To Our
Members

There’s a moment at every rally, just before the speeches begin, when you look out into the crowd and realize something powerful is happening.
A woman in a blue suit covered in "Fix Tier Six" logos smiles and waves while standing at a clear podium on a stage. The background shows a large arena with National Education Association banners.
El-Wise Noisette
NYSUT President Melinda Person addresses a sold-out crowd at MVP Arena at the March 8 Fix Tier 6 rally.
A woman in a blue suit covered in "Fix Tier Six" logos smiles and waves while standing at a clear podium on a stage. The background shows a large arena with National Education Association banners.
El-Wise Noisette
NYSUT President Melinda Person addresses a sold-out crowd at MVP Arena at the March 8 Fix Tier 6 rally.
Not just people gathered in one place. But solidarity.

That’s exactly what we saw on March 8 at the Fix Tier 6 rally. More than 15,000 union members, including educators, firefighters, nurses and public employees from across New York, stood together to demand fairness and dignity for working people. And the message was clear: When labor shows up united, we get results.

No one was there just for themselves. We showed up for each other.

Too often, powerful interests try to divide working people. But solidarity reminds us that our struggles and our futures are connected.

This year, NYSUT members have already proven what collective action can accomplish. Together, we fought for universal school meals, distraction-free classrooms, higher education investments, and fairer retirement security.

Those victories don’t happen by accident. They happened because members organized, advocated, and showed up. After a long year, I know many of you are exhausted. The work you do is demanding, deeply human, and often underappreciated. But I hope this year has also reminded you of something important: You are not doing this work alone.

Across New York, hundreds of thousands of NYSUT members — along with our union family across the state — are standing shoulder to shoulder with you. And when we stand together, there is no challenge too big for us to face.

Together, we will keep fighting for fairness, for dignity, and for the future every New Yorker deserves.

In solidarity,

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Melinda
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