FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 14, 2023
CONTACT: press@texasaft.org
As the statewide union federation enters its 50th year, Longoria becomes the first Hispanic woman to serve as a Texas AFT officer.
AUSTIN, Texas — 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, and now the statewide union is marking another milestone: the appointment of the first Hispanic woman to hold one of its elected leadership roles.
Wanda Longoria, president of Northside AFT in San Antonio, will assume the role of Texas AFT secretary-treasurer, following a vote this week of its 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, representing public school employees in Northside ISD, 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, despite a continually hostile political climate. 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, a body that has seen few competitive races in recent decades.
In addition to her leadership of Northside AFT, Longoria also 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 throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
“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.”
Longoria will assume the role of secretary-treasurer formally in January 2024.
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The Texas American Federation of Teachers represents 66,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, support personnel, and higher-education employees across the state. Texas AFT is affiliated with the 1.7-million-member American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.