Porter, Robert

AFT Affiliate St. Louis Teachers Union Local 420 Records

dgolodner — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:06:08 -0400

The St. Louis (Missouri) Teachers Union was organized in 1935 by Paul W. Preisler, as
the Teachers Union of St. Louis and St. Louis County. Its jurisdiction extended over
these separate political entities in order to include members from Washington University.
In 1944 the name of the local was changed to Teacher’s Federation of St. Louis and St.
Louis County. Its 1948 merger with Local 680, St. Louis Vocational Teachers’ Union,
extended Local 420’s jurisdiction to include “all eligible teachers in St. Louis and St.
Louis County including vocational and college teachers.” By 1962 its name had been
shortened to St. Louis Teachers Union. The St. Louis Teachers Union experienced great growth between 1961 and 1963, during which period its membership grew from 81 to 1,417. Membership grew in the 1970s after the AFT became sole bargaining agent for teachers and with the inclusion of paraprofessionals and support staff, but internal disputes and unsuccessful strikes led to many resignations and a decline in membership in 1968 and 1976.

Part I of this collection contains office files of the AFT local representing the teachers of St. Louis, Missouri. Correspondence, clippings, minutes, press releases, and other materials dealing with such topics as tenure, desegregation, educational standards, membership drives, and collective bargaining by teachers. Several of the files consist of the records of Betty Finneran as a vice-president of the AFT.

Part II of this collection contains material created or used by Betty Finneran and reflect her activities as well as activities of the union as a whole. Finneran served as president, secretary, and treasurer of Local 420 and founded the Retiree Chapter. Local 420 subjects include a dispute with the Missouri Federation of Teachers, raiding between Local 420 and the local National Education Association chapter, internal disputes among board members, organizing and elections, and desegregation of St. Louis schools. Outside of Local 420, Finneran was involved with the St. Louis Coalition of Labor Union Women and other women's rights efforts.

Cincinnati Federation of Teachers Local 1560

dgolodner — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:01:38 -0500

The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers Collection contains information about this unique local of the American Federation of Teachers. The local reformed in 1964 as the Cincinnati Teachers Union and changed its name to the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (CFT) in 1971 and immediately began petitioning for a collective bargaining election. By 1976 the CFT won the election and remained the bargaining union for teachers of Cincinnati. In 1979 Tom Mooney became president and took the union on a new course of bargaining reform for all public employees in the city as well as taking the local into new areas of education reform and teacher professionalism.

AFT Secretary-Treasurer's Office Records

dgolodner — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 14:27:04 -0400

Papers covering the activities of various secretary-treasurers of the AFT. The secretary-treasurer oversees departments within the national office, collects per capita dues, responds to affiliates’ needs such as strike and collective bargaining assistance, and is closely involved with the AFT Executive Council and the AFL-CIO secretary-treasurers.

Part I topics of note include organizing, segregated locals, worker education, international teacher unions, federal aid to education, and academic freedom.

Part II contains additional content related to the subjects in Part I, as well as material related to union finances, various assistance programs, strikes, the AFT Executive Committee and Council, AFT National Conventions, the National Education Association, and the AFL-CIO, especially jurisdictional disputes and secretary-treasurers' meetings.

(29152) Robert Porter, Lawyers Convention

jhelpap — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:29:33 -0400

AFT Secretary-Treasurer Robert Porter, speaks at a Lawyer's Convention in Washington D.C.

(31290) Walter Mondale, Albert Shanker and Edward McElroy

jhelpap — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 17:17:02 -0500

(l to r) Robert Porter, Walter Mondale, AFT President Albert Shanker and Edward McElroy talk at the 60th AFT Convention.