New York State United Teachers

American labor union for teachers

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is a 600,000 member New York state teachers union, affiliated since 2006 with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the AFL–CIO, and the National Education Association (NEA). NYSUT is an umbrella group which provides services to local affiliates in New York state; lobbies on the local, state and federal level; conducts research; and organizes new members. NYSUT's membership is diverse, representing all five membership categories of the AFT: preK through 12th grade teachers and paraprofessionals in the public and private sector; higher education faculty and paraprofessionals; public employees; private sector libraries; and nurses and other healthcare workers in the public and private sector. There are more than 900 local affiliates of NYSUT, which range in size from locals of fewer than 10 members to the 140,000 member United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in New York City. Officers of NYSUT are elected annually by a Representative Assembly (RA). The RA also elects a board of directors, which determines policy between conventions.

On May 5, 2006, NYSUT voted to merge with the NEA/NY, the renamed NYEA. The 35,000 member NYEA had approved the merger agreement on April 29, 2006. The merger became effective on September 1, 2006, and the newly merged union is now jointly affiliated with both the NEA and AFT. The AFT has long sought merger with the NEA on a national level. But acrimonious relationships between the two unions on the local level and AFT's insistence on what NEA and its affiliates consider undemocratic practices and AFT's insistence upon affiliation with the AFL–CIO are significant obstacles. Among AFT's "undemocratic" practices are its abolition of the secret ballot, its requirement that delegates to its convention vote for officers by roll call ballot, identifying their choices and their names in writing. The two unions have continued to work together, however. After the failed merger attempt, the unions formed the 'NEAFT Partnership' to encourage joint policies on education, federal funding for public schools, and lobbying. The unions also agreed to support local and state level mergers where appropriate. Three other states have merged AFT NEA affiliates: Florida, Minnesota and Montana. Among local mergers is that in Wichita, Kansas, long a battleground for the two national unions, and Los Angeles. Combined, the merged units represent 197,000 members. The NEA has 2.7 million members, the AFT 1.7 million. With the NYSUT merger, 681,000 members of the AFT (or about 52 percent) now belong to NEA.