Defending democracy is crucial in our fight for a better life

At the AFT's convention, AFT delegates have shared their concerns about the attacks on our democracy, our freedoms and our institutions. In a Friday morning session on democracy, belonging and power, they turned their attention to one of the biggest questions facing us: What are we going to do about it?

We're going to show up, organize and fight for working people to have a voice. The AFT has more than 1.3 million members and family members in the voting districts that will determine the midterm elections. That means we have power at a time when the stakes could not be higher: three seats will determine control of the U.S. House, and four will determine control of the U.S. Senate.

Introducing the AFT's 2026 Political Program, AFT President Randi Weingarten asked, "If we don't engage, how can we expect a different result?" She asked members to stand up for our democracy by volunteering to help and reminding their friends and family to vote.

Diving into our strategy, Weingarten announced two initiatives: Count Me In! and Democracy Defenders.

Count Me In! is labor's electoral plan to turn out 2 million new union voters-and to meet that goal, the AFT needs turn out 200,000. This will take 28,000 AFT volunteers nationwide, or about 1.5 percent of each affiliates' membership, reaching out member-to-member to get out the vote in battleground states.

Democracy Defenders will recruit and train members to protect the vote. They will help people make a plan to vote, share information and serve as poll workers and monitors. They will also combat misinformation to help ensure that every voter can cast their ballot and that every vote is counted. With the labor movement having a goal of 50,000 volunteers engaged in election protection, the AFT is aiming for 5,000 Democracy Defenders.

Encouraging delegates to get involved, Weingarten reminded them that "People trust us, and they trust you."

Melinda Person, president of the New York State United Teachers, took the stage to speak of her anger over the harms the Trump administration has done to the most vulnerable Americans. But she's learned that anger doesn't change anything. Action does.

"Every generation reaches a moment when sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option. I believe this is one of those moments," she said, and she committed NYSUT to fill 14,000 volunteer shifts between now and Election Day. "Count on NYSUT," she declared.

The Detroit Federation of Teachers then committed to 5,000 volunteers to the fight. AFT Massachusetts accepted DFT's "double dare" to fight and win. And the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers accepted the dare, too, noting that over a third of Pennsylvania's registered voters live in the Philadelphia area.

During Friday's general session, AFT President Randi Weingarten touched on President Donald Trump's unhinged speech the previous evening. Grandstanding comes in the night and truth in the morning, Democracy Forward's Skye Perryman added, vowing to stay in court every day combating the Trump administration's lies and demands for states to turn over their voting records. We know that elections belong to the people, not the president, she said.

Overall, this general session showed delegates that they don't have to go it alone in these elections. The stakes are high, but so is our capacity to meet this moment together.

[Annette Licitra/Photo credits: Suzannah Hoover and Pamela Wolfe]