2006 Merger With NEA
On May 5, 2006, NYSUT voted to merge with the NEA/NY, the renamed NYEA. The 35,000-member NYEA had approved the merger agreement on April 29, 2006. The merger became effective on September 1, 2006, and the newly merged union is now jointly affiliated with both the NEA and AFT.
The AFT has long sought merger with the NEA on a national level. But acrimonious relationships between the two unions on the local level and AFT's insistence on what NEA and its affiliates consider undemocratic practices—as well as AFT's insistence upon affiliation with the AFL-CIO—have proven significant obstacles. Among AFT's "undemocratic" practices are its abolition of the secret ballot—its requirement that delegates to its convention vote for officers by roll-call ballot, identifying their choices and their names in writing.
The two unions have continued to work together, however. After the failed merger attempt, the unions formed the 'NEAFT Partnership' to encourage joint policies on education, federal funding for public schools, and lobbying. The unions also agreed to support local- and state-level mergers where appropriate.
Three other states have merged AFT-NEA affiliates: Florida, Minnesota and Montana. Among local mergers is that in Wichita, Kansas, long a battleground for the two national unions, and Los Angeles. Combined, the merged units represent 197,000 members. The NEA has 2.7 million members, while the AFT has 1.3 million.
With the NYSUT merger, 681,000 members of the AFT (or about 52 percent) now belong to NEA.
Read more about this topic: New York State United Teachers