Three local affiliates of the National Education Association this week joined the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO, the umbrella group’s blog reports.
The locals, from California, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin, will add 3,000 dues-paying members to the AFL-CIO and will take the total number of NEA members in the labor group up to 12,000.
It was two years ago that NEA President Reg Weaver announced that the 3.2 million-member union would allow its locals to join the AFL-CIO, after years of resisting such a move. Although there hasn’t been a stampede since, the slowly growing numbers of NEA locals choosing to affiliate with the labor giant are indicative of the troubles facing organized labor today.
“We need to work together, building coalitions and fighting back with a unified voice,” President-elect Dennis Van Roekel was quoted as saying on the blog.
The AFT, meanwhile, has been a longtime member of the AFL-CIO. Earlier his week, Randi Weingarten, the president of the AFT, was elected to the AFL-CIO’s executive council.