CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two teacher unions in West Virginia will merge into one organization.
The announcement, made on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline”, came from the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) and the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia.
The unions together will represent a majority of educators in the state.
AFT-WV President Fred Albert said the merger will create strength in numbers.
“We feel that it would be best to have more of a unified voice and look to the future with a new organization that is merged,” Albert said on “Talkline” from the state Capitol.
WVEA President Dale Lee, also a guest on “Talkline”, said the 2018 and 2019 statewide teacher strikes and recent legislation in the state Legislature all factored into the decision to combine the unions.
“It doesn’t make sense with all the attacks on public education, with all the bills telling us what to teach, when to teach, how to teach and everything else, and we continue to fight each other for members. If we’re going to save public education in West Virginia, it’s going to have to be a united effort,” Lee said.
Albert said the merger will make a huge difference to non-members and build on the momentum they’ve already started.
“It’s going to be attractive to some of our educators who don’t belong to either at the moment. It’s going to be something better. That’s our goal,” he said.
There will be shared values and leadership with WVEA, AFT-WV and their national organizations. Albert said they are meeting regularly to discuss how the union will operate.
Lee said he believes the one organization will not only have a stronger influence on state legislation but also on issues voted on in elections.
“They won’t be able to play us against each other,” he said. “It will also give us a stronger voice heading into elections making these political decisions and to make sure people know where we stand and which politicians do what they say.”
Members will still be part of the national organizations. A plan to work out how members will pay dues is currently being discussed.
Lee said they will have input from members regarding the new organization moving forward.
“It’s not just us that’s doing this. We’re going to have focus groups and different things where members will have a say in what they want to perceive in an organization,” he said.
Each of the governing bodies of WVEA and AFT-WV will vote on the merger at some point next year.
The merger is scheduled to be finalized in Sept. 2025.