For Educators: What to do When Your Union Breaks Your Heart (May)

Event Date: 
May 20, 2025, 7:30 pm EDT

Event at a Glance

Event Date

May 20, 2025, 7:30 pm EDT

Cartoon by Mary Matthews, drawingdailyusa.com

If you’re a member of a teachers' union, unfortunately the chances are good that you’ve had your heart broken at least once by one of your own leaders.

Public education, and public school workers, are facing harsh and hard times—understaffing, austerity, privatization threats, inadequate supports for students, and suppression of academic freedom. The need for collective action is obvious, but your union officials may not be helping bring that about.

Don't despair! In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to organize with your fellow union members to recommit to your union, to build a democratic culture into one where leaders respect and serve the members, and where you're mustering your power to fight for what's needed.

This workshop is based on Labor Notes board member Ellen David Friedman's article and will be led by David Friedman.

When: Tuesday, May 20
Time: 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time (4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific).
Where: This is an online workshop and will be held via Zoom.

Registration fee
$0 - Free registration
$10 - Suggested registration
$25 - Suggested registration plus a HALF OFF one-year subscription to Labor Notes

We suggest a $10 fee for this event, but you can choose to register for free from the drop down menu below.

If you'd like to pay the fee, you can also choose to add a half-price subscription to the Labor Notes magazine to your registration (usually $30/year, but $15/year for workshop attendees who register with the half-price subscription)!

Choose the "$25 - Registration with half-price subscription" option in the drop down menu below to add the yearly subscription to the Labor Notes magazine with a half-price discount.

If you have questions about the workshop, or run into issues registering or you've registered and didn't receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link, please email sindhu[at]labornotes[dot]org.

To register multiple people: send each person this page and have them register through the checkout process.

Accessibility: Zoom's automatic captions will be turned on during the session. Please feel free to contact us with other accessibility needs or questions.

Registration Details: