There was never any question that the powerful American Federation of Teachers — a union representing 1.6 million educators across the country — would endorse Hillary Clinton for president.

But on Saturday, when the AFT became the first international labor union to make an endorsement in the contest by announcing its support of Clinton, it drew sharp criticism from teachers as well as other labor leaders, who questioned the timing amid Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ surge in popularity.


Labor leaders said there was a clear understanding that before July 30 — when all of the Democratic candidates have an hourlong interview at AFL-CIO headquarters and could be grilled on their positions on controversial issues like trade — no national unions (the AFT is one of the 56 national and international unions that make up the AFL-CIO) would make an endorsement.

In 2007, the AFT didn’t endorse Clinton until October.

“A request was made, and there was an expectation that people were going to at least allow the AFL-CIO process to proceed,” said one labor operative. “When the AFL-CIO was asking people not to make endorsements, why did they feel the need to do it in such a hurried fashion?” Other labor leaders described the move as “an insult” to endorse now, when so many labor leaders harbor lingering concerns over trade and plan to press their issues in two weeks.

AFT members have also expressed concern. Online, close to 4,000 teachers have signed a Change.org petition calling on the AFT to withdraw its endorsement. On Facebook, a post about the union’s endorsement has thousands of comments expressing dissent.

“Was surprised as the rest,” wrote Rick Coelho, who identified himself as an AFT member from Madison, Wisconsin. “Endorsing this early throws away a lot of leverage and seems ill-advised.”

Another self-identified teacher, Christine Beard, wrote: “I have already donated a significant amount of money to [Sanders’] campaign and also will be doing volunteer work. I am angry that the AFT has made this endorsement so soon and with so little input from its members.”

The loyalties of the union’s president, Randi Weingarten, are no secret. She is a longtime Clinton friend and donor, who has given money to the independent super PAC Ready for Hillary, and sits on the board of the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action. Weingarten has also donated to Clinton’s previous campaigns, and AFT has donated to the Clinton Foundation. When Clinton first entered elective politics in 2000, while was still first lady, it was Weingarten, then head of the local United Federation of Teachers, who introduced Clinton when she announced she was running for Senate in New York.

The timing of the endorsement comes at a critical moment for the Clinton campaign, when organized labor momentum has been building for Sanders. Sanders has been picking up labor support in early voting states like Iowa, where local labor leaders are calling on unions to back him. The former president of the Communications Workers of America, Larry Cohen, earlier this month endorsed Sanders in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In South Carolina and Vermont, the AFL-CIO executive boards passed resolutions supporting Sanders’ candidacy, leading AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka to issue a memo trying to stop a revolt by state federations who were striking out on their own. Meanwhile, labor leaders have expressed frustration over Clinton’s refusal to take a clear position on trade.

The endorsement also came just ahead of a week that was shaping up to be something of a mini-labor primary — Sanders held a meet-and-greet with labor leaders Monday night at the American Postal Workers Union headquarters in Washington, D.C., while Clinton was scheduled to meet with labor leaders Tuesday at the D.C. home of her campaign chairman, John Podesta. Some labor leaders, who declined to comment on the record because their unions have yet to offer an endorsement in the race, said they saw the timing of the AFT announcement as a sign of weakness for Clinton, rather than strength — a sign that Clinton needed the in-the-bag endorsement now to counter some of Sander’s momentum.

The Clinton campaign, an aide said, wants all unions to make their endorsements as early as they are ready. The desire for the early AFT backing was not about stopping the Sanders momentum, the aide insisted, but about wanting to begin the long process of building a relationship with grass-roots volunteers and supporters. The aide pointed not to Sanders, but to Republican Jeb Bush’s $100 million super PAC haul as the reason they needed to start organizing labor support now. “Our campaign welcomes the support of AFT and we look forward to engaging their 1.6 million members in our campaign,” said campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson.

Weingarten also defended the timing of endorsement, and said it simply occurred now because the AFT held its annual executive council meeting last weekend. “We had 2,000 educators in Washington on Saturday for our executive council,” she said.

Weingarten said she was “surprised” that anyone would criticize the timing of the endorsement, because she has been making it clear since February that she supported unions “going our own ways” on endorsements. An AFL-CIO spokesman said the AFT followed the protocol of providing at least 60 days notice of an endorsement but declined to comment about whether they had asked affiliates to hold off until the end of the month.

The decision, Weingarten explained, was made based in part on polling of 1,150 AFT members who are registered to vote, between June 22 and 27. About 67 percent of those polled favored Clinton over Sanders or former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

“I would take activism over nonactivism any day of the week,” she said of the criticism from her own members. “A union is not a cult, it’s a democracy. I’m not surprised that you have voices who are very, very much for Bernie and the message he carries. But the sentiments at two [AFT] town halls and in polling need to be respected, too.”

Responding to criticism from labor leaders that she jumped the gun when there are still big questions about where Clinton stands on trade, she said: “Trade is an important issue, but so is democracy, so is public education, so is health care, so is collective bargaining. There are a lot of important issues. Even though vouchers for me is a litmus test, I’d never ask any of my colleagues to make that their litmus test. We all have a lot of issues that are really important.”

And she denied that Clinton has an enthusiasm problem, compared to Sanders. “Everybody loves Bernie, just like George McGovern, just like Howard Dean,” she said. “Bernie is saying things that all of us want to hear. And I love that Bernie has gotten these crowds and the momentum and things like that.” But she said Clinton’s early fundraising also showed momentum “in a different kind of way,” citing the fact that 90 percent of her contributors gave less than $100. “I also saw in our own meeting, when I announced the endorsement, she got sustained applause and a standing ovation.”

“If you want to shape something, you get in before the primaries,” Weingarten added. “There is a populist streak — thankfully — that is running through both conservatives and liberals. The real issues become what the stakes are in this election, who shares your values, where is the sentiment of your members and who is best positioned to be the standard bearer and win.”