Friend,

Throughout this difficult year, the tireless work you have carried out along with other AFT educators, healthcare professionals, public employees and supporters has created light and hope in what has been a grim time. The year 2020 was marked by multiple crises, and while we are hopeful that, with a new president, 2021 will bring the end of this terrible pandemic and the struggle and inequity it exacerbated, I want to take a moment to thank you.

I want to thank you for who you are and the work you do. To our healthcare members working around the clock with insufficient PPE to protect others, oftentimes at risk to themselves and their families, I thank you. I want to thank our public employees who have been staffing labs, transporting samples and keeping our communities safe. I want to thank our educators and school staff for turning on a dime as schools were shut down, and for turning garages and kitchen tables into classrooms to keep students safe and engaged. Cafeteria staff and bus drivers made sure students got homework packets and meals so they didn’t go hungry. You are all essential workers, and you kept our country going in the face of a crisis that President Trump and his minions irresponsibly mismanaged. I want to thank you for fighting racism and standing up when George Floyd and so many other Black people were murdered. I want to thank you for standing up when refugee children were caged and when our Dreamers were threatened with deportation. You are the light and you are the reason for hope.

I want to thank you for being involved in politics and standing up for our democracy. In the face of this virus and its ensuing economic recession, we had a historic presidential election, with record turnout and a massive volunteer effort from the AFT. While we had some disappointments, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won a decisive victory and are already at work on the challenges confronting the country. Just this week, I joined AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fed Ingram and many volunteers who are working with our Georgia affiliates to get out the vote for the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the Senate runoffs.

I’m also incredibly excited that we’ll finally have a new secretary of education. Dr. Miguel Cardona—a former AFT member—will transform the Education Department to help students thrive, a reversal of the Betsy DeVos disaster of the last four years. But Dr. Cardona won’t just repair the damage done—he’ll act to fulfill the promise and potential of public education and higher education as an opportunity agent for all students, regardless of demography or geography, knowing full well that doesn’t happen without resources and a deep respect for educators.

While 2020 tested us, it’s ending with much hopeful news. A COVID-19 relief package was passed that will help struggling Americans and provide schools the resources they need. With vaccines around the corner, next year is looking hopeful. We have a long winter ahead of us, but I’m confident that together, we’ll come out stronger. Let’s keep wearing our masks, washing our hands and keeping physically (not emotionally) distant.

2021 is a year of possibilities.

It presents an opportunity for a renaissance of public education and to build an economy that works for all—premised on justice, opportunity and fairness. We will have partners in the White House who will work with us. We’ll have leaders who actually believe in healthcare for all, protecting people, paying decent wages, providing a safe workplace, upholding the right to a secure retirement and protecting workers’ right to organize and have strong unions.

Every person in America deserves the right to thrive, and through the work we do in education, healthcare, public service and the labor movement, we fight for that right every day for our members, our families, our communities and all those we serve.

I am so grateful to you. I wish you and your families and friends a safe holiday season and a hopeful New Year.

And if you don’t mind a little bit of sweet and sorrow, here’s a video we’ve made to honor you. Watch it on Facebook, Youtube or Twitter.

In unity and gratitude,

Randi Weingarten
AFT President

P.S. We wish you peace, love and connection throughout the holiday season. Happy holidays from AFT.