Who We Are
We advocate for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice for ALL through the labor movement and through partnerships with community organizations.
What We Do
- Coalition Building
- Community Engagement
- Personal & Professional Development
- Literacy Awareness
- Scholarship & Award Recognitions
- Cultural Education
Why We Do It
Our vision is to create a world where every person’s basic social, emotional, and economic needs are met. A world every person can reach their fullest potential. A world where diversity is celebrated, equity is the norm, and oppression, in all forms, is eradicated. A world filled with love, respect, and empathy for everyone.
How We Do It
Just to name a few of our signature programs:
NYSUT's Social Justice Initiatives
Many Threads, One Fabric - A series of virtual town halls run jointly by NYSUT and AFT to explore and discuss racial justice, diversity and equity issues.
Celebrating Diversity - NYSUT pays tribute to the diversity of its membership.
- Hispanic Heritage Month - NYSUT celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with an annual poster and a variety of programming to highlight the contributions of Hispanic individuals.
- Black History Month - NYSUT celebrates Black History Month with an annual poster and a variety of programming to highlight the contributions of Black individuals.
Civil and Human Rights Committee - NYSUT's Standing Committee on Civil and Human Rights advances the union’s efforts to promote equity and social justice.
Women's Committee - the 82-member NYSUT Women’s Committee encourages locals to develop in-house women’s committee chapters; educates female members about the work of the union; highlights women-specific issues, including inequities in pay, health care and education; and seeks to involve more union women in leadership roles.
LGBTQ Committee - NYSUT's LGBTQ Committee educates peers and advocates for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning/Queer members.
What you can do
Remember, social justice begins with you.
- Educate yourself and others about the issues. It's hard to fix a problem if you don't know it exists.
- Use the resources provided to engage your local or retiree council members, students and individuals in your community.
- Make a pledge to host one or more social justice actions, events or activities, and ask others to do the same.
- Forward us your ideas for future actions and activities.
- Send us your lesson plan ideas so we can share them with others.
- Take pictures of, and let us know about, any social justice events your members, students or community participate in. Let's make social justice matter all year round!