Corrected: In a previous version of the map accompanying this story, the shading was omitted for four states. Massachusetts and Vermont should have been shaded dark blue, meaning legislation on collective bargaining had been introduced. The shading for New Hampshire and South Carolina should have been light gray, meaning no legislation was pending. In Florida, several proposals are being considered and are currently at different stages of the legislative process.
Besieged by state proposals to eviscerate collective bargaining, eliminate teacher tenure, and make it harder to collect dues, teachers鈥� unions are fighting back.
Lawsuits supported by local union affiliates have for now blocked anti-union legislation in Alabama and Wisconsin. Unions are drawing on membership networks, e-mail 鈥渂lasts,鈥� and phone banks to mobilize teachers and connect them to local politicians. Rallies and demonstrations, meanwhile, have kept the issue in the minds of the public.
Most of the action is occurring at the state level, but by providing state and local affiliates with specialized aid, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are playing an important role in supporting the efforts. Both unions have raised or plan to raise dues to help pay for efforts to delay, block, or mitigate the impact of such legislation.
Observers note that the unions鈥� longer-term strategy, though, hinges on winning in the court of public opinion and being able to capitalize on such sympathy in the 2012 elections.
Bills to eliminate or curtail collective bargaining, do away with teacher strikes, or curb union-dues deductions are advancing in more than a dozen state legislatures.
SOURCE: 澳门跑狗论坛 Library Interns Ruth Lincoln and Amy Wickner
鈥淲ith the resources left to them, I would think unions would fight as hard as they can, because this really is a threat to their organizational existence,鈥� said Charles H. Franklin, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has been closely tracking the situation in that state. 鈥淯ntil the treasuries are exhausted, I would assume the unions will put everything they can into creating a Democratic majority in the legislatures.鈥�
The unions have long been closely allied with Democrats, and newly ascendant Republican governors and state legislators are pursuing most of the measures the teachers鈥� groups oppose.
Ground Zero
Conservative lawmakers, some backed by tea-party activists and other right-leaning groups, have largely blamed teachers鈥� and other public employees鈥� unions for budget shortfalls. More than a dozen bills seeking to revoke or curb collective bargaining by those employees are making their way through legislatures.
Unions have recently sought to make the case that cooperation with teachers on changes to pay and evaluation will lead to better education policy, but such legislative action has put them in a defensive posture.
鈥淚 think the focus on professional issues is really important, and I don鈥檛 think the unions have gotten enough credit for it,鈥� said Julia Koppich, a San Francisco-based consultant who has written about teacher collective bargaining. 鈥淏ut they can鈥檛 at the same time roll over and play dead and say everything else they鈥檝e worked for doesn鈥檛 matter. It does.鈥�
Ground zero for such legislation remains Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, signed into law on March 11 a measure that, among other actions, curbs the scope of public-employee bargaining.
As far back as February, the 98,000-member Wisconsin Education Association Council, or WEAC, began to coordinate a response to the legislation through the regional NEA support network, UniServ.
鈥淯niServ has played a major role in all of this,鈥� said James R. Carlson, the director of the Kettle-Moraine UniServ Council, which organized many of the rallies and protests in Madison, the state capital. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been the center of our world over the last six weeks, not only with contractual matters, but also legal challenges, and organizing efforts.
鈥淲hen you mobilize both veterans and people new to the profession, you鈥檙e infinitely stronger and more effective,鈥� Mr. Carlson continued. 鈥淸Gov.] Walker is trying to outlaw us, but the opposite will occur; we鈥檒l become more vital.鈥�
Public-employee unions in the state, including WEAC, have won a reprieve for now. On March 18, a state judge blocked publication of the bill, temporarily preventing it from taking effect. The union supported the lawsuit, which argues that GOP lawmakers violated open-meeting laws when using a procedural tactic to pass the bill.
In the meantime, the UniServ councils also have played a central role in aiding approximately 100 local bargaining units to negotiate contract extensions, thereby locking those contracts in place for several more years. The extensions 鈥減rovide some stability in what is a very chaotic environment,鈥� said Mary K. Bell, the president of WEAC.
