My name is Deb Gesualdo, and I am a K–8 music educator in Malden. I began my career as an Education Support Professional, so my union perspective comes from work often undervalued, feminized and invisible.
For Matt Bach and me, labor justice and social justice are inseparable. Economic justice, racial justice, gender justice and LGBTQIA+ liberation are connected struggles. When working people organize across these differences, we build power to transform our workplaces, schools and communities.
Neither of us set out to be union leaders. We stepped up because members deserved more voice, transparency and real power in their union.
Early in my career, I was asked to join the bargaining team for specialists. I said no. I was a young teacher without professional status, busy teaching third graders recorder. But when no one else stepped up, I did.
Once in the room, I saw the problem. Decisions were made without members, and information wasn’t reaching those affected. When I held building meetings to inform members, I was told to stop. That moment made something clear:
A union does not belong to a handful of leaders. A union must belong to its members.
Since becoming president of the Malden Education Association in 2017, our members organized to win historic raises for Education Support Professionals, averaging 37% over three years and 60% over six years, along with paid parental leave, expanded sick and bereavement leave, protections for housing-insecure students and stronger working conditions. We won these victories by organizing, opening bargaining to members and the community, and striking. The power built on the picket line continues to reverberate because we raised the bar for what is possible.
Along the way, I’ve served across our union, including the National Council of Urban Education Associations Executive Committee and the NCUEA Urban and Minority Issues Committee. I currently serve on the MTA and NEA Boards of Directors, chair the MTA Resolutions Committee, and serve on the NEA Legislative Committee. These experiences reinforced what I learned early on: Our union’s strength comes from informed members making strategic decisions.
I am running with Matt Bach because we believe unions exist to shift power, not manage decline. More than 100 rank-and-file members across the Commonwealth created our platform to support locals organizing for power, build collaboration across preK–12 and higher education, strengthen democracy in the MTA, assert educator dignity and autonomy, and fight for our communities.
At a moment when attacks on public education and democracy are intensifying, we must match that intensity with our collective power. Strong unions do more than win contracts. They create dignity, solidarity, liberation, and joy in our workplaces and communities.
Our power comes from working people acting through deep democracy, building unity, and using our collective strength. That is the kind of union Matt Bach and I believe in, and the union we are committed to building with you.
I ask for your support. Vote for Matt Bach and me and join us in building the union our members deserve.
