Nearly 50 leaders from 40 different locals met in early February to discuss the latest in labor strategies and share their unique local challenges as part of the latest installment of the NYSUT Leadership Institute.
Since 1997, the NYSUT Leadership Institute has prepared new and emerging union activists to assume greater leadership roles within their locals and the statewide union through a five-day summer session. The institute also includes a mid-Winter three-day intensive to give these leaders a chance to reconnect and report on the progress they’ve made during the six months since their last meeting.
Members were open about the struggles they were facing, and shared new strategies for how to contend with them.
Katy Smith, president of the Rush-Henrietta Employees Association Paraprofessional Chapter is in the midst of planning for a membership campaign; currently only 60 percent of eligible educators are part of the unit. “After Janus, we never did a concerted push to make our unit attractive,” Smith said. Her team is working on how to appeal to prospective members, especially considering recent anti-union politics.
The Syracuse Teachers Association is encountering a new stumbling block in their contract negotiations. “We just had our contract voted down last week,” said STA member Molly Woods. The local is responding by conducting a cross-district listening tour, and Woods believes that – done correctly – it will help reengage members and uncover the issues that led to these results. “I’m hoping to take back what I learn here to help with that,” she said.
Jill Darling, a member of the Maryvale TA, said her team is beginning to restructure their performance review process, based on the APPR reform bill signed into law in June. “We’re thinking about how to negotiate the new APPR and how to meet the needs of multiple generations. Our members are all very excited, but they’re all trying to tailor it to themselves. We need everyone’s feedback for this,” Darling said.
Members got lots of valuable coaching during the sessions, too, on topics that ranged from member apathy and conflict management to equity and engagement. Members also continued to learn how to use the DiSC leadership assessment tool to empathize with their members.
“We've done a lot of work about understanding our own work styles and management styles so that we can reflect on how to best make progress in our home locals,” said Bethany Hamilton, of the Tri-Valley TA. The latest installment of the institute came at the opportune time, she continued. “I’m really grateful to be a part of a union, especially one of the strongest unions in the country because the political environment isn't friendly for us right now, for teachers, for education, for unions, and it’s really comforting to be here, surrounded by so many like-minded people.”
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