NEA, AFT Explore Unity
Members of the National Education Association will decide the organization’s
future at the Representative Assembly this summer.
They will vote on a proposed unification of the NEA and the American
Federation of Teachers.
WEAC and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers have discussed unification
at the state level since the early 1990s. Wisconsin was one of the first
states to enter serious discussions about mergers.
WEAC and WFT have approved a “no-raid” and interaction agreement
under which they have cooperated in several areas, including lobbying
and joint sponsorship of conferences.
Wisconsin discussions were put on hold when the national associations
did not provide a mechanism to sanction state mergers. The Wisconsin
interaction committee will continue discussions later this spring, in
light of the advances made at the national level.
“The time has arrived for members to ask questions, provide input
and study the proposal for national unification,” said WEAC Executive
Director Don Krahn. “We will look at state action in the context
of national decisions.”
The NEA and AFT have been discussing potential merger for several years.
A team of members from each association has been negotiating terms of
a new organization and developed preliminary Principles of Unity this
winter.
The Principles of Unity detail conceptual agreements on governance,
jurisdiction, state and local affiliations, and national AFL-CIO affiliation.
Delegates to the NEA’s Representative Assembly and AFT’s
convention, both this July, are expected to vote on the principles.
If the principles are approved, the formal details of merger would be
developed and implemented over the next few years.
“WEAC will provide as much information to members as possible,”
Krahn said. “Members – whether they are RA delegates or not
– should have the information needed to make informed decisions.
“We are all in the learning process,” Krahn said. “The
Principles of Unity set out the structure of the new organization, but
there are still many details to be worked out.”
WEAC leaders are attending regional pre-RA meetings, explaining the
proposal to members and seeking input.
In April, both the WEAC Board of Directors and the WEAC Representative
Assembly went on record in support of the Principles of Unity. Both
actions were merely advisory to the WEAC delegates who will be voting
at the NEA Representative Assembly.
Posted April 3, 1998; Updated April 30, 1998