The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, was founded in 1916 and today represents 1.7 million members in more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide.
Five divisions within the AFT represent the broad spectrum of the AFT's membership: pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel (classified employees); higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; and nurses and other healthcare professionals. In addition, the AFT represents approximately 80,000 early childhood educators and nearly 250,000 retiree members.
In February 2008, OSEA affiliated with AFT and was chartered as OSEA, AFT Local 6732. Through its affiliation with AFT, OSEA is also part of the AFL-CIO and its constituent organizations — the Oregon AFL-CIO and central labor council/chapters (CLCs). In addition, OSEA participates collaboratively with other AFL-CIO affiliates on matters that are of mutual importance to the larger labor movement.