Teachers Union To Grow by 25%
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
In a move that could cement the position of the teachers union leader, Randi Weingarten, as one of America’s most powerful labor leaders, the United Federation of Teachers will announce today an increase in membership of more than 25%.
At a news conference scheduled this afternoon, Ms. Weingarten will announce that a drive to bring 28,000 daycare laborers across New York into the UFT has succeeded, after a majority of the laborers voted in favor of the move yesterday in a ballot required by the state labor board.
The effort is being billed as largest organizing drive of unaffiliated workers ever for the UFT’s parent union, the national American Federation of Teachers. The agreement promises to boost the political heft and bargaining power of both the UFT and the AFT, and marks a major victory for Ms. Weingarten, a likely successor to the AFT presidency.
