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New York State United Teachers

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New York State United Teachers

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is a nearly 700,000-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.

According to NYSUT's Department of Labor records, about 33%, or a third, of the union's total membership are considered retirees, with eligibility to vote in the union. Other, voting ineligible, classifications include "special constituency" (2%) and "at-large" (1%). This accounts for 203,427 "retiree," 12,663 "special constituency," and 7,731 "at-large" members, compared to 388,476 "in-service" members. Since the 2018 Janus vs. AFSCME non-union members do not pay dues.

In 1960, New York City social studies teacher Albert Shanker and Teachers Guild president Charles Cogen led New York City teachers out on strike. At the time, there were more than 106 teacher unions in the New York City public schools, many existing solely on paper, while others, like the Brooklyn Teachers Association, were real unions.

The motives behind the strike were wages, establishment of a grievance process, reduced workloads and more funding for public education. However to win on these issues, Shanker and Cogen argued, the city's teachers had to be in one union. In early 1960 the Teachers Guild merged with a splinter group from the more militant High School Teachers Association to form the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).

The UFT struck on November 7, 1960. More than 5,600 teachers walked the picket line, while another 2,000 engaged in a sick-out. It was a fraction of the city's 45,000 teachers. However, intervention by national, state and local AFL–CIO leaders pressured New York City mayor Robert Wagner to appoint a pro-labor fact-finding committee to investigate conditions in the city's schools and recommend a solution to the labor problem.

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