The mission of AFT Missouri is twofold. First, we are committed to protecting and expanding the employment rights of our members. We are further dedicated to building support for Missouri's public schools, improving education opportunities for all children and preparing our students for responsible citizenship and productive adulthood.

AFT Missouri is affiliated with the one million plus member American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO, one of this country’s oldest advocates for free public education and social and economic policies that benefit working people and their families. We represent thousands of teachers and school support staff in elementary, secondary and higher education, as well as state government workers employed with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (School support staff members include secretaries, teacher aides, food service workers, school bus drivers, custodians and security personnel.)

The mission of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, is to improve the lives of our members and their families, to give voice to their legitimate professional, economic and social aspirations, to strengthen the institutions in which we work, to improve the quality of the services we provide, to bring together all members to assist and support one another and to promote democracy, human rights and freedom in our union, in our nation and throughout the world.
 --From the Futures II report adopted at the AFT Convention, July 5, 2000.

Learn more about the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers and is an affiliated international union of the AFL-CIO.

Learn the history of the AFT, including the union's founding in Chicago in 1916, its affiliation with the AFL-CIO, its battles for workers and human rights and its continued work to uphold the proud traditions on which the union was created.

Throughout this century, the AFT has been a major force for preserving and strengthening America's democratic commitment to public education and public service. Desegregating public schools, passing the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act, establishing collective bargaining for teachers and other public employees, and addressing the needs of disadvantaged children are just a few of the causes the AFT has championed.

The Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel (PSRP) division of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, represents more than 300,000 school support staff in K-12 districts, colleges and universities. Our jobs include office employees, custodians, maintenance workers, bus drivers, instructional paraprofessionals, food service workers, school nurses and health aides, technicians, groundskeepers, secretaries, bookkeepers, mechanics, special education assistants and hundreds of other job titles.

AFT is the largest higher education union in the country, representing over 130,000 higher education faculty, professional staff and graduate employees. The AFT higher education department mission is to help our affiliates and their members prosper in the face of political, economic and technological forces challenging the most basic assumptions about the union's role on campus.

AFT Public Employees is the division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) that represents federal, state and local government employees.

AFT Healthcare represents more than 70,000 members in 100 locals in 18 states and territories. The division has a very diverse membership, with members in more than 6,000 job titles working in the public and private sector in hospitals, clinics, home health agencies and schools throughout the United States. Many members are registered nurses, but the union also represents LPNs, technicians, technologists, therapists, aides, clerical personnel, service and maintenance workers, pharmacists and doctors.