While we navigate these times of great uncertainty-whether our in our schools or communities-we must remain UNITED FOR A BETTER FUTURE.
Not only did our 2025 Annual Convention live up to that important tenet, which served as this year’s Convention theme, it set us up to stay united into the foreseeable future. The energy and dedication of our delegates was a powerful reminder of how much we can amplify our power and impact when we remain engaged in each other’s communities and united around the collective good.
The weekend began with our annual Convention Awards Dinner at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Dorchester. We are in a strong position to tackle the uncertain times we are facing because of people like Senator Kennedy, who fought for public education and working families – helping to pave the pathway for us today. As we continue our work to protect and strengthen public education while advancing the needs of working people, we must also look ahead to building up the next generation of leaders. In that vein, we awarded $18,000 in college scholarships to the children of nine AFT Massachusetts members. Congratulations to our 2025 Labor Scholarship Award Winners: Cash Davis, Ruby Davis, Salim Gadiri, Elizabeth Kurth, Eric Leipow, Brayden MacLean, Finn McConville, Christian Serino, and Joshua Sidmore. We wish them the best of luck as they embark on the next phase in their education and look forward to hearing about their future endeavors.
We also honored nine members who have demonstrated an outstanding level of service and dedication to their local union with the AFT Massachusetts Distinguished Service Award. Nominated by their local presidents, these educators, librarians, and retirees not only strengthen the role of their local and our overall organization, they’re consistently making a difference in the lives of their students and communities. Congratulations to our 2025 Distinguished Service Award Winners: Abeer Abdullah (Lynn Teachers Union), Sarah Banister (MA Library Staff Association), Anny Cruz (Salem Teachers Union), Randi Davis (Boston Teachers Union), Claude James (Boston Teachers Union), Lisa Lannon (Lawrence Teachers Union), Lawrence Lodgen (Lynn Teachers Union), Moire O’Mullane (AFT Amesbury), and Cyndi Zarriello (MA Library Staff Association).
The evening also featured a Special President’s Award to recognize the years of advocacy of our AFT Massachusetts members and key allies to finally see the Social Security Fairness Act signed into law by President Joseph Biden. President Jessica Tang highlighted the critical role of our advocacy, phone calls, and letters to persuade Congress to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). In addition to our members, President Tang recognized the invaluable contributions of Mass Retirees United and the Massachusetts Alliance for Retired Americans.
The evening featured the amazing vocals of two of our Berklee Faculty Union leaders: Vice President for PT Faculty Nichelle J. Mungo and Executive Vice President David Thorne Scott.
On Saturday, we came together at IBEW Local 103 union hall in Dorchester with more than 170 registered delegates seated, representing 19 AFT Massachusetts locals.
The members of the AFT Massachusetts Organizing Team got the day started talking about our shared definition of organizing in this difficult political and economic time. The team highlighted some of AFTMA’s big wins this year on contract campaigns, on forming new unions with charter school educators, signing up new hires, winning issue campaigns at the local, state, and federal level, and more. With expanded capacity on external organizing and communications, the Organizing Team is currently working with locals all across AFTMA every day to build worker power, sign up more members, increase membership engagement, and win strong contracts.
In her first full Convention as President of the AFT Massachusetts, Jessica Tang spoke to the critical role each and every delegate and local plays in ensuring the strength of the union during these challenging times. The AFT Massachusetts recognizes that the power and strength lies in not just the unity of its membership, but its diversity. Each member brings their personal history and perspectives to the table. Bringing everyone together to learn about and from each other as we fight for a common good is something that the AFT Massachusetts is dedicated to fostering. The diversity and inclusivity of our union is a source of our strength –we may not always agree on everything, but we have more in common that unites us than divides us.
President Tang recapped some of the tremendous wins the AFT Massachusetts has seen over the last year because of that unified strength – from statewide and policy wins (eliminating the MCAS as a graduation requirement, seeing the Social Security Fairness Act signed into law, getting the Educator Diversity Act passed, and moving forward on Retirement Plus legislation) to securing historic contracts for our locals that deliver the higher pay, benefits, and supports our members deserve to seeing our members in Lynn and Salem successfully stand up against charter school expansion in their communities.
“Unfortunately, no one is immune from the chaos and cuts causing harm to our AFT MA members and communities. With key allies and our union brothers, sisters and siblings, we’re standing up to these repeated attacks on both public education and all working people. We’re fighting to protect our students, our union members and our communities,” said President Tang. “We know the division and disinformation created at the federal level is daunting and, at times, feels all-consuming. But, we must remain vigilant and united. Solidarity and organizing are always the answer – especially when the soul of our nation and democracy itself is at stake. And we are just getting started.”
- 2025 Convention Program
- Special Resolution in Support of a Strategic Plan - Adopted by the convention delegates
- Special Resolution on Building AFT Power During Uncertain Times - Adopted by the convention delegates
- Special Resolution Condemning Trump Administration Attacks on Libraries, Museums and Cultural Heritage Institutions - Adopted by the convention delegates
President Tang announced that later in the Convention delegates would be presented with a resolution for consideration to support the initial framework of the First Statewide Strategic Plan of the AFT Massachusetts to take us through the 2026 midterm elections and beyond. For the first time, we hosted retreats for AFT Massachusetts staff and the Executive Board to do an in-depth analysis of our organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
“Focusing on what brings us together, our staff and our Vice Presidents worked hard to create the foundation for a thoughtful strategic plan that takes into account the diverse needs of our locals and our AFT Massachusetts families,” President Tang told the delegates. “You play a role in this work. Your voice and experience matter. You add to our strength. Today is just the start and we look forward to your input as representatives of your local and the communities you serve.”
