slate and effectively lock your union local out of national power.
Once most of the leaders of large unions pledge to turn out their delegates to support the union President, the election is all-but-over. Support has been traded for access before the votes have even been cast. Slate voting— which allows a delegate to simply check one box for an entire slate instead of voting separately for 46 different officers— tilts the scales even more by creating a disincentive for even thinking about the merits of individual officers.
Anyone in AFT who dares even exercise their right to participate in union elections outside the Progressive Caucus has to position themselves against the entire power structure of the union— including the President— whether they want to or not. Unless the Caucus splits, which so far it never has, such challenges (recently by small groups like By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN) are dead on arrival.
Top 20 largest union locals that sent delegates to AFT 2024 Convention.
For Immediate Release
July 19, 2026 |
Contact:
Alexis Lopez 305-878-9836 alopez@aft.org |
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AFT Re-elects Officers, Hears from Union and Political Leaders, Passes Suite of Resolutions at 2026 Convention
National Teachers Union, at Highest-Ever Membership, Caps Four-Day Confab that Drew 3,000 Delegates to DC
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WASHINGTON—The
1.88 million-member AFT wrapped its 89th biennial convention today,
with union delegates voting overwhelmingly to re-elect President Randi
Weingarten, Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and Executive Vice
President Evelyn DeJesus to new two-year terms.
In six packed sessions over four days, more than 3,000 delegates debated and passed resolutions
on a range of pressing issues—from reclaiming the promise of public
education, to protecting immigrant communities, to rebuilding public
health, to preparing for the age of artificial intelligence, to tackling
the affordability and student debt crises. Dozens of breakout meetings
and receptions covered rural issues, faith and religion, international
solidarity and more.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said: “Our convention theme was ‘fighting for a better life for all.’
That’s not a mere slogan—it’s the promise and potential to be together,
to work together, to bargain together, to protest together, to vote
together, to act together to bring about change—real, lasting,
life-improving change for every person in America.”
The union heard from a bevy of high-profile guests and speakers,
including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, U.S.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder, former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams, Democratic nominee
for D.C. mayor Janeese Lewis George, Pennsylvania state Rep. Jen
Mazzocco, former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, IAM Union International
President Brian Bryant, and IAM Texas State Council President and Texas
state Sen. Taylor Rehmet.
Outgoing American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders, the first African American to lead the union, received the AFT’s Bayard Rustin Human Rights Award,
and labor leader Dolores Huerta was honored with the AFT’s Lifetime
Achievement Award for her decades of work with the United Farm Workers.
And after a rousing Saturday address from Association of Flight
Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson, delegates unanimously passed a
motion from the floor pledging support for the campaign to unionize
Delta flight attendants.
At
the onsite Activist Hub, delegates signed more than 1,000 “Free D.C.”
postcards addressed to state governors to demand they recall their
states’ National Guard from their deployment in the District of
Columbia.
Weingarten,
who taught social studies and civics at Clara Barton High School in
Brooklyn, N.Y., was re-elected to a 10th term Saturday night, while
Ingram, a high school band director in Miami, and DeJesus, an early
childhood educator and reading specialist in New York City, were elected
to sixth terms. The union also elected 43 vice presidents from around
the country.
AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram
said: “There is only one way we all win and that is working together to
push back against the forces that are so eager to tear us apart. That
is why I have made union work my life’s work and why I remain committed
and ready to serve this union as an officer. It is a distinct honor to
work with the best this country has to offer, in order to ensure
everyone has a real shot at success, happiness and security.”
AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus
said: “As the onslaught of ICE attacks against Latino communities
continues, today I stand prouder than ever to be the first Latina
officer elected and re-elected six times to serve the 1.88 million
members of this powerful union. We must look out for, show up and
protect one another, because only together can we make a better life for
all. Sigamos luchando por la democracia, la libertad y una vida mejor
para todos.”
“Our
delegates and committees tackled the issues keeping families up at
night, from the affordability crisis, to defending immigrant
communities, to the reassurance that AI won’t take our members’ jobs, to
the protection of democracy as a whole,” Weingarten
added. “To create an America where everyone has the education, economy
and opportunity to build a good life; an America where everyone’s
dignity and rights are respected; an America whose democracy not only
endures but finally lives up to its noble ideals, will take all of
us—standing together.”
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