The Politics of Educating
Spring is in the air! The days are getting longer, the nights are getting warmer; the semester is winding down, but nature is revving up. And here at the Union, two big things are happening…
For one, we’re getting ready to get back to the bargaining table again this summer. I know, it seems like we just settled our last negotiations, but much of that contract was retroactive; the recently negotiated Memo of Agreement runs only through August 31, 2025.
Thanks to the incredible work of our Negotiating Team, it was a really strong contract, with many wins for our membership. That’s also in large part because we engaged with our allies at the County’s Board of Legislators– as they ran for office, in the College’s budget proposal process, and over the course of our contract negotiations.
And that brings me to the second “big thing”: our County legislative races are heating up. Although the elections don’t happen until Fall, we do have some primaries taking place in June. As I’ve announced in days past, the Union is issuing its endorsements of selected legislative candidates in the Spring rather than Fall, so our endorsements will be leveraged for maximum impact
In this issue of FTConnect, the WCCFT is proud to endorse the individuals listed in the article by Prof. Joyce Cassidy, Chair of our Political Action Committee. I’m so grateful to her and to Vice President Deirdre Verne for interviewing 25 candidates over the course of two days, asking them questions about how we can work with our legislators to address our priorities and concerns at the College.
I know many of us may feel that politics and education should not mix—that we as educators should keep politics “separate” from what we do. That may be an especially strong feeling nowadays, as the political realm has become so highly charged over recent years.
But guess what? It’s essential for our union to be involved locally in political races. We are a public entity, and we are co-employed by the County. The County Executive and the Board of Legislators are the people who approve our Collective Bargaining Agreement and the College’s budget proposal (coming up soon as well!). We need a strong voice and steadfast advocates in those arenas.
Our endorsements matter in these races. Candidates can tout our support in their campaign materials, and we build relationships and lines of communication with the very people responsible for funding our College and approving our contract. And we put our money where our mouth is—each endorsement is accompanied by financial support from the WCCFT.
That money does NOT (and cannot) come from your Union dues! It comes from voluntary member donations to NYSUT’s political fund-raising arm, VOTE-COPE (Voice of Teachers for Education and Committee on Political Education).
Participation in VOTE-COPE is completely voluntary, and entirely non-partisan. NYSUT uses those funds to endorse candidates and campaign committees that are pro-public-education and pro-labor, regardless of political party, on the State level. Then NYSUT sends rebates of up to 40 percent of our donations back to the local, to be used in political activities at the County level.
But here’s the thing. The donations we make each election cycle reduce our balance in the VOTE-COPE account by about half. We desperately need to replenish these funds so we can continue to support future candidates who understand our issues and share our perspective. And according to our most recent records, only about a third of the full-time faculty currently donate to VOTE-COPE… and it’s been dropping with retirements!
So— we need your help.
This coming academic year, we will be engaging the full-time Union members in a concerted VOTE-COPE drive. You’ll be hearing more about this at future Union meetings and in communications to come. In the meantime, full-timers, please take a moment to look at your most recent pay stub. If you see an after-tax deduction for NYSUT VOTE-COPE, that means you’re currently a member—and we thank you! If you don’t, that means you’re not participating—and we need you!
It’s so easy to be part of VOTE-COPE. All you have to do is go to https://nysut-lp.com/vote-cope/wcc and fill out the short form to set up automatic payroll deductions.* You can give as much or as little as you wish; most faculty who participate have $5 deducted each paycheck– the price of a fancy Starbucks drink every two weeks. That’s money you will never miss, and will come back to you many times over in better compensation from future contract negotiations.
PLEASE… Don’t ignore this message, or put it off with good intentions. I know what happens when I say, “I’ll think about this later”: it quickly gets buried under a pile of other tasks. Take the time now to see if you’re a VOTE-COPE participant, and if not, we urge you to sign up right away. It’s the best investment you’ll ever make!
*Unfortunately, the College’s payroll system is not set up to allow auto-deductions for adjuncts. But adjuncts can also participate by making one-off donations in any amount directly to VOTE-COPE; forms to make direct payments are available in the Union office— or just email me at jimwwccft@gmail.com and I’ll get that form to you myself!