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New Orleans Teachers Union Coming Back After Katrina |
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When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans two years ago, the AFT/United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO), with 4,900 members, was the largest union in the state. Within days of the storm, the local school board abrogated the collective bargaining agreement and fired all the teachers. That left the Crescent City’s teachers—many of whom had already lost their homes—and the students they taught with no voice.
But today, with the strong support and assistance from the AFL-CIO and AFT, more than 1,100 teachers have a voice on the job with UTNO. Earlier this month, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) voted unanimously to restore collective bargaining and begin negotiations with UTNO on a new contract.
The OPSB also has agreed to pay $6.8 million to the 6,800 members of the teacher, para-educator and clerical bargaining units who were employed on Aug. 29, 2005, the day the storm hit. Eligible employees will be paid a total of $1,000 each in two $500 installments, the first to be paid by the end of 2007. UTNO President Brenda Mitchell told the International Labor Communications Association convention in New Orleans:
The labor movement in this city is alive and well. You need to tell the story of how labor came together to support its own because if they can come after one of us, they can come after all of us.
Nearly 100 labor communicators from across the country are fanning out throughout New Orleans today to tell the real story of what’s happening to workers in the rebuilding. You can read their blogs and videos by clicking here.
The AFL-CIO and AFT provided staff and assistance in organizing and political strength to help the teachers regain their voice, says Mitchell. “I just love the AFL-CIO and AFT,” she says.
After the hurricane, business, political and other leaders in Louisiana set up a “chaotic” system of public schools, state-run schools and charter schools. Before Katrina hit, 128 public schools operated in New Orleans. Now, 60 percent of the schools are charter schools, the largest group of such schools in the nation. The local Orleans Parish school district operates five schools. The state-controlled Recovery School District (RSD), which took over schools with performance scores below the state average, even if they were meeting yearly progress goals, operates the rest, including some charter schools. Employees in RSD and charter schools have no union representation. Although the UTNO only has a bargaining agreement with the Orleans Parish board, teachers in all three systems have joined the union, Mitchell says.
We have regular weekly meetings [with the RSD] and some of the charter schools are working with us.
Every day we’re organizing in the schools. We’re giving them information about what’s really going on.
Mitchell says after the teachers were fired, the schools hired mostly inexperienced teachers from out of state. Now, many of those teachers are showing interest in joining a union because they have been treated with a lack of respect on the job. The turnover at the charter schools is unbelievable. Many the teachers are isolated and in fear.
We’re moving towards a time when we will have a voice. Many more charter schools are coming on board and intensify the programs we’ve always been doing. We’re going to continue to be a presence in all the schools to let the teachers and the students know someone is there for them.
The rights of workers and quality education are not mutually exclusive, they are linked.
1 Comment
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I’m not sure who has more juice when cornered, nurses or teachers (being married to the latter I’m biased). What our opposition/enemies forget is that a teacher who cares enough to be a union activist is like a really pissed/concerned parent at a school board meeting. They are giving up time because there are things which MUST be done. Try watching a school board dealing with a new face in the room, armed with information and a plan.