Presenters: Ron Gross, NYSUT 2^nd Vice President; Carrie Andrews, NYSUT Director of Constituency Programs & Services

The Local Action Project (LAP) is focused on building power within locals through organizing, social justice, political action, and community engagement. In this opening session, participants will reflect on the work completed during Year 1 and reconnect with the purpose that drives their local’s efforts. Teams will revisit the pillars of LAP and review the vision, mission, and values they developed last year. Participants will assess the progress they made in building leadership capacity and strengthening member engagement. The session will conclude with a brief overview of the Year 2 roadmap, shifting from internal organizing to developing campaigns that mobilize members, engage the community, and build union power.

Presenters: Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office; Steven Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office; Loren Fountaine, Labor Relations Specialist, Potsdam Regional Office.  

The first step in developing a strong campaign is identifying the right issue. In this session, participants will explore best practices for identifying issues and distinguishing between a general problem and an issue that can drive an effective campaign. Participants will examine how to determine whether an issue is widely felt, deeply felt, and potentially winnable. Through this process, teams will begin shaping a campaign demand that addresses the issue and positions their local to build a strong and successful campaign.

Presenters: Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office; Steven Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office

Successful campaigns rely on strong internal structures. In this session, participants will examine the different types of teams that help move a campaign forward. Teams will reflect on the LAP team they established in Year 1 and explore how that group continues to guide their broader LAP work, while also developing a campaign team responsible for driving the campaign itself. Participants will learn how to identify action captains, build action groups to carry out specific parts of the campaign, and create broader organizing structures that maintain engagement and motivation among members. Establishing these structures will allow locals to mobilize members effectively and support both their campaign and future union initiatives.

Presenters: Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office; Steven Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office

Teams will display highlights of their campaigns and engage in informal discussion with other locals.

Campaigns are used for a variety of situations including, but not limited to funding, negotiations, non-contractual issues, contractual issues, school budgets/budgeting, Board of Education elections, coalitions, and addressing concerns in the community.  A tenet of LAP is the ability for the locals to create and sustain campaigns around issues that are important to their union and the

community they serve. This workshop will familiarize participants with core components of a successful campaign while giving them an opportunity to begin to think about their own campaigns.  

Presenters: Steven Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office; Kathryn Dein, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office

This session will provide more insight into how NYSUT departments may help with your campaign, future campaigns, and/or overall LAP experience.

Presenters: Tom McMahon, Labor Relations Specialist, Tarrytown Regional Office and Erin Bailey Labor Relations Specialist, Rochester Regional Office

In this session participants will determine the demand for their campaign and draft SMART Goals to support the campaign demand.                                                                                            

Presenters: Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office; Erin Bailey, Labor Relations Specialist, Rochester Regional Office

Being able to identify who has the power to grant you your demand is critical for any campaign.   Participants will walk through a power analysis and then conduct one of their own.  Upon completion of their power analysis, teams will determine who has the power to make the decisions (targets). 

Presenters: Louisa Pacheco, Regional Political Organizer, Western New York Regional Office; Casey Sabella, Regional Political Organizer, Suffolk Regional Office

This session will define what a strategy is and identify strategies that will move the decision makers to “yes”.   Using their identified targets from the power analysis, teams will develop a strategy to meet the campaign demand.  Participants in this session will also discern what makes a good tactic based on their issue, goal/demand, target, and strategy. They will examine the best practices for developing, analyzing, and escalating tactics to achieve their goal.

Presenters: Tom McMahon, Labor Relations Specialist, Tarrytown Regional Office; Steven Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office

This session focuses on what you have learned throughout the week and understanding how to apply that learning to your campaign plans along with your own relational resources. Locals will brainstorm tactics to engage the community in moving targets in their campaign.                                                Presenters: Louisa Fletcher Pacheco, Regional Political Organizer, Western New York Regional Office, Casey Sabella, Regional Political Organizer, Suffolk Regional Office

Communicating effectively within your union and to the outside world is crucial to fueling successful advocacy and maintaining community bonds. In this session, participants will evaluate real-life scenarios that NYSUT locals regularly encounter in both public relations and crisis communications and will craft their own sample action plans for discussion and review.                                                           Presenters: Emily Allen, Media Relations Representative; Ben Amey, Media Relations Representative, Communications; Anna Gronewold, NYSUT Deputy Director of Communications

This session will examine the significance of one-to-one conversations. Participants will have an opportunity to develop one-to-one conversations to move members or communities into action relevant to their campaign. 

Presenters: Tom McMahon, Labor Relations Specialist, Tarrytown Regional Office; Erin Bailey Labor Relations Specialist, Rochester Regional Office

In this session, 3^rd year locals will share their experiences with their campaigns and best LAP advice with 1^st and 2^nd year locals. There will be time for questions.

Basket Drawing

This three-part session will take place throughout the remainder of the day and guide participants through the process of designing their campaign timeline. Participants will work through a sample campaign to better understand how

tactics fit within an escalation framework.  Teams will identify key tactics and determine their placement on the “campaign mountain” based on the level of

escalation, ensuring their actions are directed at the appropriate targets and aligned with their overall campaign strategy.

For each tactic, teams will begin to identify a responsible leader, outline the tasks required, establish timelines or end dates, and determine how progress and accountability will be tracked. Participants will also build-in checkpoints to assess whether their tactics are effectively moving the campaign forward and decide whether to stay the course or adjust their approach. Throughout the session, teams will have opportunities to collaborate with one another, discuss different approaches, and share ideas they can apply to strengthen their own campaigns.

Presenters: Christine Sarni, Labor Relations Specialist, Nassau Regional Office; Steven Lagnena, Labor Relations Specialist, Suffolk Regional Office

In this session participants will review the booklet your LAP team will fill out to receive resources. We will review the booklet and discuss best practices when thinking about your resource requests. 

Presenters: Carrie Andrews, NYSUT Director of Constituency Programs & Services; Jeff Lockwood, NYSUT CFO, Director of Finance

Wrapping up this week at LAP, you will learn what to expect during the upcoming year and at next summer’s LAP training.

Presenters: Loren Fountaine, Labor Relations Specialist, North Country Regional Office; Andrew Voigt, Labor Relations Specialist, Syracuse Regional Office