UFT Follows AFT
Teachers' Choice: A Vote for Clinton

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

The 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers last week endorsed Hillary Clinton for President, giving the Democratic front-runner her biggest union endorsement to date.

HILLARY CLINTON: A big endorsement.

The president of the AFT-affiliated United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, who is a vice president of the AFT, praised the endorsement, as did New York State United Teachers President Richard C. Iannuzzi. The UFT automatically endorses the presidential candidate chosen by the AFT.

Pushes Education, Health

AFT officials cited Ms. Clinton's focus on public education and health-care reform as two central reasons for their support. The 41-member executive board voted for Ms. Clinton after interviewing the seven Democratic candidates over the past several months. All of the declared Republican candidates were invited to meet with the union but declined or did not respond to the invitation.

In April, the UFT dubbed Ms. Clinton its "favorite daughter," and Ms. Weingarten campaigned for the endorsement within the AFT. "She's been there and she's earned it," said the UFT president. "The people from New York know it, but she's had a long relationship with the AFT on education issues and on health issues, and so we know her."

RICHARD IANNUZZI: She's right on the issues.

AFT members in Illinois had been pushing for an endorsement of their home legislator, Sen. Barack Obama. But in a recent national poll of AFT members conducted by Hart Research Associates, 45 percent of AFT members said they would vote for Senator Clinton, compared to 21 percent for Mr. Obama and 13 percent for former Sen. John Edwards.

Didn't Want to Wait

The poll also showed that 71 percent of members, and 83 percent of members who were Democrats, wanted the AFT to make an endorsement, instead of waiting until later in the year.

"The election timetable is very early this time," said Ms. Weingarten, who is widely believed to be next in line for the AFT presidency. "The nomination will likely be decided by the first primaries in February." The AFT's next executive council meeting is scheduled for that month as well.

Delegates at NYSUT's Representative Assembly earlier this year passed a resolution urging the AFT to consider endorsing Senator Clinton for President. Mr. Iannuzzi noted NYSUT's enthusiastic support of Ms. Clinton since she first ran for Senate, pointing to her support for changes to the No Child Left Behind Law and increased access to health care.

"NCLB is up for reauthorization, and we think she will hold the line on making the necessary changes," he said. "She also has a very interesting proposal for expanding health-care access that deserves to be looked at."

The AFT also announced that it was immediately putting into motion a nationwide campaign to enlist members to become active in the Clinton campaign.

Ms. Clinton's other labor supporters include the Civil Service Employees Association, the National Association of Letter Carriers, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Transportation Communications Union, the United Transportation Union and the Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.