Two Top Union Leaders Quit D.N.C. Posts in Dispute With Chairman

[SouthBayDem]

Source: New York Times (GIFT LINK)

The leaders of two of the nation’s largest and most influential labor unions have quit their posts in the Democratic National Committee in a major rebuke to party’s new chairman, Ken Martin.

Randi Weingarten, the longtime leader of the American Federation of Teachers and a major voice in Democratic politics, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have told Mr. Martin they will decline offers to remain at-large members of the national party.

The departures of Ms. Weingarten and Mr. Saunders represent a significant erosion of trust in the D.N.C. — the official arm of the national party — during a moment in which Democrats are still locked out of power and grappling for a message and messenger to lead the opposition to President Trump. In their resignation messages, the two union chiefs suggested that under Mr. Martin’s leadership, the D.N.C. was failing to expand its coalition.

Both labor leaders had supported Mr. Martin’s rival in the chairmanship race, Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Mr. Martin subsequently removed Ms. Weingarten from the party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, a powerful body that sets the calendar and process for the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating process.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/politics/randi-weingarten-dnc-ken-martin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PU8.zw_l.5eUUP408MWE9