Read more at LaborPains.org| Basic Facts | |
| [click on the text below for more detailed information] | |
| Total Assets: | $ 96,154,256 |
| Members: | 822,504 |
| Employees: | 379 |
| Employees earning over $75,000: | 199 |
| ULPs Filed Since 2000: | 85 |
| Decertification Petitions Filed: | 8 |
National Headquarters
555 NEW JERSEY AVE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20001
"I don’t represent the children. I represent the teachers," said former American Federation of Teachers President Al Shanker. You've got to give the AFT credit: it is more open about its mission, which it now claims is "to improve the lives of our members and their families," than is its rival, the National Education Association. The smaller of two national education unions, the AFT is a member of the AFL-CIO.
Like its AFL-CIO brothers, the AFT indulges in the language of conflict. Among its bank accounts are a "solidarity fund" and a "militancy/defense fund" ? the union's single largest war chest with more than $31 million in the bank.
The AFT's militant behavior is best illustrated by its association with one group in particular: In 2004, the union gave $100,000 of its members' money to a minimum wage ballot campaign in Florida. That campaign, designed to increase voter turnout for the Democratic presidential candidate, was run by a shady group called ACORN, which has been tied to voter fraud in at least 10 states. Undaunted by the fraud that beset that campaign, the AFT's New York state federation paid the radical group more than $125,000 to organize teachers.
The AFT isn't afraid to flex its financial muscle in the policy realm either. In its fiscal year 2005, the union spent $7.7 million on government relations (influencing their own employers) and almost $5.5 million on public affairs (indirectly influencing their own employers).
And while there are countless AFT members who don't like the causes the union supports, there is no one that condones the fraud seen by local AFT unions. One of the most egregious examples of union staff taking advantage of their members comes from the AFT's Washington, D.C. affiliate, which lost as much as $6 million to embezzlement.
The union's 2005 financial filings with the Department of Labor show that they gave members' money to:
- Alliance for Retired Americans ($27,000)
- Ballot Initiative Strategy Center ($5,000)
- Floridians For All ($100,000)
- Give Nevadans A Raise ($25,000)
- Protect Our Schools ($55,000)
- Protect Your Check ($500,000)
- Voices for Working Families (AFL-CIO project) $100,000)
- Vote Yes for West Virginia's Future (?BALLOT INITATIVES - POLITICAL LEGISLATIVE MOBIL.?) ($5,000)
- Yes on 72 ($150,000)
- Albert Shanker Inst. ($470,000)
- Center for Community Change ($25,000)
- Citizens for Tax Justice ($15,000)
- Economic Policy Institute ($550,000)
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Membership Total Membership: 822,504 |
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| Source: Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards LM filings | ||||||||
Financial Disbursements
| Representational Activities ( 41.4%) | $ 55,452,412 |  |
| Political Activities & Lobbying ( 10.4%) | $ 13,971,868 | |
| Contributions, Gifts & Grants ( 3.0%) | $ 4,066,472 | |
| General Overhead ( 24.3%) | $ 32,556,818 | |
| Union Administration ( 5.4%) | $ 7,244,156 | |
| Total Compensation ( 17.8%) | $ 23,860,020 | |
| Per Capita Tax ( 6.9%) | $ 9,218,317 |
Locals & Other Affiliated Organizations
Top 10 Locals (by Members)
| Local | Members |
AFT State Federation (Latham, NY) |
518,000 |
| AFT State Federation 310 (Westmont, IL) |
80,051 |
| AFT State Federation (Burbank, CA) |
58,704 |
| AFT Local 4503 (Albany, NY) |
50,839 |
| AFT State Federation (Austin, TX) |
30,080 |
| AFT Local 8036 (Philadelphia, PA) |
29,202 |
| AFT State Federation (Rocky Hill, CT) |
26,117 |
| AFT State Federation (Detroit, MI) |
24,383 |
| AFT State Federation (Boston, MA) |
20,700 |
| AFT State Federation (Helena, MT) |
17,689 |
| [show all locals & affiliates] | |
Leadership
Top 10 International AFT Leaders & Staff (by Salary)
Source: Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards LM filings
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