Iannuzzi reports on member benefits, unity talks

April 12, 2005

Before putting on his new union hat as president, Richard Iannuzzi reported to delegates on his first year as a NYSUT officer.

"It has been a challenging and very rewarding 10 months," said Iannuzzi, who - since the last convention- went from a fourth-grade classroom in Central Islip to NYSUT vice president to union president.

As vice president, Iannuzzi oversaw a growing and popular Member Benefits Department that administers more than 50 programs and 600,000 policies, for 53 percent - that's 275,000 individuals - of the NYSUT membership.

"These numbers show that our members recognize the value of the NYSUT Benefit Trust endorsement," Iannuzzi said. "When the trust advocates for them, our members, it advocates for you, their leaders."

Iannuzzi also discussed his role co-chairing the School Budget Task Force, formed to help locals get the vote out for school budgets and pro-education candidates on May 17. Iannuzzi said it was especially important for NYSUT members to understand the importance of their own votes, calling NYSUT members a "significant voting bloc."

A union activist for more than 30 years, Iannuzzi reported on labor unity on the national level - within the AFL-CIO - and in New York state, where NYSUT and NEA/NY continue unification talks. If the NEA supports a recently concluded unification document at its upcoming Delegate Assembly, Iannuzzi said NYSUT delegates could vote on unification at their 2006 convention.

"While there are many hurdles still before us, clearly bringing 30,000 new members into NYSUT and into the House of Labor would be a great achievement," he said.