Weingarten to leaders: Stay strong, stay together
AFT President Randi Weingarten says anti-labor forces are using the economic downturn to weaken worker protections. Photo by Andrew Watson.
At a time when activists are fighting for the very survival of the labor movement and public education, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten urged local union presidents to resist the impulse to "hunker down" or "give up."
"It's bad. And it's unfair," she said. "We have to fight smart and we have to fight hard — and really differently than any of us were taught to fight."
While New York educators may feel as though they're under fire, Weingarten offered a sobering look at other states that are fully engulfed. She talked of states that have eliminated collective bargaining and union dues check-off, and made it more difficu