Longstanding labor movement leader and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten rallied 2024 IAM Convention delegates to remain focused and hopeful about growing union support, as thousands of new union members across the country win union elections and better contracts.
“You, IAM, have been doing this for decades upon decades, and other working people are starting to say – ‘I want what they have,’” said Weingarten. “Young people are saying I want unions, I want that too, I want the power of labor unions.”
As leader of the 1.7 million-member AFT, Weingarten has shaped the course for working families in America. The AFT represents teachers, paraprofessionals, early childhood, and other educational professionals as well as nurses and other healthcare professionals, and local, state, and federal government employees.
“The last several decades, we are out there trying to save people’s pensions, save people’s healthcare, and save people’s jobs,” said Weingarten.
Weingarten’s rousing closing remarks strengthened the fighting spirit of IAM Convention delegates.
“The future for us is all of these professions that make a difference in the lives of people,” said Weingarten. “We represent opportunity. We represent freedom, we represent the promise of America.”
In 2021, the IAM and the AFT formed a partnership to organize healthcare workers throughout the United States jointly, resulting in thousands of healthcare workers joining the IAM through the successful partnership.
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