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August 7, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
First union out of the box:
American Federation of Teachers endorses Clinton
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The
executive council of the Ameri-
can Federation of Teachers
(AFT) voted overwhelmingly
July 11 to endorse Hillary Clin-
ton in the Democratic primary
for president of the United
States. The AFT is the first na-
tional union to endorse a candi-
date in the 2016 Democratic
presidential primary.
“Hillary Clinton is a tested
leader who shares our values, is
supported by our members, and
is prepared for a tough fight on
behalf of students, families and
communities,” said AFT Presi-
dent Randi Weingarten.
The AFT’s endorsement
comes a month after Clinton at-
tended an executive council
meeting in Washington, D.C. At
that meeting, she said, “It is just
dead wrong to make teachers
the scapegoats for all of soci-
ety’s problems. Where I come
from, teachers are the solution.
And I strongly believe that
unions are part of the solution,
too.”
The AFT said all potential
and announced candidates were
invited to complete a question-
naire, and those who returned
the questionnaire were invited to
meet with the council. That in-
cluded Democratic candidates
Bernie Sanders and Martin O’-
Malley. No Republican candi-
dates responded to the invita-
tion.
The union said it polled its
members twice, took multiple
surveys, and conducted two
telephone town halls before de-
ciding which primary candidate
to support. The top issues mem-
bers raised were jobs and the
economy and public education.
“Seventy-nine percent of our
members who vote in Demo-
cratic primaries said we should
endorse a candidate. And by
more than a 3-to-1 margin, these
members said the AFT should
endorse Clinton,” the union said
in a press release.
The AFT’s 1.6 million mem-
bers will be a powerful force for
Clinton. Leading up to Novem-
ber 2016, AFT members are ex-
pected to make more than 1 mil-
lion phone calls and knock on
more than 500,000 doors.
Wu named director of Portland Jobs with Justice
Portland Jobs with Justice has a
new leader. In April, Diana Pei
Wu became executive director
of the faith-labor-community
coalition, which is known for its
frequent labor solidarity demon-
strations.
Wu, 41, has a bachelor’s de-
gree from Duke University, a
master’s from Princeton, and
doctorate from University of
California, Berkeley. She also
has a lengthy movement résumé
and has been an activist since her
teens.
Wu grew up in Stamford,
Connecticut, as the daughter of
Chinese immigrants, and at the
age of 15 organized fellow Chi-
nese students to march in protest
of the 1989 massacre at Tianan-
men Square.
In November 1999, she
protested the World Trade Or-
ganization summit in the streets
of Seattle—wearing a superhero
costume as part of an ad hoc
group called the Hall of Justice.
That was her first real contact
with the labor movement, and
she calls it a formative moment.
In 2009, she was among
dozens arrested in Emeryville,
California, for blocking the
street in front of a hotel where
hotel workers with UNITE
HERE were fighting for a living
wage ordinance. As an instructor
at Antioch College, she was part
of an unsuccessful unionizing
effort. As co-director of the ac-
tivist training group Ruckus So-
ciety, she led trainings for the
California Faculty Association,
a union affiliated of the Ameri-
can Association of University
Professors (AAUP).
Wu also
worked on af-
fordable
housing, im-
migrant
rights, and
many other
causes. She
moved
to
Portland
in
Diana Pei Wu
2013 to be the
organizing director with the
Asian Pacific American Net-
work of Oregon (APANO).
Now she’ll head one of the
largest and oldest chapters of
Jobs with Justice, overseeing a
staff of three and a coalition
made up of over 100 member
faith, labor, and community or-
ganizations.
“As a queer woman of color
I’m really thankful for the
chance to lead an important
coalition of faith labor and com-
munity,” Wu told the Labor
Press.
Wu succeeds Karly Edwards,
who served as executive director
from October 2013 until May
2014, when she left to become
state director of the Oregon
Working Families Party. And
Edwards followed Margaret
Butler, who helped found the
group and then served as the
group’s executive director for 16
years. Butler, a member of Com-
munications Workers of Amer-
ica Local 7901, is now executive
coordinator at AAUP-Oregon.
AFT supported Clinton dur-
ing her 2008 campaign for pres-
ident as well.
UA gives $1 million
to Hillary PAC
The American Federation of
Teachers was the first labor
union to endorse Hillary Clinton
in her current run for president,
but not the first to contribute to
her 2016 campaign. Two other
unions have donated to Priorities
USA Action, a super PAC that’s
backing Clinton: The United As-
sociation of Plumbers and Fitters
Political Action Committee con-
tributed $1 million on June 30,
and the International Association
of Fire Fighters contributed
$50,000 on May 5.
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