Delegates to the 2008 AFT convention elected a new slate of national officers on July 14 in Chicago, voting to install Randi Weingarten as president, Antonia Cortese as secretary-treasurer and Lorretta Johnson as executive vice president.

Over a period of just seven weeks, from Jan. 14-March 3, a total of 26,419 people took the online 2008 Health Care for America Survey sponsored by the AFL-CIO and Working America. Most are insured and employed. Most are college graduates. More than half are union members.

More than 20,000 paraprofessionals and school-related personnel represented by the Oregon School Employees Association have voted to affiliate with the AFT, marking the largest affiliation of an independent union in AFT history.

State of Michigan mandates school districts to do surveys to see if consolidation of common services will save money.