Delegates were presented with and passed two other resolutions: a Resolution on Building AFT Power During Uncertain Times and the MLSA Resolution Condemning Trump Administration Attacks on Libraries, Museums, and Cultural Heritage Institutions. They also passed an amendment to the organization’s bylaws around the structure of dues and elected a new member to serve on the AFT Massachusetts Executive Board, Chelmsford Federation of Teachers President Katy Sullivan.
Secretary-Treasurer Brant Duncan spoke to the important role the union plays in standing up for the programs and services our communities, students, and members rely on.
“As educators, paraprofessionals, librarians, higher education faculty and staff, health and public service workers, you play a critical role in our work to protect public education and ensure every student has the resources and services needed to thrive inside and outside the classroom. Now is the time for Massachusetts to lead and be the beacon of equity the rest of the country needs,” said Secretary-Treasurer Duncan. “The lives of working families, children, those living in poverty, those with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, and immigrants are being upended to help finance tax cuts for the super wealthy. These cuts are so extensive, it will be impossible for state leaders to fill in all the gaps. That makes it even more important that we continue to fight for the programs and services our communities deserve.”
Secretary-Treasurer Duncan reported that not only is the union strong financially, but it has also been a force for good under current and past leadership – a foundation the AFT Massachusetts continues to build upon. Duncan thanked the delegates for adopting the dues increase, noting that AFT Massachusetts will use these funds to expand our organizing and servicing capacity and to keep up with operational costs.
“At our 2024 convention, the leadership of our union changed hands with the election of President Jessica Tang. The past year has been a whirlwind, and I have been excited to see all that Jessica has accomplished in her role at the state and national levels,” Secretary-Treasurer Duncan told the delegates. “I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to thank former President Beth Kontos for six years of leadership – expanding our reach as a union, strengthening our locals, and answering the call during some of our most difficult moments, including a global pandemic and decisions from the Supreme Court that attacked the very heart of the labor movement and public education.”
Convention delegates also heard from AFT National Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, the first Latino/a officer in the 1.8-million-member union’s 109-year history. After running through all the ways the AFT Massachusetts is standing up for public education, immigrants, students, and all those being targeted by the White House, Evelyn told delegates that, no matter what, that AFT National will always have their backs, highlighting their role to come together to bring hope and quell fear – among their fellow members, their communities, and the people they serve.
“I love that the cradle of the American Revolution is still creating sons and daughters of liberty, banding together on behalf of our common values. I have come to believe that our most important task right now is to come together to instill hope - the most powerful antidote to fear and hate,” DeJesus told the audience. “We dig deep and remember our first principles — what brings us together — our students, our members, and their families and communities. We remember the deepest truth of the labor movement—that together, we can accomplish so much more than we ever could on our own.”
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley continued the discussion where DeJesus left off – speaking to delegates remotely about the important role educators and the labor movement both play in the fight to protect our democracy.
“The work you do is essential - especially in this moment. You are raising the next generation and guiding our babies through a deeply consequential moment in our history,” Congresswoman Pressley told the audience. “Many of our children have had their lives upended. You are showing up for them every day. For those kids, you are the constant in their lives as they try to navigate their own fears and uncertainties. Your role always has and always will be essential - to our children and to the survival of our very democracy.”
To conclude, the Convention welcomed three federal workers to the stage – three Massachusetts residents impacted by the President and Elon Musk’s systematic campaign against workers - American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)’s Rich Couture, Matt Chowtowski, a former worker with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Ariel Shepetovskiy, a lawyer fired from the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. They each spoke about their experiences since January 20, 2025. The widespread layoffs. Union contracts being cancelled left and right. Dismantling of whole departments. It doesn’t just end with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. It filters through all of society. By repeatedly stripping workers of their rights and protections, they seek to normalize anti-worker, anti-union sentiment - which can, and will, bleed into other sectors. The widespread elimination of jobs and, in some cases, entire departments serves another purpose for the Administration – cutting off Americans from vital services and programs they rely on.
Gutting the Boston-based office of the United States Department of Agriculture means delays in getting supplies to food banks across New England and food to pregnant women and children through WIC. Eliminating the Boston-based Office of Civil Rights within the US Department of Education means that the cases of thousands of children hang in the balance. The few remaining workers have gone from juggling 60 cases to 380 – a number that is completely untenable - and, as Ariel put it, “there’s no one in the federal government around to enforce civil rights in our schools.”
Highlighting our commitment to turning our words into action, President Tang and AFTMA staff led a march of delegates to the local Social Security offices to hold a rally against the Trump/Musk push to strip Social Security benefits from our nation’s vulnerable while preventing millions of Americans from accessing a system they’ve spent their entire working lives paying into.
We want to give special thanks to the Murphy Dancers at the Richard J. Murphy K-8 School in Boston, the members of the ITM “inthemak’n” Dance Team from Lynn Public Schools, and Pianist Mendez Pierre from Boston’s Curley K-8 School for bringing our delegates an extra dose of energy and entertainment with their wonderful performances.
Our Convention was a success and despite unprecedented challenges, our union is strong. Our strength comes from the ground up and we thank all of our delegates for being a part of our 2025 Convention and playing an integral role in moving our union and members forward. This successful day would not have been possible without the work of our fellow union brothers and sisters: everyone at IBEW Local 103, the audio and video team from IATSE Local 11, and the members of UNITE Here Local 26 at both the Renaissance Boston Hotel and with Season's Catering.