American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

 American Federation of Teachers (A.F.T. Logo image)



The American Federation of Teachers was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers. Five divisions within the organization represent the broad spectrum of AFT's membership: teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff; and nurses and other healthcare professionals. In addition, the union includes more than 170,000 retiree members. Many well-known Americans have been AFT members, including John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Hubert Humphrey, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, former Senate Majority Leader and Ambassador to Japan Mike Mansfield, and former United Nations Under Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche.

The AFT quick link returns all content that has been tagged AFT, which currently contains collection abstracts, audio files, selected speeches and images. Please note the pager at the bottom of this page. Your main contact at the Reuther is Dan Golodner - American Federation of Teachers Archivist (AFT).

For additional information about AFT please visit the American Federation of Teachers Web site.

Conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher EducationSpeeches
Conference on Inflation, Health, Education, Income Security and Social ServicesSpeeches
Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and Association of School Administrators Annual ConventionSpeeches
Consultation on CompetitivenessSpeeches
Core Knowledge ConferenceSpeeches
Corporate Educational Endeavors: What will Ensure Education Reform a Teacher/Union Leader's PerspectiveSpeeches
Council of AFL-CIO Unions Professional, Scientific, and Cultural EmployeesSpeeches
Crossfire: “GI Bill for Children"Speeches
Crosstalk: “Should Teachers be Required to Pass a Competency Test before they Enter the Classroom?”Speeches
Day Care Alliance National Council of Organizations for Children and YouthSpeeches
Denver Speech 1Speeches
Dunlop Commission: Professionalism and Yeshiva. No dateSpeeches
Economic Policy Council AddressSpeeches
Education Commission of the StatesSpeeches
Education for Democracy Project Press ConferenceSpeeches
Education International Constituent CongressSpeeches
Education International: 1998 World ConferenceSpeeches
Education Leadership: “On Restructuring Schools: A Conversation with Al Shanker”Speeches
Education Minnesota ConventionSpeeches
Educational Testing Service ConferenceSpeeches
Emerging Issues Forum Education for a Competitive Economy, North Carolina State University: “School Restructuring: Breaking Out Speeches
Empire State Federation of TeachersSpeeches
Eyes on the Prize – Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights MovementSpeeches
Finance Committee on Tax Simplification LegislationSpeeches
Firing LineSpeeches
Forum: “Where Albert Shanker Stands”Speeches
Goals 2000Speeches
God, the Constitution, and SchoolsSpeeches
Good Morning, America: “Early Childhood Education”Speeches
Good Morning, America: “Politics in Education”Speeches
Graduation SpeechSpeeches
Great Lakes Regional ConferenceSpeeches
Great Lakes Regional Conference: "Lessons for Life"Speeches
Greetings from the AFT to the Annual Convention of IFFTUSpeeches
Hearing to Examine Crime and Violence in SchoolsSpeeches
Hebrew Union College-University of Cincinnati (HUC-UC): “Preparing Teachers for the Twenty-First Century Schools”Speeches
Herbert Lehman Lecture: A Revolution that is OverdueSpeeches
House Committee on Education and Labor on H.R. 950Speeches
House Committee on Ways and MeansSpeeches
House Education Committee Speeches
How to Improve the Schools…Ask the KidsSpeeches
HR 4130 Teacher Training and RecruitmentSpeeches
If You Do Not Have 'Stakes' You Have a World Where Nothing CountsSpeeches
Institute for Educational Policy Studies: “Teacher Unions: Past, Present and Future Influence”Speeches
Instructor: “Futrell & Shanker Face Off”Speeches
International Federation of Free Teachers' Unions (IFFTU) SpeechSpeeches
International Foundation of Employee Benefits PlansSpeeches
Interview with Ed MuzikSpeeches
Israel and Histadrut: A Great Social LaboratorySpeeches
Italian-American Labor CouncilSpeeches