Year to year, unions don't stay the same size. They either get bigger or they get smaller.
"It's better to get bigger," said NYSUT's director of field operations, Mark Chaykin, who works very hard to make that happen.
This year, NYSUT grew by 28 bargaining units and added more than 1,300 new members. Among those joining the NYSUT family are teachers from Green Island, near Albany; security guards in Smithtown, Long Island; and faculty and adjuncts at Finger Lakes Community College.
Marymount Manhattan College adjuncts also affiliated with NYSUT this year.
NYSUT's organizing growth is starting to create density in certain new areas, such as in the affiliation of adjunct faculty. That, in turn, makes it easier to organize other groups of adjuncts.