Get Involved

Below are many ways for you to increase your union participation. Choose a few to commit to.

Write an article for The Portal
Write an article dealing with a broader topic related to public education or labor to publish on thepjsta.org (email Brian St. Pierre at pjsta1vp@gmail.com)
Commit to reading a public ed related blog on a daily basis (see suggestions at here)
Read a book related to public education or labor. Some suggested titles (click here for a more detailed list and for book summaries)…
- Strike Back, by Joe Burns
- Secrets of a Successful Organizer, by Alexandra Bradbury, Mark Brenner, and Jane Slaughter
- Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity, by Micah Uetricht
- How to Jump-Start Your Union, by Mark Brenner, Jenny Brown, Jane Slaughter, Samantha Winslow, Alexandra Bradbury
- The Strike that Changed New York, by Jerald Podair
Form a book club with other members based around one of the suggested titles. If you are interested in forming one, email Brian St. Pierre at pjsta1vp@gmail.com and we can reach out to the rest of the membership to see who else is interested.
Write a book review on one of the suggested titles for either The Portal or thepjsta.org
Attend school board meetings
Run for a union office
Volunteer to be on the PJSTA’s PAC committee
Volunteer to be the PJSTA’s representative at Long Island Federation of Labor meetings
Use your building level PJSTA meetings to discuss work site problems that matter most to you and hatch a plan to solve it collectively
Gather a group of colleagues to watch an episode of PJSTA Live with, either on your lunch period or after school, and do repeat once a month. Episodes can be accessed on thepjsta.org.
Wear PJSTA shirts every Thursday and commit to reminding colleagues to as well.
Have conversations on your lunch periods, in your building meetings, at a happy hour, or anywhere else you meet up with fellow union members about what roles you think your union should fill, how they should operate, how they can build power, etc.
Volunteer with organizations like Students Not Scores (StudentsNotScoresNY.org) to help engage in organizing our communities around public education issues (email studentsnotscores@gmail.com if interested)