Feel free to print any of the handouts on this page for use in your local and/or order copies from Education Minnesota.
Member engagement planning and ideas
Educators look to each other for support. Unions play a crucial role in fostering those relationships. Here are some member engagement ideas you can use in your local:
New educator resources and engagement
Member engagement is crucial to the work we do. This is especially true for our newest members. Many of them are stepping into the classroom for the first time and are looking to their more veteran colleagues for tips, advice and guidance. The union can, and should, play a big role in fostering that relationship.
Materials include a new hire orientation guide, talking points and 10-minute meeting ideas with materials to help engage members on the power of our union and issues they care about, from classroom management to education debt.
- Talking points about joining our union
- Why Belong handout
- New hire orientation guide
- New hire orientation in a virtual world
- New hire orientation handout
- New hire welcome meeting PowerPoint template
- New hire welcome meeting letter template
- Union contact sheet template
- Ideas for 10-minute meetings and sample calendar
- Code of ethics (member handout and agenda)
- Comprehensive unionism (member handout and agenda)
- Conference tips (member handout and agenda)
- Connecting with parents (member handout and agenda)
- Education debt (member handout and agenda)
- Fighting for racial justice (coming soon)
- Positive boundaries (member handout and agenda)
- Student privacy (member handout and agenda)
- Using technology wisely (member handout and agenda)
Other member engagement materials
Find talking points and more one-page handouts on issues educators care about to use with all members for one-on-one engagement.
- Connecting with aspiring educators
- Talking points about joining our union
- Ideas for 10-minute meetings (agendas coming soon!)
- Accountability system (member handout and agenda)
- Financial planning (member handout and agenda)
- How to get grants (member handout and agenda)
- Identity theft (member handout and agenda)
- Intercultural mindset (member handout and agenda)
- Learning climate (member handout and agenda)
- License renewal (member handout and agenda)
- Member benefits program (member handout and agenda)
- Stress management (member handout and agenda)
- Surviving testing (member handout and agenda)
- Teacher evaluation (member handout and agenda)
- Other issue handouts
Opposition inoculation
What do we mean by inoculation? It means persuading our members to resist persuasion from our opponents.
Our opponents are spending millions trying to convince union members to give themselves a pay raise and opt out of the union.
The most important form of inoculation building affinity toward the union. The goal is to expose our members to our message – why strong unions matter – in various ways and formats so they will ignore our opponents’ arguments. One-on-one engagement is key.
There will be times we have to respond to specific attacks. Find materials, meeting ideas, videos, social media memes and more in this section.
- 15-minute meeting on the opposition groups
- Print materials on opposition groups, why strong unions matter
- Video: Say ‘No’ to Betsy and Her Friends
Social media memes
Share these and other memes on social media to show your union pride and fight back against the anti-union forces that are trying to weaken the voice of working people.
Drop window and dues revocation resources
Current members can revoke their authorization to have union dues deducted from their paycheck during a 30-day revocation window, Sept. 1-30.
Find out more information about drop procedures below. As always, contact your Education MInnesota field staff if you have any questions.
- Key issues in membership and dues deduction
- Education Minnesota dues revocation window Q & A
- Drop and dues revocation procedure
Videos
Share videos from the Power of Our Union playlist on our YouTube Channel to show why belonging to Education Minnesota matters and how the attack on unions are really an attempt to silence working people.
Start watching the videos in order below or visit the playlist on our YouTube channel.