The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is an international union affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of International Organizations (AFL-CIO). It was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers. The mission of the AFT is to improve the lives of its members and their families, to give voice to their legitimate professional, economic and social aspirations, to strengthen the institutions in which they work, to improve the quality of the services they provide, to bring together all members to assist and support one another and to promote democracy, human rights and freedom in the union, the nation and throughout the world.

In August 1970, faculty at Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) formed an unofficial AFT chapter, that would be known as the American Federation of Teachers, Local 2084. The local chapter was not given formal status by the national AFT until 2002 when the Washington State legislature approved collective bargaining at four-year institutions of higher learning. However, the AFT Local 2084 was  active during the first three-plus decades of its existence, especially during the 1970s-1980s. During its history, the primary issues of concern for the AFT Local 2084 were salary policies and reductions in faculty (RIF).

A proposed bill that would allow enabling legislation for collective bargaining among higher education faculty failed in 1982. For nearly the next two decades, the AFT Local 2084 went through a period of severe decline and inactivity. However, that ended in 2002 when the legislature finally voted to approve collective bargaining at colleges and universities throughout the state.

During the chapter's period of inactivity, a new faculty union at Western Washington University was being organized simultaneously. In February 2006, the United Faculty of Western Washington became the officially recognized union and exclusive collective bargaining agent for Western faculty. It is an affiliate of the United Faculty of Washington State, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association. *

* Sources:

American Federation of Teachers website, http://www.aft.org, accessed 2008 November 5.
Dr. Milton Krieger, retired Western Washington University faculty (Humanities Department), 2008 November 18.

United Faculty of Western Washington website, http://www.ufww.org.