“Union membership doesn’t mean we always agree on everything, it means that we understand that our power is in our ability to work together,” CEA President Kate Dias told 47 teachers gathered for the Manchester Education Association’s new member orientation this morning. “I hope that you’ll take this opportunity to join us and be a part of what I believe is the most powerful group that teachers have to protect the work that we do.”
MEA President James Tierinni told new teachers that there are lots of ways to get involved with their local and state union, including taking on formal or informal leadership positions, testifying on a bill before the state legislature, volunteering in the community, or offering support to fellow members.
“Even as a first-year teacher, it’s important that you all build a community with your fellow new teachers. You sort of grow up together. Some of the closest friendships I have in my life are with people like the social studies teacher across the hall because we both started teaching within a year of each other and we’ve watched our kids grow up together. You’re hopefully going to build that community amongst the staff here.”
CEA President Kate Dias, a Manchester high school teacher, addressed her district’s new educators at Manchester Education Association’s new member orientation.
Tierinni said the MEA works to help build that community for teachers and make sure they have opportunities to interact with their colleagues outside of work. One of the first of those opportunities is an MEA-sponsored new teacher happy hour in October that’s free for new members so they can enjoy a social event and meet colleagues.
The community aspect of the union extends to challenging times and circumstances as well, Tierinni said.
“We help facilitate difficult conversations. You might have a situation that’s really uncomfortable, and you need a sounding board. It’s a great idea to just talk to your building rep, talk to an executive board member, just bounce an idea off someone without any judgment. They’re just going to be there to listen. Sometimes we get to the point where there’s an issue that does need to be resolved, and we really focus on helping fixing that issue. I ask members, ‘What do you want the outcome of this situation to be?’ I try and work to get members as close to that preferable outcome as possible. I cannot solve every problem, no one can, but it’s about working toward a solution that’s the best for everyone involved.”
Dias, a Manchester high school teacher, told educators, “It’s really important that you know that you’re not ever alone. You’re not out there on your own trying to figure everything out. For me, that’s the power of the union.”
Looking ahead with MEA
MEA Executive Committee Members Kara Trotter, Erienne Mellen, Emily Gunzburg, and Suzanne Slater were on hand to welcome new MEA members.
“We’re excited to welcome a bunch of new members this morning,” said Suzanne Slater, a HeadStart teacher and MEA vice president. “I think we have a really solid MEA executive board, so we’re just continuing to work well together to make positive changes in our district.”
Emily Gunzburg, a third-year teacher and MEA’s early career rep, is looking forward to getting other newer members move involved with the union.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to encourage new members to get involved and participate in different events and activities and be a part of the larger community,” she said.
Special education teacher Katie Kane was among the new educators the MEA welcomed to the union this morning. While she is a first-year teacher, Kane is not new to CEA—she was an active member of the CEA Aspiring Educator program for two and-a-half years while studying to become a teacher.
“I’m most looking forward to working with the kids, meeting the new staff at my school, and getting involved with my school community,” said Kane, who will soon be teaching in a k-4 autism classroom.
New MEA members received goodie bags and CEA lunchboxes along with their new-member packets.
MEA organizer Kara Trotter is also a special education teacher, and she wants to make sure Kane and other special education teachers receive the support they need to do what is often a challenging job.
“We need to see how we can make sure that our special ed teachers are well supported in the district,” Trotter said. “I was watching the news yesterday and saw Kate Dias talking about special ed and how we need to make sure that we have the funding, supports, and resources that we need. I want to do what I can to better support our special educators here in Manchester.”
“I’m a union leader because I believe that the work that you do every day is the most important work that can happen in schools, and I’m a union leader because I believe that somebody should be thinking about you while you’re thinking about the children,” Dias said. “You should have the freedom to work in your classrooms and feel empowered and to know that the stuff that can sometimes make education really hard is being managed by people like me who are going to focus on it every day. That frees you to focus on your classroom, and it gives you the opportunity to know that, if something happens, if you have a question, if you have a concern, if something goes wrong, that you have a whole army of people ready to defend and support you.”
