The union movement received a fresh dose of solidarity today with the signing of a historic agreement with the 2.8 million National Education Association and the approval of new charters that bring two more unions into the AFL-CIO fold.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council, holding its winter meetings this week in San Diego, today unanimously approved an unprecedented new partnership with the National Education Association that will further strengthen and unify the labor movement and bolster its ability to meet the needs of working families.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney announced this new development at a joint press briefing with NEA President Reg Weaver in San Diego (photo, above).
Under the terms of the AFL-CIO/NEA Labor Solidarity Partnership, local affiliates of the NEA can affiliate with the national AFL-CIO and join the AFL-CIO at the local and state levels, Sweeney and Weaver said.

Edward McElroy, president of the AFT, a member of the AFL-CIO for 90 years, welcomed the NEA locals:

The AFT and NEA have become partners on many education endeavors. Having the support of NEA affiliates inside the AFL-CIO’s local and state labor bodies will give educators an even stronger voice inside the labor movement and will help our unions become more powerful advocates for quality education and for an economy that works for all Americans.

Directly affiliated NEA locals will have the same rights as any direct affiliate of the AFL-CIO—including jurisdictional protections and representation and voting rights.
Sweeney noted the significance of this partnership given the challenges workers face in a climate that’s increasingly hostile to them.

By giving local unions of the NEA the opportunity to unite with our 9 million members, we’ll be able to wage stronger campaigns to help working families fend off escalating assaults on family incomes, education, health care, pensions, and public services. And we’ll be stronger in the fight for quality, affordable health care for all, retirement security and a great education for our children.

The AFL-CIO also approved national charters for two important independent unions—the United Transportation Union, with 65,000 members, and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, with 10,000 members.

Today’s announcements add to the unity and momentum the labor movement has gained in recent months. Since last summer, the AFL-CIO has issued 852 Solidarity Charters to 516 local unions of the national unions that disaffiliated from the federation last year. Solidarity Charters allow locals of disaffiliated unions to remain united with AFL-CIO at the local and state level. These agreements will prove critical in-member mobilization for the 2006 mid-term elections as well as organizing campaigns, strikes and other efforts to take on corporate America.