We won union benefits, and you can too!” is the theme of the get-out-the-vote booklet for the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center (EKCC) campaign (see previous article).

The booklet features testimonials from other teaching artists who won representation with 802 and includes teachers at Music Outreach, the Guitar Study Center, the New School Jazz Department, Midori & Friends Foundation, and the Early Ear.

The EKCC Teachers’ Organizing Committee and 802’s Organizing Department created the booklet to encourage teaching artists at the EKCC to vote “yes” for a voice at work. Along with accounts of other teaching artists’ successes in unionizing, the booklet includes photographs of teachers and information about 802.

“EKCC teachers and the teachers featured in the brochure, who are already working under 802 contracts, put a lot of time into this project. It really speaks to the concerns of teaching artists in New York City, like health insurance, pension and job security,” said Director of Organizing Joe Eisman. “The teachers who helped write the brochure really wanted to convey the sharp difference between a legally-binding, negotiated union contract, and a simple faculty handbook, which is written by the employer, and can be modified or even eliminated at anytime. I think the teachers’ testimonials really succeeded in making this point.”

If EKCC teachers vote for a union, it will be the sixth educational institution that has organized with 802.