Colleagues,
I hope that this email finds you well. I know that it is easy to feel disconnected and alone in our fights during this very difficult time. It is more important than ever that we find ways to stay connected. With that said, there is a great opportunity quickly approaching that will allow us to connect and share best practices on fighting for social justice issues, and against austerity budgets and the threats on collective bargaining. Let’s connect on the October 16 and 17 UUP Committee Training. Thank you for those who have already registered. I hope that you will be able to join us and invite others to join as well. It is more important than ever to find ways to build deeper connections and power amongst our members and our coalitions to help us succeed in these critical fights.
I wanted to share a few more details as the event gets closer. The tentative outline for the two days is as follows:
Day One—Friday, October 16 (1PM – 4PM): Committee training to enhance advocacy on issues of concerns for UUP statewide committees. Advancing the goals and agendas of our committees through coalition work.
Friday will include the coalition partners panel, which will be led by chapter leaders and local coalition partners to share their experiences building strong community partnerships and discuss their issue-base campaigns, strategies and actions they have found to be most successful. If you would like to be considered for the issue-based coalition partner panel, please submit your names here no later than tomorrow, October 9 (this date has been extended). All panel decisions will be made by October 10. If you and your coalition partner are selected, you will be provided with additional information to share with your coalition partner on how to join as a panelist for this workshop.
Day Two—Saturday, October 17 (9AM to Noon): Election 2020 and activism
· NYS Biden Campaign Director Presentation
· AFT Election Update: Polling, State of the Race, What are we doing to make a difference and Virtual Phone Bank Training
· Virtual phone banking or texting
You can register for the two-day virtual event here. Space is limited and registration for this two-day event will close October 13 or when we reach capacity. Login information will be sent to registrants the week of the event.
Please feel free to share this invitation broadly. However, Employee Organizational Leave (EOL) is only available for statewide committee members. Due to the political nature of the day two activities planned, EOL is available for Friday only and again is available only for statewide committee members.
I look forward to connecting with all of you on October 16 and October 17.
In solidarity,
Fred