The PSC delegation to the biennial American Federation of Teachers convention was depleted by the Crowdstrike software failure that grounded hundreds of flights in late July, but the delegates who made it to Houston, Texas, had the opportunity to participate in an important set of events. The most widely reported was an appearance on the final day by Vice President Kamala Harris, whom AFT delegates had just endorsed for president in the November election.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, addresses the AFT convention in July (Credit: AFT)
But a great deal of work, debate and collaboration among delegates took place over the previous several days, with PSC delegates actively involved. We participated in a pre-convention community service event repairing houses in the historic Freedmen’s Town district. We made sure that our PSC-supported resolutions got passed, including “Real Solutions for Higher Education” and “Support Decarbonization of our Public Schools, Colleges, Universities, Hospitals and City Buildings.” We cheered the announcement that the AFT filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the Higher Education Loan Authority for the state of Missouri for mismanaging student loan accounts for millions of borrowers.
MEMBER ACTION
We swelled to a speech from United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and engaged in a rousing discussion with other higher education delegates and author/organizer Astra Taylor. PSC delegate Rebecca Smart, an adjunct at BMCC and Baruch, was interviewed by the AFT Communications team to highlight the campaign against contingency in the academic workforce. Delegate Nancy Romer, co-chair of the PSC environmental justice working group, facilitated a well-attended event hosted by the AFT’s environmental justice caucus.
A special order of business brought by the Texas Federation of Teachers resolved that the AFT activate its 1.8 million members to oppose Project 2025, the right-wing playbook to destroy democratic institutions and norms in the U.S., and to oppose candidates for election who support Project 2025. We joined our Texas union siblings and others for a rally outside the convention to rebuke the superintendent of the Houston school district, the eighth largest in the nation, for undermining educational quality since a state takeover last year. I was pleased to speak from the floor of the convention in favor of the resolution “Support of Newcomers, Asylum Seekers and Refugees.”
LOOKING FORWARD
The full list of and links to AFT-endorsed resolutions are available at aft.org/resolutions. The 2024 presidential election was much discussed among delegates, especially because Joe Biden’s announcement that he was stepping out of the race came mid-convention. Kamala Harris’s agenda for higher education is not yet clear, but she endorsed the College for All Act in 2017; she tweeted the following year, “It’s time we make college tuition-free once and for all”; and as California’s attorney general, she sued the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, Inc., behemoth for predatory practices and won a $1.1 billion judgment.
The AFT and the labor movement must hold her to those same commitments should she prevail in November.
The PSC will be engaging our members and coordinating with NYSUT and AFT to help get Harris elected and defeat Donald Trump. Mark your calendars for a PSC Legislative Committee Zoom meeting at 6:30 pm on August 20 and stay tuned for registration details.
Published: August 5, 2024
