Messages from the Campaign

February 2026

Fellow MTA members,

In the midst of the murders of our neighbors in Minneapolis and the ongoing terror of our immigrant communities across our country, it can feel easy to sink into hopelessness. What can we as individuals do? Our campaign platform is rooted in the idea that we are not hopeless or powerless. We can take action everyday in our workplaces to fight the growing threat of fascism. By practicing democracy in the workplace and treating each other with dignity we lift up the humanity of ourselves and our coworkers and help build the union power it will take to defeat the threat from the right.

One way we can do that right now is to focus our attention on what’s happening with the GIC, the Group Insurance Commission. The GIC covers 500,000 public sector workers, including tens of thousands of our members. Even if your local is not covered by the GIC, many districts use the GIC as a guide in funding decisions.

Our governor is trying to shift costs onto members to reduce the cost to the state and the municipalities. We already pay too much for healthcare–this push from our so-called Democrat governor is unacceptable.

The MTA has rightly urged members to attend listening sessions and share their concerns. Our campaign believes further action is also necessary. The commissioners of the GIC will vote for the governor’s proposed cuts unless we use direct action to get them to vote in the interest of workers.

I attended a meeting of the Merrimack Valley Bargaining council, a coalition group I helped create over the last few years that has led to increased solidarity and communication in the Northeast, where we discussed the proposed cuts to the GIC and how we can act to stop it.

Here’s the plan we came up with in our coalition:

We identified that a GIC Commissioner, Melissa Rodrigues, is employed as the Town Manager of North Andover
We wrote a resolution to the Selectboard of North Andover that calls on GIC Commissioner Rodrigues to vote down the Governor’s changes
We will rally and present the resolution at the upcoming North Andover Town Meeting on February 9th

If you live and/or work near North Andover, we need your support on February 9th. Use this link to sign up to attend.

I am running for MTA President because the political moment calls for leaders who are willing to take bold, concrete action in the midst of the threats we face.

I hope you will join me in pushing back against the Governor’s proposed cuts to the GIC and by voting for me and Deb Gesualdo at MTA Annual Meeting on May 8 & 9.

In solidarity,

Matt Bach

February 2026

Fellow MTA members,

In the midst of the murders of our neighbors in Minneapolis and the ongoing terror of our immigrant communities across our country, it can feel easy to sink into hopelessness. What can we as individuals do? Our campaign platform is rooted in the idea that we are not hopeless or powerless. We can take action everyday in our workplaces to fight the growing threat of fascism. By practicing democracy in the workplace and treating each other with dignity we lift up the humanity of ourselves and our coworkers and help build the union power it will take to defeat the threat from the right.

One way we can do that right now is to focus our attention on what’s happening with the GIC, the Group Insurance Commission. The GIC covers 500,000 public sector workers, including tens of thousands of our members. Even if your local is not covered by the GIC, many districts use the GIC as a guide in funding decisions.

Our governor is trying to shift costs onto members to reduce the cost to the state and the municipalities. We already pay too much for healthcare–this push from our so-called Democrat governor is unacceptable.

The MTA has rightly urged members to attend listening sessions and share their concerns. Our campaign believes further action is also necessary. The commissioners of the GIC will vote for the governor’s proposed cuts unless we use direct action to get them to vote in the interest of workers.

I attended a meeting of the Merrimack Valley Bargaining council, a coalition group I helped create over the last few years that has led to increased solidarity and communication in the Northeast, where we discussed the proposed cuts to the GIC and how we can act to stop it.

Here’s the plan we came up with in our coalition:

We identified that a GIC Commissioner, Melissa Rodrigues, is employed as the Town Manager of North Andover
We wrote a resolution to the Selectboard of North Andover that calls on GIC Commissioner Rodrigues to vote down the Governor’s changes
We will rally and present the resolution at the upcoming North Andover Town Meeting on February 9th

If you live and/or work near North Andover, we need your support on February 9th. Use this link to sign up to attend.

I am running for MTA President because the political moment calls for leaders who are willing to take bold, concrete action in the midst of the threats we face.

I hope you will join me in pushing back against the Governor’s proposed cuts to the GIC and by voting for me and Deb Gesualdo at MTA Annual Meeting on May 8 & 9.

In solidarity,

Matt Bach

January 2026

Fellow MTA members,

In this precarious moment our craft and public education for the public good face profound and vicious aggression. The work of educators is fundamental to the very fabric of our democratic society. With fascism seeking to destroy our freedom to teach and bipartisan austerity hawks seeking the total elimination of funding for quality education, we must not only fight to protect what we do, but also lead on asserting our autonomy and agency in how our schools operate.

The only way to fight back is to cultivate strong, organized buildings and local unions united in fighting against the enemies of public education – whether it’s the bully in the White House, on Beacon Hill, or in the Superintendent’s or principal’s offices – and for the public schools and colleges our communities deserve

Over the last ten years the MTA has waged powerful and victorious campaigns at the ballot boxes. We defeated an increase in charter schools. We passed the Fair Share Amendment putting billions into our schools and communities. We won the end of the MCAS test being used as a graduation requirement. We were proud to be active in all of these campaigns.

At the same time, we have seen a wave of locals organizing and responding to the needs of rank-and-file members by going on strike to demand what we all deserve: living wages especially for ESP members, humane parental leave, more recess for dysregulated students, housing security for our members and their families, and a dignified retirement. The next phase in growing the power of the MTA will require all of us to be ready to take forceful collective action to demand the livelihoods that we want for ourselves and our students.

We are Matt Bach, history teacher and president of the Andover Education Association, and Deb Gesualdo, president of the Malden Education Association. As presidents we transformed our locals into powerful, fighting organizations that won tangible increases in the lives of our members and the communities they serve. As MTA and NEA Board members, we have also helped grow MTA’s organizing resources to help democratize and strengthen locals so they, too, can win transformative contracts.

We are ready to lead the MTA to build more power in our workplaces. In the meantime, we hope that we can visit your local so you can get to know us, but also so we can hear about your unique challenges and struggles. We want this campaign to be an opportunity to have rank-and-file members across the Commonwealth lend their stories to our platform. Reach out to us to set up a visit by replying directly to this email.

Will you join us at Annual Meeting on May 8-9 in Boston?

In solidarity,

Matt Bach & Deb Gesualdo

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