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Convention Delegates Back Per Capita Increase

AFT Convention delegates on July 9, 2010 approved a 55 cent per capita dues increase; the new revenues will fund efforts to help locals facing crises, and will increase the amount going to the AFT's Solidarity Fund. These two amendments to the AFT bylaws together will raise the national per capita rate from its current $16 per member per month to $16.55 effective Sept. 1 and then to $17.10 effective Sept. 1, 2011.

A number of AFT leaders whose locals received assistance from the national office in recent months to deal with crises spoke about the need for the new resources; 25 cents of the increase will be dedicated to a special "AFT crisis fund." The amount going to the Solidarity Fund will increase by 20 cents per member per month—12 cents to the national fund and 8 cents to the state funds.

Ruby Newbold, president of the Detroit Educational Office Employees and an AFT vice president, told delegates about a proposal by the Detroit schools CEO to privatize the jobs of all her members. With assistance from the AFT national office and the Michigan state federation, her local was able to kill that idea. "We would not be standing in this hall today if it were not for the AFT" and the assistance it was able to provide, she said.

Jane Sessums, president of the Central Falls (R.I.) Teachers Union—which made national news when the superintendent proposed firing every teacher in the district's only high school—credited the AFT with helping her local turn around a terrible situation. The increase is necessary, she said, to give affiliates the "ability to fight back, fight hard and fight smart."

Some delegates opposed the increase because of the tough economic times their members have been facing in recent years. "I can't go back to my members and tell them their dues are going to rise," said Benjamin Cole of the Chelmsford (Mass.) Federation of Teachers, noting that his members have been hit with pay freezes, furloughs and increased insurance costs.

Among the other changes to the AFT constitution and bylaws the delegates approved deal with reduced per capita rates for some categories of members, the number of vice presidents on the national executive council, and audit and financial review procedures.

One amendment sets $14,000 (an increase of $2,000) as the salary for employees who are eligible for a per capita tax rate of one-quarter the regular rate, and establishes a one-eighth rate for employees earning less than $8,500. Another change will increase the number of vice presidents serving on the AFT executive council from 39 to 43. Delegates also approved changes to the audit and financial requirements for affiliates of different sizes. [Dan Gursky]

July 9, 2010