The American Federation of Teachers is actively trying to organize municipal librarians around the country.  As one of the small number of library locals affiliated with the AFT, the MLSA can serve as a source of information and 'best practices' as the AFT pursues its organizing goals. AFT represents public library workers across the country, in separate municipal library bargaining units, and as a part of school and university bargaining units.  AFT also represents librarians in state libraries—including the Illinois State Library, and the Connecticut State Library—and in other state agencies

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.