Unity at last

It was June 2006. A nightmarish day of hard rains at the end of a soggy spring had swamped the Southern Tier. Catastrophically rising waters had displaced thousands of families in the floodplains of the Susquehanna, Delaware and Mohawk rivers. Hundreds of homes were destroyed; property damage numbered in the millions.

As floodwaters receded, NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi traveled to hard-hit areas ready to offer help to members in need. He knew that a number of Southern Tier locals were affiliated with NEA/NY, NYSUT’s longtime rival. Unification between NEA/NY and NYSUT was in the works, but it wasn’t yet official. That didn’t matter.

NYSUT services, including support from the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund, would be made immediately available to NEA/NY unionists who had suffered losses. “The devastation and hardship … is far greater than most can imagine,” Iannuzzi said. “These are our union sisters and brothers. We must do everything we can to come to their aid.”

NYSUT’s Disaster Relief Fund had been deployed many times in response to natural catastrophes. Sustained by members for members, the fund provides individual checks to those in need.

“Union members know how to work together for the collective good,” said Iannuzzi. “This underscores the point that we are all one statewide union now.”

And just three months later, it became official.

Dreams of statewide unity finally became reality on Sept. 1, 2006, as NYSUT united with the National Education Association/New York, creating a single statewide voice for public education and health care.

The merger of NYSUT’s 535,000 members and 35,000 NEA/NY members catapulted the combined union into first place as the largest union in New York state.

It all came down to a pair of signatures as the presidents of NYSUT and NEA/NY signed a historic agreement officially unifying the two statewide unions.

The pact, inked on Aug. 9, 2006 by NYSUT President Iannuzzi and NEA/NY President Robin Rapaport, allowed a month to button up final details, although officers and staff had been preparing since the previous spring for a seamless fusion.

“Unification fulfills our vision of one unified and powerful statewide advocacy organization for all teachers, higher education personnel, school-related professionals and health care professionals in New York state,” said Iannuzzi.

Rapaport said he was proud to be part of an agreement that made labor history, not only in New York state, but also nationwide. “At long last, we’ll walk the walk together,” he said. He noted that the combined membership would reap the benefits of both organizations.

Going forward, the union’s name would remain NYSUT, affiliated at the national level with both the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association. NYSUT would remain proudly affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

For NYSUT’s founding President Tom Hobart, it represented a hope 30 years in the making: to reunite with the locals that had broken away from NYSUT in 1976.

Hobart had initiated talks with NEA/NY in the late 1990s about a possible merger. When he retired in 2005, the finish line was in sight. NYSUT and NEA/NY had partnered on multiple advocacy and lobbying initiatives. Locals had supported their historic rivals on picket lines. By 2006, the philosophical differences that led to the 1976 exit of some locals had faded, miniscule in comparison to the values and mission the two statewide unions shared.

Iannuzzi and Rapaport brought negotiations to a successful resolution, with Hobart present for the historic vote and celebration at the NYSUT 2006 RA.

Rapaport, tapped to serve as a NYSUT vice president, summed it up: “We have everything in common with our NYSUT brothers and sisters — far more than ever divided us.”

Delegates for both unions overwhelmingly endorsed the plan for unification at their respective statewide conventions.

As NYSUT celebrated its 50th anniversary, unification ranked as one of the signal achievements of its first half century.

“Unification means solidarity,” Iannuzzi said. “It was a long time in the making.”