AFT vice-president Laura Rico worked for more than 31 years as a child development teacher at the Artesia High School Children’s Center in Los Angeles County in Calif., and she kept her firm hand and encouraging demeanor when she became the president of her California Federation of Teachers local, known as ABCFT, after the Artesia, Bloomfield and Carmenita Unified School District in the southeast section of Los Angeles County.

Rico has always been active in her union and in her community. She has spoken against bullying and been an advocate for safe schools. An AFT vice president since 2002, she has also been a member of the AFT Teachers program and policy council. Rico has been the state senior vice president for the California Federation of Teachers, and she helped install labor-management collaborations that benefited members, students and the school community. In 2005, she was elected to the AFL-CIO executive council, where she has served on the committees on Civil and Human Rights, Immigration, International Affairs, Member Education and Training, Organizing, Public Affairs, Safety and Occupational Health and Women Workers.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council thanks Laura Rico for her many contributions to public education, to the labor movement, to her union and to this council.