The AFT is one of the fastest growing labor unions in the country.   As an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, we are committed to being an active part of the larger labor movement.  The AFL-CIO is one of this country's oldest advocates for free public education and social and economic policies that benefit working people and their families. The AFL-CIO is a powerful ally in the Congress, state legislatures and local communities when it comes to advocating for access to affordable health care, programs for the disadvantaged, Medicare and many other issues affecting American workers.

A Union for the Public Good

The AFT is guided by an innovative union philosophy: Higher pay, better benefits and the well-being of the people its members serve all depend on improving the quality of the institutions in which they work and the services they provide.

The AFT attracts members not only through our commitment to achieving professional working conditions for them, but also because of our interest in improving their professional skills. We believe we must look at the institutions in which our members work with a critical eye in order to strengthen and preserve them. For these reasons, the AFT leads the call for high-quality professional development throughout our members' careers and, where needed, reform efforts to strengthen their workplaces.

AFT locals have a long history of bargaining that benefits our members as well as the people they serve. In education, for example, in addition to negotiating salaries and benefits, locals also negotiate contract provisions that aid student achievement: good professional development, class size, discipline codes, adequate textbooks, teacher peer evaluation and mentoring, and other professional issues.

Unionists as Reform Leaders

In 1983, A Nation at Risk, the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, sharply criticized American public education and called for sweeping changes. Then-president Albert Shanker surprised many by agreeing with the thrust of the report and calling on AFT members to take charge of their profession. That idea—recognizing that quality demands constant change, that to grow and thrive, an organization must take risks—set in motion a historic process of debate and reassessment that continues today.  Among the leading-edge reforms the AFT supports are:

• high academic standards and rigorous curricula
• solid school discipline policies
• higher standards for teacher certification
• peer review to ensure a high-quality teacher corps
• voluntary advanced teacher certification provided by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

A study conducted by the Rand Corporation found that education reforms are most likely to be successful in areas where teacher unions are strong. In such a climate, the report concluded, teachers can pursue significant reforms without fear of repercussions.