Chicago, Ill.
Vice President Sandra Feldman has devoted both her life and career to insuring that all children, regardless of their economic background, their color or their race have the opportunity to benefit from the finest public school education. Her early years as a civil rights and human rights activist led to her committed, lifelong involvement in the day-to-day struggles to achieve equitable treatment of all Americans.
A devoted teacher and trade union activist, Vice President Feldman began her union career as a United Federation of Teachers chapter leader in Manhattan and was appointed UFT field representative in 1966.After more than 20 years of service to the members of her union, she was elected president of the UFT in 1986.
Elected the fifteenth president of the American Federation of Teachers in 1997, she succeeded her mentor, Al Shanker, and served with devotion and distinction in improving the working conditions of her members while promoting higher standards for all students and insisting on improved curricula in the schools.
She was elected an AFL-CIO Vice President in May 1997 and contributed to the Executive Council as chair of the committee on public policy and as a member of the executive committee, as well as the committees on international affairs, labor and the environment, member education and training, organizing, political education, public affairs and women workers. She also serves as a trustee of the George Meany Center–National Labor College.
On behalf of the men and women of the unions of the AFL-CIO, the Executive Council expresses its gratitude and appreciation to Sandra Feldman for her service and devotion to the members of her union and to the labor movement.