In a passionate call to speak up and speak out, NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi said great things are possible when many work together for a common cause - one small act at a time.

Recalling the words of social justice champion Robert F. Kennedy, Iannuzzi said these difficult times call for a strong will and the courage to transform our educational system and our economy into one that is fair and equitable and serves all of the people of our state.

"It's easy to see that Robert Kennedy spoke up, spoke out for many causes that went without a champion in his time, " Iannuzzi said after an inspiring video clip on Kennedy's legacy. Today, we must do the same, Iannuzzi said, as we speak up and speak out for worker rights, equitable school funding, ending the achievement gap, a living wage for all, healthy and safe workplaces and social justice.

"This is both a great opportunity for the labor movement, for all of us as leaders and members of that movement - and great responsibility," Iannuzzi said. "The chance may never come again.''

In a 25-minute speech punctuated with frequent applause, Iannuzzi called for a "union-driven populism." He defined populism as 'the people' vs. 'the elite.' "Some might say the virtuous against those who want to deprive the rights of others.

 "We do so in an environment that can best be summed up in perhaps Dickens' most famous literary opening sentence," Iannuzzi said. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

It's the worst of times with an economy that continues to be defined as the worst since the Great Depression, Iannuzzi said. Yet, it may also be the best of times before us as the political winds have shifted dramatically.

President Obama has certainly started on the right foot with labor, Iannuzzi said, to great applause. Only days after his inauguration, Obama said, "I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution."

When President Obama convened a national summit on the economy, he invited several labor leaders, including AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, to the White House to be part of the deliberations. "Imagine that - labor leaders at the White House. I guess it's been about eight years since that happened!" Iannuzzi said.

Next on the federal agenda, Iannuzzi said, we must do everything necessary to get the Employee Free Choice Act signed into law - and also embrace the President's efforts to invest in education; create universal health care and eliminate the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthy - in favor of tax breaks for working families.

Iannuzzi cited several members who exemplify the idea of speaking up and speaking out. A living wage campaign is led with such passion by SRP leader Mary Ann Bynes in the Southern Tier. Patchogue's Paul Pecorale and Long Island Latino Teachers Association leader Dafny Irizarry, in responding to the horrible murder of a Latino worker on Long Island, called attention to the evils of hate crimes and bias. Voorheesville TA's Kathy Fiero and school nurse Colleen Brackett rallied an entire school district and community in support of a colleague stricken with cancer.

Delegates were deeply moved when Iannuzzi introduced four members of a historic football team at the University of Buffalo. Fifty years ago, they courageously refused to go to a post-season bowl game because the city of Orlando would not allow their black teammates to play there.

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Iannuzzi concluded with a story told by social activist Pete Seeger that might just show populism at work. It was a story about a seesaw, where one end is weighted down by some very big rocks and the other end is filled with sand - with a hole in it.

"Now most people looking on are laughing, saying people have tried filling that basket one teaspoon at a time for thousands of years and the sand just keeps leaking out," Iannuzzi said. "But if we keep getting more and more people with teaspoons, one of these days that basket will be so full, you'll see the seesaw going in the other direction. And if we keep on getting more people with teaspoons, we'll keep it from ever going back."

That kind of union-driven populism may just return us to the ''the best of times,'' Iannuzzi said. "We do so - sometimes in our own little way with teaspoons in hand - with great fortitude and great success." Delegates responded enthusiastically with a standing ovation.