Many of the extensions make benefit concessions similar to those called for in the Walker bill, which required union members to cover more of the cost of their healthcare and pensions, but they do retain other working conditions favored by unions, according to the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
Looming on the horizon are attempts to recall state senators through special elections, something both conservative and liberal forces are organizing.
Campaign-finance laws prevent WEAC or its parent union, the NEA, from contributing to, or organizing volunteers for, an effort to recall eight Republican senators until the elections are actually scheduled. But the unions likely will make use of their political action committees鈥攕eparate funds to which members voluntarily contribute鈥攊f and when such elections come to pass, Mr. Carlson said.
Of the eight GOP senators, three won their 2008 races with less than 52 percent of the vote, and could potentially be in danger in a recall election, according to Mr. Franklin of the University of Wisconsin. Any successes, he said, might be more symbolic than practical, given that the legislation has been approved.
鈥淎ll this organizing may well strengthen pro-union and Democratic forces in the state,鈥� Mr. Franklin said, 鈥渂ut undoing the legislation is a much harder thing to accomplish and is likely to be a much longer-term process.鈥�
Tactics to lessen the blow of anti-bargaining proposals are on view even in those states in which a rightward tilt in the Capitol makes it likely that such proposals will pass in some form.
Working Cooperatively
With multiple pieces of legislation moving through the Statehouse in Nashville, the Tennessee Education Association has made strategic decisions about which fires to fight. So far it hasn鈥檛 condemned a bill, supported by Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, to extend the time for teachers to earn tenure from three years to five, despite concerns about the proposal.
鈥淚 have to give the governor credit; he鈥檚 stayed out of some of these divisive issues about bargaining,鈥� said Jerry Winters, the tea鈥檚 director of government relations. 鈥淲e owe him some cooperation in trying to move his agenda.鈥�
Instead, the union has been pushing lawmakers to soften a bill to do away with teacher bargaining, and those results seem to be paying off. A House panel in Tennessee recently crafted a compromise measure to maintain collective bargaining, but remove policy factors such as teacher evaluations from negotiations. Mr. Winters attributed the accord partly to good working relationships with some moderate Republicans who supported the compromise.
Gov. Haslam and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell, a Republican, have endorsed the proposal, but it is not clear whether Senate Republicans will agree to the compromise.
In Alabama, the state NEA affiliate has been fighting back against a measure, signed into law by outgoing Gov. Bob Riley in December, that prevents associations from collecting dues for political activities through automatic payroll deductions. Though teachers don鈥檛 have bargaining rights in Alabama, the 105,000-member Alabama Education Association is an influential interest group in the state.
The AEA contends that the law was written expressly to hobble its activities, by defining 鈥減olitical activity鈥� so broadly as to apply to nearly any kind of internal communication or member polling. It sued to block the law, arguing that it impinges on the union鈥檚 First Amendment free-speech rights. In a victory last week, a state judge sided with the union, temporarily suspending the law鈥檚 implementation.
An appeal is likely, but the AEA has not waited for the matter to crank through the judicial system. Since the bill鈥檚 passage, the union has hired some 300 part-time recruiters to persuade individual teachers to have dues deducted automatically from their bank accounts, according to Susan E. Kennedy, the funding and revenue manager for the AEA. So far, the union has signed up 83 percent of current and retired members.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to take some losses early, but I think in terms of destroying the organization, that鈥檚 not going to happen,鈥� Ms. Kennedy said. 鈥淥ur members are dedicated, educated, professional women for the most part鈥攁nd I just don鈥檛 expect that one legislative cycle is going to be able to undo what these incredible members have done.鈥�
Although most of the union mobilizing has taken place at the state level, the two national teachers鈥� unions have played an important part in supporting that work.
鈥淚t is our strength that we have numbers,鈥� Ms. Bell of WEAC said. 鈥淭he NEA family has been remarkably helpful as our union really changes and amps up to address the concerns of our members.鈥�
The 3.2-million member NEA has offered in-house legal counsel to its state affiliates, sent additional staff members to states as requested, and helped organize volunteers to man phone banks and even serve hot meals to protesters. And since Gov. Walker鈥檚 plan passed in Wisconsin, more than 70,000 NEA members have been in touch by phone with their lawmakers, according to Karen M. White, the political director for the NEA.
