Your lesson plans are perfect. Your bulletin boards look great. Now it’s time to grow your union power! More educators join the Idaho Education Association during the back-to-school season than any other time of the year — and a bigger union means a stronger voice for educators. Take these steps to build your team, flex your union muscles and grow your union!
Build Your Team
Find your building rep. Whether you’re a longtime union member or a newbie, your building rep should be your first point of contact. Say hi! And be sure to add the next building or site meeting to your calendar.
Welcome newcomers. If you didn’t get a chance to meet your new hall or department colleagues at back-to-school events, reach out! Relationships are key to growing your union’s power. Their trust in you may be the key factor in their decision to join IEA.
Join your union’s online community. There are so many ways you can keep tabs on what’s going on with your local and IEA — and share what your local is doing! Be sure to bookmark these social profiles:
- Your local’s Facebook and Instagram pages
- Follow @idahoea on Instagram and Facebook
- Tag your local and @idahoea when you have great union news to share
Flex Your Muscle
Think about the role you’d like to play. There’s a role for everyone in your union! Not sure where you fit in? Think you don’t have much to contribute to your local? Take this fun and easy quiz and discover your best fit.
Read your union contract. Circle anything you have questions about and meet with your building rep to learn more. Remember: There are no dumb questions.
Show your IEA pride! Get an awesome poster for your classroom. And wear your local union T-shirt or IEA swag — you have a federally protected right to show you’re a union member.
Grow Your Union
Take the next step. We build union power by increasing membership and being involved. Talk to your building rep about participating in back-to-school membership drives or other events and outreach.
Use NEA organizing tools to anticipate common questions. For example: “Are you sure unions are legal here?” Answer: “Unions are legal everywhere! And in Idaho, we have the right to collectively bargain our contracts so all educators in our district — not just union members — receive better pay, benefits and a voice at the table.”
Sign up for IEA Reporter. Did you know IEA has an email newsletter packed with helpful information and stories about your fellow members and issues that affect the profession? (In fact, you’re reading it right now — and it’s free!) Sign up here. And don’t be afraid to brag about yourself or your colleagues — your IEA comms team is always looking for story ideas. Contact Julie Sarasqueta with your info.