 The original unions making up the federation were the Warwick Teachers' Union, the North Providence Federation of Teachers, the Pawtucket Teachers' Alliance, the Woonsocket Teachers' Guild, and the Providence Teachers' Alliance.Four years after its formation, the Pawtucket Teachers' Alliance went out on strike—one of a handful of local unions to disobey a national AFT policy banning strikes by teachers.The federation changed its name to the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers in 1958.