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Ain't no stoppin' us now!
Celebrating our successes
One of the livelier convention activities was a spirited celebration of the AFT’s organizing victories and membership growth that emphasized the central role of mobilizing members to build a strong, effective union. Led by AFT executive vice president Nat LaCour (who was elected secretary-treasurer the following day), the event provided clear examples of how organizing campaigns can help win sound contracts, elect pro-union candidates to political office and protect the most basic rights of members.
The festivities opened with hundreds of AFT members and activists entering the convention hall to the strains of “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” The revelers waved AFT pennants and carried signs bearing the names of states where the union has had organizing victories in recent years.
Then came the stats.
LaCour showed just how good the AFT and its affiliates are at organizing new members. The AFT, he said, has won 90 percent of its elections, gained 365,372 new members and issued 829 new local charters since Sandra Feldman became AFT president in 1997. In addition, the union has chartered new retiree chapters in Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon and West Virginia.
LaCour told the convention that the AFT’s organizing committee is developing a national organizing plan as well as strategic state and local plans. The union, he said, is also reaching out to the new constituencies, exploring new forms of associate membership and increasing its efforts to organize members in places where the union is prohibited from negotiating agency shop. In addition, AFT state federations in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and elsewhere have assigned staff and raised new resources for organizing, LaCour added.
“These are all good things, but the bottom line is we need everyone in this room, and your brother and sister union members back home, to help reinvigorate this culture of organizing and activism throughout the union.”
