News

AFT unveils bold [JC1.1]new blueprint to protect higher ed ahead of 2026 midterms

From left: Zeph Capo, president of the Texas AFT; Todd Wolfson, the president of the American Association of University Professors; Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT; and Dr. Leonard Bright, a professor at Texas A&M University, unveiled a new policy platform ahead of the 2026 midterms to counter the federal government's attack on higher education. Credit: AAUP

As the Trump administration continues to attack higher education—cutting research grants, targeting free speech and restricting classroom materials—the AFT and the American Association of University Professors have unveiled a powerful new blueprint to restore and preserve higher education, just in time for the 2026 midterms.

AFT President Randi Weingarten addressed the health professionals on the first day of the conference.

AFT nurses and healthcare professionals from across the country gathered in Detroit April 13-15. They came carrying the weight of understaffing, growing patient demand and a healthcare system under attack but left with something stronger: a shared sense of purpose and concrete plans to act. The “Together We Care” 2026 professional issues conference wasn’t about passive listening. It was a rehearsal for what comes next.

On the first day of the conference, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell from Michigan joined health professionals in an early morning meeting, where she talked about moral injury, mental

OFFICIAL NOTICE:

Nomination & Election of WFNHP-Local 5000 Officers & Delegates

April 29, 2026

TO ELECT THE FOLLOWING EXECUTIVE OFFICERS FOR A TWO (2) YEAR TERM ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2027:

President
Executive Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
(3) At-Large Vice President

These (7) elected Officers will make up the Executive Board of Local 5000 and be required to meet at least (4) times each year.

Click here to read entire notice, procedures and timeline.

Click here for Nomination Form.

Click here to request an absentee ballot.

WFNHP Statement on 3-2-26 Shooting at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee

March 2, 2026

The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) does not represent the nurses or health care workers at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee. However, we are deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of all patients and staff following the shooting that occurred early this morning. Our hearts are with everyone affected by this violent incident, and we wish for healing and safety.

Nurses and health care workers face increasing dangers on the job, including workplace violence, physical assaults, verbal threats, and high-stress conditions that can escalate quickly.

No one who goes to work to care for others should have to fear for their own safety. Health care settings must be places of healing not environments where caregivers are placed at risk.

LINK to Full PDF Statement

Federal immigration actions are rapidly expanding, with deadly consequences. The killings of poet Renee Nicole Good and nurse Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis have brought intense focus on the use of excessive force. An AFT webinar, co-hosted by AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang on Jan. 28, featured experts on immigration and the law. It highlighted AFT resources and showcased how our locals are showing up to minimize fear and trauma.

Dr. Byrce Pulliam spends his nights in a community emergency room in Southern Oregon, where the line between life and death can come down to seconds—and insurance coverage.

“I show up 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year with one goal in mind: to provide excellent care for patients in crisis. Being a doctor is often challenging, but it has become harder because our nation’s healthcare system is on life support,” he said before a House hearing on Oct. 8.

wtmj4 interview ascension cyber security attack

Watch our interview with WTMJ4 News regarding the recent Ascension cyber security attack and our concerns over the disruption of care and services at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee, WI. WTMJ4 News Interview -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rh9PiVg42k

Here's a thread of other press stories about the effect of the cybersecurity hack and our members' collective efforts to keep caring for their patients:

With 81% of the vote, healthcare workers at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin have voted to join our union! Congratulations to the newest members of WFNHP who have chosen to unionize to better care for their patients, their families and themselves!

Read the press release here: https://wfnhp.aft.org/press/planned-parenthood-workers-win-their-union-historic-vote-uniting-stronger-care-across

Prizing the Frontline, Not the Bottom Line, in Wisconsin

The goal of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) Code Red campaign is to engage healthcare workers in healing our healthcare system and making it sustainable again—which our members and our patients desperately need. The corporate model of healthcare prizes the bottom line over the frontlines and over patient safety. It has driven healthcare workers to the breaking point. The pandemic lit healthcare on fire, laying bare its structural issues and demonstrating just how unsafe and unsustainable corporate healthcare’s “do more with less” approach is.

For years, our

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.

AFT unveils bold [JC1.1]new blueprint to protect higher ed ahead of 2026 midterms

Together we care—now it’s time to act

OFFICIAL NOTICE: Nomination & Election of WFNHP-Local 5000 Officers & Delegates

OFFICIAL NOTICE:

Nomination & Election of WFNHP-Local 5000 Officers & Delegates

WFNHP Statement on 3-2-26 Shooting at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee

WFNHP Statement on 3-2-26 Shooting at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee

All the resources you need on immigration and ICE

ER doc to Congress: ‘Our healthcare system is on life support’

Interview with WTMJ4 News & Other Media Coverage RE: Ascension Cyber Attack & Effect on Hospital Workers

Congratulations! Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Workers Join WFNHP

Prizing the Frontline, Not the Bottom Line, in Wisconsin

What unions do