2024 marks Texas AFT’s 50th anniversary as a statewide federation, and now we are marking another milestone: the appointment of the first Hispanic woman to hold one of our state federation’s elected leadership roles.
Wanda Longoria, president of Northside AFT in San Antonio, will assume the role of Texas AFT secretary-treasurer in January 2024, following a vote this week of our executive council of AFT local union presidents across Texas.
Longoria replaces Ray McMurrey, the former president of Corpus Christi AFT who left the secretary-treasurer role this fall to pursue new business ventures.
“I want to extend my personal gratitude, as well as the gratitude of our members, for Ray’s years of dedicated service to public education and to public educators,” said Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT. “I am likewise grateful to Wanda for accepting the appointment and stepping up to fill the gap in our union’s leadership. She has been a fierce defender of teachers and school staff in her local district, and I know she will bring the same passion to our fight for the public schools our students deserve statewide.
“That we are entering our 50th year as a state federation with a leadership team that is more reflective of the diversity of our membership, the education profession, and the state of Texas makes this change all the more meaningful,” Capo continued.
Longoria has served as the president of Northside AFT since 2018, when she was elected as its founding president. Before her election to the local union’s presidency, she was a public school teacher for 36 years in both Oklahoma and Texas.
In the first five years of her local union’s existence, Longoria has led Northside AFT to transformative success. She has worked tirelessly to support labor-organized citizenship clinics through the Texas AFL-CIO, helping hundreds in Bexar County navigate the complexities of the naturalization process since 2019.
This year, the local union celebrated one of its most meaningful victories to date, helping to elect three endorsed candidates to the Northside ISD Board of Trustees.
Longoria serves as a trustee on the Bexar County Central Labor Council, and she is the recording secretary for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, a national organization representing the interests of 2 million Latino trade unionists.
“My calling in this life has been to offer a hand to all those who need it,” Longoria said. “That’s because I know real change only happens when we come together. I have been an AFT member for 36 years because of this belief, and I’m honored to be able to serve my union and Texas public school employees in this new way. If we’re going to make Texas better — to create a Texas that truly allows Texans to thrive — we have a lot of work to do together. I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow educators and my organized labor family to make that Texas a reality.”