Leaders of teachers unions: America’s democracy is at risk
The presidents of the nation’s two major teachers union — together, they count close to 5 million members — told delegates at their annual conventions that America’s democracy is at risk and placed the blame squarely on President Trump.
Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest labor union in the country with some 3 million members, said this month in Houston that she believes “our democracy itself is in grave danger of being corrupted.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which is among the country’s largest unions with 1.7 million members, said: “Our democracy is under assault. . . . While our democracy has never been perfect, today its very existence is threatened.”
The two leaders gave scathing appraisals of Trump’s performance, saying that he has assaulted America’s fundamental institutions and that U.S. democracy could be lost if citizens don’t fight back. Though these unions have long offered political support for Democrats, their leaders have never used such stark language to describe the state of the nation.
Eskelsen García and Weingarten also blasted Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a longtime critic of labor unions. Weingarten announced Thursday that the AFT was suing DeVos, accusing the Education Department of making it “virtually impossible” for people to secure public service loan forgiveness.
Labor voting power has diminished over the past several decades as the structure of the economy has changed, but the union movement, and these two unions, could determine an election. Their support of Hillary Clinton in 2016 was not enough to send her to the White House, but Democratic candidates have not been shy about seeking endorsements.
There were predictions — even by union leaders — of steep membership drops after the Supreme Court ruling last year in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The court declared CONTINUE READING: Leaders of teachers unions: America’s democracy is at risk - The Washington Post