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 New York State United Teachers (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, who serves as President of the Rush-Henrietta Employees Association Paraprofessional Chapter, is in the midst of planning for a Membership Campaign.

Currently only 60% of eligible Educators are part of the Unit.

“After the (U.S. Supreme Court’s) Janus (ruling), 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 (STA), meanwhile, is encountering a new stumbling block in their contract negotiations.

“We just had our contract voted down last week,” STA Member Molly Woods said.

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 Teachers Association, 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.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Winter institute keeps the home fires burning