This organization was established August 5, 1930 at the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus by members of its faculty who felt that the integrity and quality of undergraduate and graduate education, and of the research which is essential to education, were seriously jeopardized by inaction on the part of the faculty with respect to University affairs, public and legislative affairs, conditions under which students live and work, and faculty compensation and other conditions under which the faculty work and teach.

It is the aim of this organization to defend and increase the role and effectiveness of the faculty and academic staff in shaping University policy and practices concerning these important aspects of the University's purposes. This we hope to achieve through collective bargaining, and other appropriate means, building upon the concept of our vital and moral responsibility to work in concert to identify problems, not the least of which is the perpetuation of discrimination in the hiring, remuneration and promotion of minority group members and women. It is the further aim of this organization to devise, propose, and achieve implementation of the solution of these problems while protecting academic, civil, and personal freedoms of all persons in the University and society.

The mission of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, is to improve the lives of our members and their families, to give voice to their legitimate professional, economic and social aspirations, to strengthen the institutions in which we work, to improve the quality of the services we provide, to bring together all members to assist and support one another and to promote democracy, human rights and freedom in our union, in our nation and throughout the world.
 --From the Futures II report adopted at the AFT Convention, July 5, 2000.

AFT-Wisconsin is a labor organization representing 17,000 public and private employees in the state of Wisconsin. Formerly called the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers (WFT), AFT-Wisconsin is a chapter of the AFT.

Started primarily as a teachers' union with 1,400 members in 1933, AFT-Wisconsin has grown exponentially and today represents many diverse professionals with over 500 job classifications.

Learn more about the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers and is an affiliated international union of the AFL-CIO.

Learn the history of the AFT, including the union's founding in Chicago in 1916, its affiliation with the AFL-CIO, its battles for workers and human rights and its continued work to uphold the proud traditions on which the union was created.

List of UFAS Officers and Committee Chairs

AFT is the largest higher education union in the country, representing over 130,000 higher education faculty, professional staff and graduate employees. The AFT higher education department mission is to help our affiliates and their members prosper in the face of political, economic and technological forces challenging the most basic assumptions about the union's role on campus.