LINDA BRIDGES

1950-2015

As President of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, Linda Bridges delivered what may have been the most poignant line in the history of Texas labor lobbying.

“The kids are worth it,” Bridges testified before lawmakers in calling for dramatic improvements in the state’s commitment to public education.

That says a lot about Sister Bridges’s commitment to labor values that went well beyond workplace benefits. Her close friend, former Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller, cited Bridges's “sterling example of how a leader should answer to ‘the better angels of our nature.’”

Starting her career as a special education teacher in Corpus Christi elementary school, Bridges became a charter member of the Corpus Christi AFT, serving as the local’s president for 24 years and playing a key role in building the union from scratch. Her superb service in Corpus Christi led to her election to the presidency of Texas AFT, and she built the union into the Texas AFL-CIO’s largest affiliate, improving the working lives of teachers and supporting personnel alike.

Among the myriad of structural improvements Bridges championed, she created an organized response - local “elected insulation” - to the failure of state law to allow teachers to bargain collectively. Several school districts now enable teacher organizations to at least discuss working conditions with one voice, if not hammer out a contract.

Bridges was also a key member of the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board, continuing a statewide labor portfolio that began when she and Moeller would trade off the presidency of the Coastal Bend CLC. Almost magically, Bridges always found the classiest way to approach some of the most horrendous problems in the Legislature and other halls of government.

Schoolchildren and all working people in Texas benefit to this day from the accomplishments of Linda Bridges.