In honor of the AFT's impressive organizing successes, AFT and FNHP member delegates marched, sang and waved banners of celebration at a special session at the union's biennial convention this summer.

Since the 1998 convention in New Orleans, the AFT has increased its ranks by more than 99,000 new members. "Growth is the lifeblood of the union," AFT executive vice president Nat LaCour told the gathering. Increasing our membership base, he said, enhances the union's power and influence and puts us in a better position to make positive change for members and the people they serve. "Organizing gives us strength, political clout and resources to reach our goals."

The AFT's tremendous growth has taken place across constituencies--and in several non-collective bargaining states where organizing workers is no easy feat. This success has led to 68 newly chartered locals in the past two years. LaCour cited just a few of the victories that have constituted the FNHP's membership growth over the last two years: four election victories at Bayonne Hospital and two at Meadowlands Hospital in New Jersey; a new unit of some 260 service and maintenance employees at Manchester Hospital in Connecticut; and the affiliation of the 3,200-member New York State Psychological Association.

Following the organizing celebration, the convention adopted a resolution on strengthening AFT organizing. It calls on the AFT to "reinvigorate a culture of organizing that will encompass every division, every affiliate and every national union department in a coordinated campaign to increase membership and bring more employees the benefits of unionism."

Among those supporting the resolution was AFT vice president Ann Twomey, who is also president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees, which represents health care workers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Twomey noted that, unlike the field of teaching, in health care, the majority of nurses and health professionals are not organized. However, "of the several different unions that are organizing, the AFT has had the greatest success," said Twomey. "Over the past three years we've won over 75 percent of our elections, while other unions have won about 50 to 55 percent of theirs." That doesn't mean health care members are easier to unionize, she added. "We've succeeded because our message resonates. We organize to improve the quality of our workplaces, to protect our professions, to fight for safe quality care."