ALBANY, N.Y. May 15, 2020 — Andy Pallotta has been re-elected to a second three-year term as president of the New York State United Teachers.
Pallotta, a former New York City elementary school teacher, was re-elected as part of the union’s Representative Assembly Thursday evening alongside Executive Vice President Jolene DiBrango, a former Pittsford middle school teacher and New York State Teachers’ Retirement System Board member, and Secretary-Treasurer J. Philippe Abraham, a former United University Professions vice president and director of Career Services at the University at Albany. William Floyd high school teacher and NYSTRS Board Member Ron Gross was elected as the union’s second vice president.
Under Pallotta’s leadership, NYSUT has overcome significant challenges in the past three years to deliver for members across the state. The union ran a successful organizing campaign in the lead up to and in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision, showing the benefits of unions and keeping membership intact. The union also has notched significant legislative victories, including the enactment of legislation fixing New York’s broken teacher evaluation system. NYSUT’s political efforts have played an important role in numerous victories at the state and local levels, with the union’s Candidate Pipeline program elevating candidates across the state.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2020 and beyond, Pallotta said the union has strengthened its bonds amid the coronavirus pandemic as members support one another during a difficult time for themselves, their students and their families. The union’s strength will be essential in fighting against potential cuts to education as the state faces an economic crisis.
“Never before have we faced challenges like we are facing right now, but I know that as a union representing teachers, School-Related Professionals, higher education professionals, health care workers and many others, we can be an integral part of charting a better path forward for New York,” Pallotta said. “I’m proud of what my union sisters and brothers are accomplishing together in this unprecedented time and look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”
Thursday’s Representative Assembly was held online for the first time in the union’s history, because of pandemic-related restrictions.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.