Florida Charter School Teachers Choose a Union (first time ever!)

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/01/26/florida-charter-school-teachers-choose-a-union/

Florida Charter School Teachers Choose a Union

Florida Charter School Teachers Choose a Union

by James Parks, Jan 26, 2007

For the first time, charter school teachers in Florida have voted to join a union. Charter school teachers, guidance counselors and other professional staff in the southeast Florida city of Pembroke Pines on Jan. 24 chose the Broward Teachers Union (BTU) to make a better life for their families and to have a voice in educating their students. Calling the vote “an historic day for Florida and the union movement in our county, state and country,” BTU President Pat Santeramo said:

From the very beginning, this campaign was driven by charter school teachers because they recognize the value of having union representation, a contract, job security and a voice in their schools.

Florida is now the 10th state in the nation where charter school teachers have voted to join a union. These wins are significant because often charter schools are created as nonunion alternatives to the more unionized public schools. In addition to the members in Pembroke Pines, the AFT represents charter school professionals in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. In New York City, the United Federation of Teachers runs two charter schools of its own.

Pembroke Pines teachers contacted the BTU—an affiliate of both the AFT and the National Education Association—two years ago to ask for assistance in forming a union in their schools, Santeramo says. Last spring a core group of teachers formed an organizing committee and began asking their co-workers to sign union authorization cards. They quickly garnered signatures from more than 50 percent of the charter school system’s 295 teachers, meeting the state requirement for the city to voluntarily recognize the union.

But the Pembroke Pines City Commissioners refused to recognize the union and called for a secret ballot vote. Undaunted, the teachers again said they wanted a union by a four-to-one margin. Grace Thomas, a third-grade teacher, says the teachers voted for a union to make the schools stronger:

We really love our schools and believe by forming a union, we will make them even better. Our hope has always been that by negotiating a contract we will be able to give all teachers a voice so our schools remain great not only today, but long into the future. Charter school teachers and unions are on the same team, and our vote confirms it.

Having a union makes any school a better place to learn, says AFT President Edward McElroy:

Irrespective of the type of school, a real voice for teachers translates into students who excel. Ultimately that’s what educators want and what parents rightfully expect.

The key to the victory in Pembroke Pines was a determined core of teachers who recognize the importance of union representation in the workplace. Khea Davis, a ninth-grade teacher, says:

With a union, we will have greater access to high-quality professional development courses, the latest research and a massive network of other education professionals.

Because Florida is a so-called “right to work“ for less state, the teachers know the vote for a union is just the first step, says Jamie Daniels, a BTU staff member who assisted the teachers’ efforts. “Right to work” laws say unions must represent all eligible employees, whether they pay dues or not. This forces unions to use their time and members’ dues money to provide union benefits to free riders who are not willing to pay their fair share. The union must recruit each individual worker to join the union, even if a majority have already said they want the union. But Daniels says the teachers are up to the challenge:

The committee members love their schools and wanted to join a union because they believe doing so will only make their schools even better. At the same time, they recognize today’s victory is only the first step and a great deal of work remains to recruit members and negotiate a contract.