Today’s Troy Record carries a positive report — with a photo — about a Thursday night rally organized by the Cohoes Teachers Association in support of public schools in that Albany County city. “We wanted to showcase the positives of going to school and living in Cohoes,” CTA President Mary Ann Beaury told the Record. […]

“Union Town,” a jaunty pro-labor singalong, is the title cut from Tom Morello’s latest release under the name the Nightwatchman. All profits from the EP, which will be available digitally on May 17th and on CD and vinyl on July 19th, will go to the America Votes Labor Unity Fund via SaveWorkers.org. You can visit that site now to join the fight and download the “Union Town” MP3 for free.

When you look for products, do you search first to see what is available that is “Made in America?” Do you ask shop owners what they carry that’s made in America? It’s important to use purchasing power to make statements. Here’s a great idea one local union used. Any member of the Fire Fighters Local 1319 […]

Most of NYSUT’s Communications Department professionals are members of the well-respected International Labor Communications Association, which shared the following today: April 28 is Workers Memorial Day, when unionists and workers remember those who have lost their lives because of an injury or illness they sustained on the job. The AFL-CIO released its annual Death on […]

So, now all but the Big Five school districts have their budgets in, here’s analysis about what a $1.2 billion cut means. The State Council of School Superintendents has put together their analysis. Below are three paragraphs but if you have time to go to their site, find their chart that shows what the proposed […]

Is it appropriate to be so dark out at 9 a.m. that car headlights are on? Since it’s Worker’s Memorial Day, I think it most fitting. Much was made yesterday of the first-ever press conference of a Federal Reserve chairman. Not only did he talk about the challenges local governments are facing but he also […]

Twelve days before the candlelight vigil at the state Capitol. Every worker who has gotten a layoff notice who is within driving distance should be at the event. Everyone who is worried because someone ELSE is being laid off who can make it to Albany by 8:30 should try to be there. Everyone and anyone […]

Remember fallen workers this Thursday. There’s time to make a plan to mark April  28 as Workers Memorial Day, whether it be a moment of silence at the workplace, a memorial event, or taking action with federal and state lawmakers to protect workplace health and safety. At the federal level, House Republican budget-cutters are working […]

The Journal News described it as a “sea of teachers” who protested the hiring of an anti-union superintendent from Wisconsin. Here’s a link to the full article. The school board voted 7-0 to hire Paul Kreutzer and he will start July 1 with a starting salary of $245,000. The New York Times has more in depth and Kreutzer’s promise that “I’m not coming here as a union buster” but when asked why he wanted to move to Westchester County he described himself as “upwardly mobile” and a “wanderer.”

Thanks to Mahopac TA, our photographer on site and NYSUT staffers, here’s a report from the John Jay High School. Dozens of locals came out to support the teachers and support staff and all public employees in the district. NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer Lee Cutler told the crowd “This is not about Wisconsin or New York. This is […]