AFT officials have also been busy. In what was billed as the first-ever e-mail blast to the entire 1.5 million membership, the union鈥檚 president, Randi Weingarten, encouraged members to sign the union鈥檚 鈥淲e Are One鈥� .
Engaging in rallies, sit-ins, and other forms of protest that state unions have organized is costly, and both national unions have also drawn from 鈥渃risis funds鈥� specially set up to keep members informed of legislative proposals viewed as threats.
Unlike PAC money, those funds come out of members鈥� dues and can be sent to state and local affiliates as needed, regardless of size or population.
Last July, AFT representatives approved a dues increase of 55 cents per full member per month beginning in September 2010鈥攁nd an additional 55 cents per month beginning in September 2011. The increases were partly put toward the union鈥檚 Solidarity Fund, which supports efforts to combat anti-union legislation.
The NEA鈥檚 Ballot Initiatives/Legislative Crisis Fund, established in 2000, is currently paid for with about $10 annually out of each full teacher鈥檚 annual national dues, currently $166. That amount could soon increase substantially. The NEA鈥檚 executive committee and board of directors recently signed off on a proposal to levy an additional $10 annually per member to increase the size of the crisis fund. The proposal will be put to the union鈥檚 Representative Assembly in July, Ms. White said.
Additional aid would be welcome, according to state affiliate officials.
Attacking unions 鈥渋s a national movement,鈥� said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association, which is dealing with a newly enacted law that would phase out teacher tenure in the state.
While the national unions have provided assistance, Mr. Pudlow said, 鈥渢hey can only go so far as to how much they can help, when there are brush fires in just about every state.鈥�
Effect on Reform Efforts
All the activism displays the unions鈥� organizing muscle and political acumen, but it also comes at a time when some unions have attempted to better articulate their role in helping improve aspects of teaching and learning as well.
For some, the two sets of issues鈥攂read-and-butter bargaining rights and upgrades to the teaching profession鈥攁re not easily extricated from one another.
What鈥檚 at stake 鈥渋s not just 20th-century collective bargaining rights, it鈥檚 fighting for professional voice,鈥� said Mary Cathryn Ricker, the president of the St. Paul, Minn.,teachers鈥� union, an affiliate of both the NEA and the AFT. 鈥淢ore and more of us are using our collective bargaining rights to push for professional ideas bubbling up from the classroom.鈥�
In recent weeks, senior Obama administration officials have made similar arguments. In concert with the two national unions, the administration last month brought together 150 superintendents and their local union leaders to discuss ways of using bargaining to advance reform proposals. (鈥淯nions, School Leaders Vow to Collaborate, But Action Uncertain,鈥� Feb. 23, 2011.)
The professional-issues subtext is especially relevant, observers say, for the AFT, whose affiliates have signed several well-publicized contracts overhauling teacher evaluations and pay. The union has also put millions of dollars into an Innovation Fund to help local affiliates adopt such ideas.
For Ms. Weingarten, who has staked her union鈥檚 future in large part on the reform possibilities of collective bargaining, the legislative attacks are doubly offensive.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of hypocrisy going on from the right wing, and even some of the so-called reformers,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey talk about how important teachers are, and in the same breath fiercely oppose any attempts for them to have the tools and conditions to do their jobs.鈥�
AFT officials underscored that the union is still moving forward with its professional-issues priorities. In the midst of all the action, the union has supported the introduction of a in Connecticut to codify its recently unveiled ideas for tying teacher evaluations to due process procedures.
For critics, though, such actions are secondary. The extent of union pushback to the legislative proposals, they say, reflects the lengths to which unions will go to protect rights won over the past 40 years.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e worried,鈥� said Mike Antonucci, a prominent teachers鈥�-union watchdog. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e fighting this in every state, instead of building a firewall around Wisconsin.鈥�
