The 89th national convention of the AFT was held in DC this month, from July 15-19, and AFT Maryland members were there, including delegates and guests from many of our Maryland locals – the Baltimore Teachers Union, City Union of Baltimore, the Maryland Classified Employees Association, the Baltimore County Federation of Public Health Nurses, and the Maryland Professional Employees Council. Represented for the first time at convention were our newest organized unions, the United Academics of Maryland-Community Colleges (UAMD-CC) and the University of Maryland Resident and Fellow Alliance (UMRFA).
Over 3500 delegates and visitors attended the AFT Convention 2026, making it the largest convention in the past 15 years. AFT celebrated organizing 179 new units across the country, including the two new locals from Maryland - UAMD-CC and UMRFA.
Photos from the 2026 Convention. (Use arrows to click through.)
As one of the convention host committees along with the Washington Teachers Union and Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, AFT Maryland staff greeted attendees at a welcome station with a warm smile, local maps and information, and some small giveaways.
AFT Maryland hosted a breakfast for the Maryland delegation on Thursday, where delegates heard from AFT Maryland President Kenya Campbell, and from AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fed Ingram. Also joining us at the breakfast were AFT staff from the Union Leadership Institute and AFT Organizing.
While in DC, AFT delegates and guests also joined with Shiloh Baptist Church for a service project, AFT Service in Action: The Miracle on Ninth Street. Volunteers assembled Reading Opens the World book packages and backpacks for DC students, helping to distribute 5,000 free books, 150 backpacks and food items, and providing support for local public schools and after-school programs. Our members from Maryland were there to lend a hand with the effort as well.
The theme of the union’s convention, “Fighting for a Better Life for All,” is what our union does every day. At convention, delegates debated resolutions on topics such as lifting up public education, lifting up immigrant communities, fighting for public healthcare, and tackling the affordability crisis.
You can hear AFT President Randi Weingarten’s brief recap of the Convention here.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore addressed the delegates on Sunday morning, bringing greetings from Maryland and highlighting work to build pathways to teaching apprenticeships, and expanding and protecting collective bargaining rights for workers across the state. He said, “This union helps to build the future. That helps to make sure that we have a society that those who came before us fought for. And that helps to build the society that those who come after us deserve. This union is as necessary now as it has ever been,” especially as we are seeing “a federal administration… trying to disenfranchise Americans under the guise of making America great again.”
You can read Gov. Moore’s full speech here.
AFT’s election was held, as well, and the delegates re-elected AFT President Randi Weingarten, AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram, and AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus. In Maryland, we are especially proud of our own state federation president, Kenya Campbell, as she was elected to serve as a Vice President of the AFT. Congratulations, Kenya!
Find out more about the 89th Convention of the AFT here:
- https://www.aft.org/convention
- https://www.aft.org/resolutions-adopted-convention-2026
- https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-re-elects-officers-hears-union-and-political-leaders-passes-suite-resolutions