The West Genesee Teachers' Association (WGTA) is the collective bargaining agent for the teachers and nurses in the West Genesee Central School District, Camillus, NY 13031. The WGTA represents its members in bargaining, grievances and other local issues.

John Christian, WGTA President

For the 2010 - 2011 school year teacher salaries in West Genesee start at approximately $47,500 (BA), $51,900 (MA) and $56,300 (CAS). Negotiated insurance benefits cover health, dental and eye care and are provided by Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Central New York. The WGTA contract contains language covering grievances, teacher rights, salaries and other compensations, conditions of employment, curriculum development, teachers' assignments, promotions and transfers, leaves of absence, student discipline, student teachers, teacher evaluations and other miscellaneous provisions. The WGTA has approximately 390 active members and 200 retired members. The WGTA President is John Christian (High School).

The WGTA also belongs to a statewide union or state federation: the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). NYSUT is made up of 1,200 local unions and has more than 600,000 members. They include teachers; K-12 school employees; the faculty and professional staffs of the State University, City University and community colleges; and nurses and professionals in health care facilities. Some teacher locals in New York State are very large - the United Federation of Teachers in NYC has 140,000 members - while other locals have as few as 10 members.

NYSUT represents its members at the state level in issues involving the Regents, the Legislature, and the State Education Department. It has a statewide network of Labor Relations Specialists who assist local unions in bargaining.

NYSUT plays a leading role in educational issues, research, legislation, legal services and member benefits. The NYSUT President is Dick Iannuzzi. NYSUT's web site is at: http://www.nysut.org/

NYSUT (and the WGTA) is affiliated at the national level with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT has about 3,000 locals and 1,500,000 members. The AFT is a leader in educational and legislative issues nationwide. Randi Weingarten is president of the AFT. Visit the AFT web site at: http://www.aft.org/

The WGTA is also affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization. The NEA is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3.2 million members work at every level of education—from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States. The president of the NEA is Dennis Van Roekel. You can visit the NEA website at: http://www.nea.org/index.html

The WGTA is also affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor unions. Today's unions represent 11.5 million working women and men of every race and ethnicity and from every walk of life. We are teachers and truck drivers, musicians and miners, firefighters and farm workers, bakers and bottlers, engineers and editors, pilots and public employees, doctors and nurses, painters and laborers—and more. The president of the AFL-CIO is Richard L. Trumka. You can visit the AFL-CIO web site at: http://www.aflcio.org/

(Information regarding NYSUT, the AFT, NEA and the AFL-CIO were provided in NYSUT's New York Teacher and their individual web sites.)