Report from AFT Convention, Houston, July 21-25, 2024

By Kirsten Herold, LEO President

I attended the AFT Convention, held in muggy Houston, in the biggest Convention Center I have ever seen.  Truly everything is bigger in Texas! Due to the high cost of my travel (close to $2000 with transportation, room, and board, paid in large part by AFT MI), I was the only LEO delegate, which I somewhat regretted. I did get to spend time with other AFT leaders from Michigan and UM, which made a good foundation for our future collaboration. In spite of the hellish travel challenges (Crowdstrike!), overall it was a well-planned and unexpectedly intellectually stimulating convention. 

The day I arrived in Houston was also the day Biden withdrew from the presidential race and nominated Harris in his place. That announcement interjected a whole other level of energy and excitement into most delegates.  Although higher ed and healthcare are the two fastest growing sectors of AFT, which now has 1.8 million members, large urban K-12 locals and professional staff are still the backbone of our union.  And those locals are overwhelmingly African American woman (at least in leadership roles), so you can imagine how much the news of Harris being the likely Democratic nominee meant to them. The excitement increased as it became increasingly likely that she would actually come to Houston on the final day of the Convention. The hall was electric, and the audience ecstatic, and I thought Harris’s speech was quite good. See for yourself at this link.

But much of the convention had obviously been planned before that announcement.  To increase the commitment to vote for Biden, the program included appearances from several prominent members of the Biden administration: Lina Kahn from the Federal Trade Commission (enforcing antitrust laws and consumer protection overall), and Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumer protection in the financial sector). Both made the case how the Biden administration has gone after bad actors, enforcing existing laws as well as enacting stronger laws. We also had the usual array of local politicians, such as Colin Allred (running against Ted Cruz) and Silvia Garcia from Houston, reminding us all, A. what a terrible governor Greg Abbott has been for public education, and B. how large parts of Texas are in fact Blue. Sheila Jackson Lee was also on the program, but she had sadly died from a rapid pancreatic cancer two days before the convention.

The annual higher ed breakfast was also unusually interesting. The guest was Astra Taylor, a Canadian-American filmmaker and activist, founder of the Debt Collective and member of Occupy Wall Street. Her many books include the epic title, Democracy May Not Exist, But We Will Miss It When It Is Gone, and the recent, Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World Changing Idea. She is smart and engaging, and I am trying to get her contact information, so we can see about getting her to campus, maybe sponsored by the ACLC and HVALF.  Her talk also made me wonder whether we could launch a LEO book club and read one of her books. 

Another event I regretted being unable to attend (because it was at the same time as the higher ed breakfast) involved leaders of Israeli and West Bank teachers unions discussing their work for peace in the region. There were also competing resolutions regarding Gaza, but -- at least in my view -- our President, Randi Weingarten handled  very fairly what could easily have become a very unruly discussion. Although some people complained about the insistence on Roberts Rules (when “children are dying”), it seems to me that it is exactly when there is discussion of difficult topics (in a hall of 3000 people) that such rules are most needed, to ensure that one side or the other does not highjack the discussion.  And all sides got the time to present their views at some length, which I thought was good. I think there was some trepidation about disruptions during the Harris speech, but as far as I could tell, nothing of the sort happened, and delegates left 

In spite of the travel woes, the Houston humidity, and the occasional moments of tedium as resolutions are presented and discussed, I thought overall the convention was a very positive, energizing event, and I am grateful to LEO and AFT MI for making it possible for me to go.